By January 1941, negotiations between Fort Worth civic advocates led by Amon G. Carter and the U.S. Army produced an agreement to build an aircraft plant near the city for B-24 Liberator bombers. Later legislation authorized a landing field beside Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation Plant No. 4, which became Tarrant Field and Tarrant Field Airdrome. Three months after the U.S. entered World War II, the plant was operating, and the Army advanced plans for an air base that would use the proximity of the two sites to train B-24 crews. The air base opened in August 1942 and was named Fort Worth Army Air Field in May 1943, training more than 4,000 pilots between 1942 and 1944. It enabled Fort Worth to contribute substantially to victory for the U.S. and Allied Powers. In late January 1948, Fort Worth Army Air Field was renamed Carswell Air Force Base for Fort Worth native and Medal of Honor recipient Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr. During the Cold War, the site became a key U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command base and a highly visible symbol of nuclear deterrence and force projection. It was the first Strategic Air Command base equipped with the Fort Worth-built B-36 Peacemaker bomber and by 1959 had transitioned to the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. In 1972, B-52s based there took part in Operation Linebacker Two, the most powerful Strategic Air Command campaign of the Vietnam War. After the Cold War ended, Carswell Air Force Base closed in September 1993. In October 1994, the site reopened as Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, supporting active duty and reserve units in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and Texas Air National Guard. The base aided training and support for the U.S. military during the Global War on Terrorism and continues a long tradition of professional excellence in national defense.