During World War II, one of Texas's most prominent preliminary and advanced military glider pilot training sites operated here after the U.S. Army Air Forces leased and expanded Lubbock Municipal Airport with help from the City of Lubbock. Opened in October 1942 as South Plains Army Flying School and later renamed South Plains Army Air Field, it provided ground and advanced flight training for pilots of the Waco CG-4A, the U.S. Army Air Forces' primary wartime glider. During its operation, South Plains Army Air Field trained nearly 80% of America's combat glider pilots, who served in major operations including Market Garden, Varsity, and Overlord. The field closed on April 1, 1945, was declared surplus and transferred to the War Assets Administration in December 1947, returned to the City of Lubbock for municipal use in 1949, and gained a modern air terminal in 1950. The combat glider training facilities of the Texas Panhandle and South Plains were important to U.S. military force projection during the war and also significantly supported local economies. In 1971, former glider pilots formed the National World War II Glider Pilots Association, Inc., and in October 2002 the Silent Wings Museum opened at this site as a key place for preserving and telling the history of the U.S. combat glider program.