Walker Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Roswell, New Mexico. It was opened in 1941 as an Army Air Corps flying school and was active during World War II and the postwar era as Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF). During the early years of the Cold War, it became the largest base of the Strategic Air Command. It is also known for the Roswell UFO incident, an event that occurred on 4 July 1947. It is alleged that a "flying disc" crashed during a severe thunderstorm near the base at Corona, New Mexico.
What became Roswell Army Air Field was acquired by the United States Army Air Forces in 1941 from rancher David Chesser for the purpose of establishing a Military Flying Training Center and Bombardier School. From the beginning, it was designed as a large, expansive facility, given the excellent flying weather in New Mexico. The airfield consisted of seven concrete runways, two parallel North/South 7329x200 and 7000x200; two parallel NE/SW 7200x200 and 5655x200; two parallel NW/SE, 6964x200 and 5900x200 and one E/W runway 6884x200 (E/W).
In addition, no fewer than nine auxiliary landing fields for overflow and touch/go landing/takeoffs were established in the area. Enough construction was completed for the base and airfield to be activated and assigned to the United States Army Air Corps Training Command on 20 September 1941.
