Hickam

Portrait photograph of Lt. Col. Horace M. Hickam taken about 1934. On May 21, 1935, the War Department in Washington D.C. issued General Orders No. 4 designating the Hawaiian Department flying field as “Hickam Field” in honor of Hickam. The location of the new airfield was to be adjacent to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. (Courtesy photo provided by 15th Wing Historian)

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Hickam

Aerial photograph of early Hickam Field from June 1938 showing early construction and flying operations. On May 21, 1935, the War Department in Washington D.C. issued General Orders No. 4 designating the Hawaiian Department flying field as “Hickam Field” in honor of Lt Col. Horace Meek Hickam. The location of the new airfield was to be adjacent to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. (Courtesy photo provided by 15th Wing Historian)

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Hickam

A 1920 photograph of Lt. Col. Horace Hickam with a British Royal Aircraft Factory SE-5 biplane fighter, a World War I era aircraft, taken at Bolling Field, Washington D.C. On May 21, 1935, the War Department in Washington D.C. issued General Orders No. 4 designating the Hawaiian Department flying field as “Hickam Field” in honor of Hickam. The location of the new airfield was to be adjacent to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. (Courtesy photo by 15th Wing Historian)

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80th anniversary of Hickam Field dedication

Published May 29, 2015
By Jenny Crider
15th Wing Historian

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- On May 21, 1935, the War Department in Washington D.C. issued General Orders No. 4 designating the Hawaiian Department flying field as "Hickam Field" in honor of Lt Col. Horace Meek Hickam. The location of the new airfield was to be adjacent to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.

Lt. Col. Hickam died the previous year on Nov. 5, 1934 in an aircraft accident at Fort Crockett, Texas.

The Chief of the Air Corps board met on March 15, 1935. During that meeting members determined three possible names for the new Hawaiian Department field, Hickam being selected. The War Department authorized the Hawaiian Department to purchase the lands on April 3, 1935. Over the years, the marking of the dedication of the base in Lt. Col. Hickam's honor moved to 31 May.

Between October and December 1935, crews cleared 2,225.46 acres that would be Hickam Field. Early installation of infrastructure, initial hangars, and roads were accomplished in 1936 and 1937 as more buildings were completed including the base water tower, operations building, and a number of hangars.

The first units were stationed at Hickam Field beginning in September and October 1937. The base official activated on Sept 15, 1938. Construction of the base continued after that date and as additional units and personnel transferred to the airfield.

On Dec. 7, 1941, the name Hickam Field would become marked in history with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations on the island of Oahu.

Lt. Col. Horace Hickam

Horace Hickam was born in Spencer, Indiana in 1885. He began his military career by attending West Point from which he graduated in 1908.

In 1911, after several assignments to cavalry units, Hickam volunteered for aviation training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas along with 17 other young officers. The officers were not relieved of their regular duties but required to conduct flight training in their spare time. Only three of the 18 officers, including Hickam, became pilots before World War I.

In 1915, Hickam served under Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing, taking part in The Punitive Expedition into Mexico. For his part in the expedition, Hickam was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action.

Following several other cavalry assignments, in 1917 Hickam was assigned to the Signal Corps, Army Air Service, he returned to flying training May 1918 at Rockwell Field near San Diego, California. Completing flying training on Aug 15, 1918 Hickam earned the rating of Junior Military Aviator and continued on for further training in aerial gunnery and pursuit flight.

In early 1934, Hickam took part in the temporary takeover of air mail delivery by the Army Air Corp.

Later that same year, on November 5, 1934 while conducting night landings on an unlighted runway at Fort Crockett, Texas, Lt Col Hickam died from a broken neck after crashing his Curtiss A-12 Shrike.

He would soon after be recognized by the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps board charged with designating new flying fields "to be especially meritorious and outstanding, and deserves that his memory be honored by naming an important Air Corps activity after him.