Hamilton Air Field: Early Flight

In the 1920s, the land that would become the future home of Hamilton Army Airfield was known as the Pea Patch.  The California Packing Company owned the land, and peas were grown on the property.  The property would later be referred to as Marin Meadows.

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In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Army was evaluating various sites for a new airfield on the West Coast.. At the current base, Crissy Field, the weather was bad, and the towers of the soon-to-be-constructed Golden Gate Bridge would be a danger to flight operations. Several cities up and down the coast competed for the location, as a new base would bring jobs and much-needed economic relief to Depression-strapped communities. In January of 1929, a Marin Air Base Committee was formed to make sure that Marin County would be selected.

On August 26, 1929, Col. C.G. Brant, Commander of San Francisco’s Crissy Field, led a group of Marin civic leaders on an aerial inspection of the proposed Army Air Corps site at Marin Meadows. Traveling in an Atlantic C-2 Tri-Motor, theirs was the first aircraft to land at the field.

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Photographed during the visit are Col. Brant in uniform, Robert N. Carson, Chairman of the Marin Airbase Committee (third from the left), and Congressman James Clarence Lea, standing to his right. Congressman Lea later autographed this image, commemorating the day Marin took its first step toward becoming home to Hamilton Field.

In 1931, the Army selected Captain Howard Nurse to design and oversee the construction of the base.  Nurse introduced architectural ideas at Hamilton that marked a departure from traditional Army design.

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Having lived in California earlier in his life, he was influenced by the region’s Spanish Mission style.  As a result, many of the base’s buildings and homes featured arched entrances and corridors, tile roofs, and wrought-iron railing.  Build 500, the base headquarters, remains a striking example of Nurse’s vision.  In military circles, the base became known as The Country Club.

Building 500 perfectly reflects  Nurse’s vision and his affinity for Spanish Mission-style architecture.

Marin County was eventually chosen due to several key factors, including its temperate weather and clear visibility, as well as the fact that 937 acres, then known as Marin Meadows, were sold to the Federal Government for the nominal sum of $1.

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This was made possible because the voters of Marin County had voted to tax themselves to raise the funds necessary to purchase the land for the base. Although Captain Nurse began preliminary work on the base in mid-1931, the deed to the property didn’t formally transfer until March 1932. This Ceremonial Certificate commemorates that event.

Lloyd Andrews Hamilton was born on June 13, 1894, in Troy, New York. A gifted student, he graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University in 1916 and later pursued graduate studies at Harvard Business School.

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While at Harvard, the United States entered World War I, prompting Hamilton to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Service. Driven by a passion for aviation, he was sent to MIT for ground training and then to England for advanced flight and gunnery instruction. In early 1918, he was temporarily assigned to the British Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force), where he flew combat missions with No. 3 Squadron. He quickly distinguished himself as a skilled pilot, scoring multiple aerial victories in the Sopwith Camel.

Later, Hamilton joined the U.S. 17th Aero Squadron as a flight commander. Throughout his service, he achieved ten confirmed victories, earning the rare distinction of becoming an ace both with the British and American air services. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the British Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor.

Tragically, First Lieutenant Hamilton was killed in action on August 24, 1918, near Lagnicourt, France. He was just 24 years old. In his honor, Hamilton Field in California was named after him.

The base was dedicated in 1935. The image above is a program that reflects the day's activities.

California Governor Frank F. Merriam presents Hamilton Field to Brigadier General Henry (Hap) Arnold, Commander of all western Air Corps activities. In his acceptance remark, General Arnold noted that, “Hamilton Field stands today as the most modern and best equipped, up-to-date military airfield in the United States.

The Main Gate to Hamilton Army Air Field in 1935

They Left in Peace and Arrived in War.

On the evening of December 6th, 1941, twelve B-17 bombers departed Hamilton Army Airfield en route to the Philippines, with a scheduled refueling stop at Hickam Field in Honolulu. It was a long flight, and they needed to take on extra fuel.

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To reduce weight, the planes had a skeleton crew and carried no ammunition. Just hours later, on December 7, the bombers arrived over Hickam, unarmed and nearly out of fuel, amid the chaos of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Seven of the aircraft managed to land at Hickam Field under enemy fire; the others landed where they could find a place. One landed on a golf course, another on an open grass area, and the others on non-runway locations. Remarkably, while several crew members were wounded, all survived.

Hamilton was an ideal staging area for crews shipping out to the Pacific Theater.  During World War II, three thousand bombers and their crews were processed through Hamilton.

Hamilton was a major base for the Air Transport Command, which flew planes, people, and war materials around the clock to the Pacific Theater.

