A new group, “Friends of Naval Air Station (NAS) Ottumwa,” has recently been formed to preserve the history and Naval aviation heritage of the Ottumwa, Iowa, airport.
The old, two-story brick administration building still exists on the property, but is in need of repair since it has been unused for years. The group seeks to restore the building so that it can house an educational museum and encourage economic development in the Ottumwa area by renting space for business meetings and other functions.
To begin the renovation, the group hopes to raise funds through private and corporate donations, obtain grants, acquire material donations, and invest their own “sweat equity” in the project.
Ottumwa’s rich history includes 22 practice fields that were built by the Navy during World War II. Many of those fields have been lost to local development, but NAS Ottumwa continued its operations as a civilian airport after the war. Naval aviators who came through Ottumwa include Scott Carpenter, Richard Nixon, Jesse Leroy Brown, Robert E. Bowman, and Dorris D. Gurley, NAS Ottumwa’s first commander.
“Friends of NAS Ottumwa is incorporated and is currently working on an agreement with the city for the building,” said Stephen Black, adding, “the big hold-up is waiting on the 501(c)-3 ruling. Once that is granted, we will be considered a not-for-profit dating back to our incorporation date.”
Those who are interested in learning more about this project can contact Black at [email protected], 515-278-5219, or by writing to: Friends of NAS Ottumwa, P.O. Box 350, Johnston, Iowa 50131.
My dad Donald H. Race was an instructor at Ottumwa from May 1943 until sometime in late 1944. I recently found a VCR tape with recorded home movies which included some film from Ottumwa. A brief 5 sec pic of a Stearman doing a snap roll , some video of some navy buddies playing golf and a 5 second glimpse of him in front of the administrative buildng. I hope you can save the building.
Mark S. Race (Col, USAF Ret)
Mark, I’d love to get a copy of that tape. You can find me at [email protected]. Could you send a message from your normal email? Would like to hear more about your dad. We are also on Facebook at U.S. Naval Air Station Ottumwa.
The IRS 501 3(c) status has been granted dating back to our incorporation date of July 7th. WEB site construction is underway: http://www.nasottumwa.org ….. we also reserved http://www.nasottumwa.com to make it easier on folks.Â
A pair of books entitled U.S.Naval Air Stations of World War II by M.L.Shettle are a great start to research on places like NAS Ottumwa. Sporty’s has them.  Charles R. Wirt, Miami FLÂ
Thanks for the heads up on this. One of our board members has obtained a copy for our reference.