Datelan Army Air Field was established here on January 1, 1943, at a site chosen for its available water and its proximity to the Yuma Gunnery Range. Construction was completed on June 1, 1943, and Datelan AAF served as a sub-base of Yuma Army Air Field, the location of the Army advanced flying school. Colfred, Stovall, and Wellton Gunnery Ranges were also established nearby. Originally designed for single engine gunnery training, the base was converted to a twin engine gunnery school in September 1943. The post was garrisoned on July 8, 1943, and in addition to securing and maintaining the base, troops there provided services for several flying organizations. Among them was Mather Army Air Field, which based 60 B-25J gun ships here from December 25, 1943, to January 20, 1944, and logged a total of 11,000 hours of flight training. Soldiers and airmen who served here included men who later gave their lives in training and in the skies above Europe, Asia, and the Pacific during the defeat of the Axis powers.