Air Base Detachment, Gray Field - insignia

The insignia design in this post is from the collection of my good friend Sam Grabarski. This design was created by Hank Porter in December 1941, for the Air Base Detachment, Gray Army Airfield, Fort Lewis.


Fort Lewis is located on the American west coast in Washington State. The Fort began life as a military camp, established in 1917, when the residents of Pierce County voted in favor of purchasing and then donating 70,000 acres of land to the Federal Government for use as a military base. The Camp was named for Captain Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Camp became a Fort in September 1927.

Between the spring of 1939 and the spring of 1941 the camp expanded with construction of a northern garrison that occupied some 2,000 acres. During World War II the Fort served as the training facility for the 3rd, 33rd, 40th, 41st, 44th and 96th infantry divisions, as well as several smaller divisions. A prisoner of war camp also operated in the vicinity of the base between 1943 and 1946.

A recent addition to my collection is this war-era photo, showing servicemen attached to the Gray Army Airfield, Air Base Detachment. The unit's Disney-designed insignia is visible on the sign in the background.

The Fort Lewis airfield became Gray Army Airfield in April 1938. The field was named in honor of Captain Lawrence C. Gray, who lost his life during a balloon flight in 1927. Gray had served as a private during World War I. After the war he became a commissioned officer serving in the Air Service and Airship School, where he conducted test flights.

Close-up detail of the sign, which was located in front of the Air Base Headquarters.

Over the course of the Second World War, the 116th Observation and 116th Photographic Squadrons, which were stationed at Gray Field, conducted anti-submarine patrol duty over the waters off the state's coast.