Sharpe Field

Military Deactivation. Sharpe Field was an auxiliary training field for the main Tuskegee Army Airfield. With the end of World War II in 1945, the massive demand for pilot training ceased. The U.S. military dramatically scaled down its operations, and numerous training bases and their auxiliary fields, including Sharpe Field, were deemed unnecessary and closed.

The site has been completely repurposed and is now an industrial park known as the Tuskegee Commerce Center. The original airfield layout is no longer intact, although faint outlines of the former runways can be discerned in satellite imagery. The land is occupied by large industrial and manufacturing buildings, including facilities for advanced materials and composites manufacturing. The site is actively used for commercial and industrial purposes and bears no resemblance to its original state as an airfield.

Sharpe Field holds significant historical importance as a key component of the 'Tuskegee Experience.' Officially designated as Tuskegee Army Airfield Auxiliary #2, it was one of several satellite fields used for the primary flight training of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators in the United States Army Air Forces. Cadets would begin their flight training here and at other auxiliary fields, learning the fundamentals of flying in trainer aircraft like the Boeing-Stearman PT-17 'Kaydet' biplane. Successfully completing this primary phase allowed them to advance to basic and advanced training at the main Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Airfield. Therefore, Sharpe Field was one of the very first places where these legendary pilots took to the skies, making it a hallowed ground in American military and civil rights history.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Sharpe Field as an airport. The site has been extensively redeveloped for industrial use for decades, and the original aviation infrastructure has been completely removed or built over. Re-establishing an airport on this site would be logistically and financially prohibitive. The area's current aviation needs are served by the nearby Moton Field Municipal Airport (ICAO: KMAC), which is itself a National Historic Site dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen.