Marshall Army Airfield

Marshall Army Airfield Marshall Air Force Base
Located near Fort Riley, Kansas
Marshall Army Airfield
Coordinates	39°03′09″N 096°45′52″W / 39.05250°N 96.76444°W / 39.05250; -96.76444 (Marshall AAF)
Type	Military/Civil Airfield
Site information
Owner	United States Army
Site history
Built	1912
In use	1912-Present

Airfield information
IATA: FRI ICAO: KFRI
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	United States Army
Elevation AMSL	1,066 ft / 325 m
Coordinates	39°03′09″N 096°45′52″W / 39.05250°N 96.76444°W / 39.05250; -96.76444Coordinates: 39°03′09″N 096°45′52″W / 39.05250°N 96.76444°W / 39.05250; -96.76444
Website	www.riley.army.mil
Map
KFRI Location of Marshall Army Airfield
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 4,503 1,373 Concrete

Marshall Army Airfield (MAAF) (IATA: FRI, ICAO: KFRI) is a military airfield located on Fort Riley, Kansas. It was opened in 1921. The primary mission for MAAF is to provide fully integrated fixed base helicopter operations for the Combat Aviation Brigade.

Airfield operations and services include Base Flight Operations, Control Tower, and Ground Approach Control Facility, USAF weather, Airport Safety, Air Space Management, Flight Simulator, Rapid Refuel Facility, and Crash/Fire/Rescue station. The airfield has an FAA approved instrument approach.

MAAF is the home of the 1st Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade; The Combat Aviation Brigade currently has approximately 2,200 Soldiers assigned. The brigade currently has Black Hawks, Apaches and Chinooks at Fort Riley — the number fluctuates as aircraft go through maintenance and reset rotations.

The unit is expecting nearly 120 aircraft total, including Kiowas. Co. A, 158th Aviation Regiment (AVIM); and numerous other military and civilian organizations. The airfield also provides CH-47, UH-60 and AH-64 Synthetic Flight Training Systems for all Fort Riley aviation units and specific Army National Guard aviation units.

One of the oldest military airfields in the United States, Marshall Army Airfield at Fort Riley, made its first appearance in history in November 1912 as the site of the first attempts in the United States to direct artillery fire from an airplane. Among the participants was a young lieutenant, Henry H. Arnold, who later became Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces. Long afterward Arnold recalled the various methods tried for transmitting observations and instructions: a primitive radio, smoke signals, and even colored cards, weighted with iron nuts and dropped through a stovepipe.

The airdrome from which Arnold made his flights was probably the polo field at Fort Riley. How and when the polo field turned into an air base is unknown

In 1921, Colonel Fred Herman selected the Smoky Hill Flats across the Kansas River as the location for a new airfield. The Fort Riley Flying Field opened in August of that year, and was home to the 16th Observation Squadron. The airfield was planned as a refueling point for cross-country flights and was equipped with hangars, underground fuel storage tanks, and lights for night operations. When the facilities were completed in 1923, the airfield was named Marshall Field after Brigadier General Francis C. Marshall, the Assistant Chief of Cavalry, who had died in a plane crash the year before.