During WWII, the Base hospital processed as many as 3500 wounded soldiers per month. To accommodate the influx of that many injured, the hospital required more wards.  To fill the need, temporary wooden barracks were built near the hospital, and two existing barracks were converted to serve as Hospital wards.

Known as the Angels of Batan, eighty-eight Army nurses, recently freed after three years of captivity following the fall of the Philippines, arrived at Hamilton Field on February 24, 1945.

Interned at the Santo Tomas prison camp in Manila, they continued to perform their nursing duties despite severe shortages of food and medical supplies.

Hamilton Field and the Birth of the United Nations

On April 24, 1945, British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden arrived at Hamilton Field en route to the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco. 

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Representing one of the conference’s leading Allied powers, Eden was scheduled to deliver the open address to delegates from  50 nations, launching a global effort to build peace after World War II.

Two months later, on June 26, President Harry S. Truman landed at Hamilton Field to attend the closing session of the conference. 

During his visit, he toured the base and met with wounded soldiers at the hospital, highlighting both the human cost of war and the hopeful vision of international cooperation.

September 18, 1947: The U.S. Air Force was officially established as a separate branch of the armed forces.  Hamilton Army Airfield was redesignated as Hamilton Air Force Base, marking a major transformation in America’s military structure. The change reflected a growing recognition of air power as a strategic force, one that had proven decisive during World War II and would continue to shape local military policy.

In January 1951, Hamilton Air Force Base was officially reassigned to the Air Defense Command, marking the expansion of its role in defending the West Coast during the early stages of the Cold War.  Its mission included tracking, reconnaissance, and rescue operations throughout the North Pacific region.

The deployment of advanced jet aircraft positioned Hamilton Field as a pivotal Continental Air Defense installation. This strategic shift marked the end of its role as a major departure point for overseas duty; instead, Hamilton’s mission became the direct defense of the U.S. homeland.

Nike missile bases began appearing around the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1950s, part of the U.S. Army’s Cold War air defense strategy. While the sites themselves were operated by Army units, overall command and control of Bay Area air defenses was the responsibility of the Air Force.

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Hamilton played a central role in this system, serving as a communications hub that linked radar installations with underground missile launch sites.

Several factors led to the closure of Hamilton Field:

Shifting Defense Priorities: The emergence of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) rendered traditional air defense systems—like Nike missiles and jet interceptors—ineffective. Strategic air defense was moving to Air and Space Centers, not legacy bases like Hamilton.

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Diminished Strategic Role: Hamilton’s importance in national defense was declining as military technology and tactics evolved.

High Operating Costs: As one of the older bases, Hamilton was expensive to maintain and operate.

Community Impact: Population growth in surrounding areas brought increased concern over noise and disruption from base activities.

The final chapter of Hamilton Air Force Base closed with the departure of its last aircraft on January 6, 1976, symbolizing the end of an era.

In a poignant farewell, Brigadier General William Hathaway stood at attention, saluting the departing Air Force plane as it lifted off for the last time.

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The closure marked the conclusion of a more than 40-year relationship between Novato, Marin County, and the United States Air Force.

Old friends, former commanders, and longtime personnel gathered for a private ceremony to say their goodbyes.

The final—and still active—military unit on the former Hamilton Field site is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Pacific Strike Team. A component of the National Strike Force (NSF), the team is based in Hangars 1 and 2.

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Established in 1973, following the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972—better known as the Clean Water Act—the NSF was created in response to decades of unchecked pollution.

At the time, nearly two-thirds of America’s lakes, rivers, and coastal waters were considered unsafe for swimming or fishing.

The Strike Teams are specially trained to respond to environmental emergencies, including major oil spills, hazardous material releases, vessel salvage operations, natural disasters, radiation threats, and even weapons of mass destruction. Their toolkit includes advanced chemical testing equipment, oil containment gear, remotely operated mini-robots, and a fleet of trailerable small boats—ready for rapid deployment.

Today, three Strike Teams stand watch across the country:

• Atlantic Strike Team – Fort Dix, New Jersey

• Gulf Strike Team – Mobile, Alabama

• Pacific Strike Team – Right here at Hamilton Field

Between 1980 and 1983, Hamilton Air Force Base played a vital humanitarian role as the site of the Refugee Transit Center, operated by the International Organization for Migration. The center welcomed refugees fleeing conflict and upheaval in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

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Three former Air Force barracks served as temporary housing, supplemented by three smaller administrative buildings.

Staff members and volunteers at Hamilton offered the refugees warm clothing, and local Asian restaurants catered food. Hamilton offered a crucial overnight stop—a place to rest and regroup—to more than 180,000 refugees before they continued to new lives across the United States.