Luke Air Force Base is named for the first aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor-2d Lt. Frank Luke Jr. Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I (14 of these German observation balloons) in the skies over France before being killed, at age 21, on Sept. 29, 1918.

In 1940, the U.S. Army sent a representative to Arizona to choose a site for an Army Air Corps training field for advanced training in conventional fighter aircraft.

The city of Phoenix bought 1,440 acres of land which they leased to the government at $1 a year effective March 24, 1941. On March 29, 1941, the Del. E. Webb Construction Co. began excavation for the first building at what was known then as Litchfield Park Air Base.

Another base known as Luke Field, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, released its name when the base was transferred to the Navy in June 1941 and the fledgling Arizona base was called Luke Field at the request of its first commander, Lt. Col. Ennis C. Whitehead, who went on to become a lieutenant general as commander of Air Defense Command in 1950.

The first class of 45 students, Class 41 F, arrived June 6, 1941 to begin advanced flight training in the AT-6, although only a few essential buildings had been completed.

Flying out of Sky Harbor Airport until the Luke runways were ready, pilots received 10 weeks of instruction and the first class graduated Aug. 15, 1941. Capt. Barry Goldwater served as director of ground training the following year.

During World War II, Luke was the largest fighter training base in the Army Air Force, graduating more than 17,000 fighter pilots from advanced and operational courses in the AT-6, P-40, P-51 and P-38, earning the nickname, "Home of the Fighter Pilot." By Feb. 7, 1944, pilots at Luke had achieved a million hours of flying time. By 1946, however, the number of pilots trained dropped to 299 and the base was deactivated Nov. 30 that year. Soon after combat developed in Korea, Luke field was reactivated Feb. 1, 1951 as Luke Air Force Base, part of Air Training Command under the reorganized U.S. Air Force.Students trained in the P-51 Mustang and F-84 Thunderjet. Flying training at Luke changed to the F-100 and on July 1, 1958, the base was transferred from Air Training Command to Tactical Air Command.