2.8 by 3.7 inches
The military use of Tallahassee Dale Mabry Field began in 1938 when the United States Army Air Corps established a contract flying school at the airport. In 1940 U.S. Senator Claude Pepper and Florida Governor Spessard Holland influenced the Army to make Dale Mabry Field a United States Army Air Force airfield as part of the buildup of the military prior to the United States entry into World War II. The airfield was named after Captain Dale Mabry of Tallahassee, who during World War I, experimented with the use of Balloons.
In October 1940 military activity began with the construction of a railroad siding and drainage improvements to overcome the swamp conditions at the site. Hundreds of laborers began clearing swampland for temporary quarters for Dale Mabry Army Airfield. The need for a place to train pilots prompted the federal government to set a 90-day completion deadline and construction began that month. The Army constructed three concrete runways to serve their needs. The field was described as having 2 paved runways. One runway was 4,000 feet (1,200 m) running northwest to southeast and a second was 2,500-foot (760 m) running north to south. Another 3,400-foot (1,000 m) sand & sod runway ran east to west. In addition, several sub-bases and auxiliary airfields were assigned
