MARCH IN REVIEW: An unmatched view

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. John Hale
  • 452nd AMW Historian
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. --  An Army Air Service soldier gets a bird's eye view of March Field from atop the original water tower, sometime between the summer of 1918 and 1922. The view is to the west, along what is now B Street. The hangars and the flight line lie to the south. 

The original flight line ran east to west on the south side of the hangars, encompassing the area now occupied by the Hap Arnold House, the Base Gym, the Cultural Center, and other buildings along that line. When the base reopened in 1927, Captain Earle H. Tonkin assumed command and began preparations for the new layout for March Field. Due to better information on prevailing wind and weather patterns, the flight line was changed to its present northwest to southeast orientation, where it has remained for the past 80 years. 

The soldier pictured may be on the water tower to perform some of the constant maintenance that was required to minimize leaking. No matter how many hours the soldiers spent repairing the tower, however, it continued to leak, and one of the first construction projects in 1929 was to replace the tower with the one that still stands along Meyer Drive today.