Luke's One Million Hours
On 7 February 1944 Luke Field completed 1,000,000 hours of flying, a milestone in its progress and development. As the hour of expectancy approached, Col. John C. Nissley, commanding officer, climbed into ship X-1 and logged the remaining minutes. On the flightline to greet Col. Nissley were Col. Lester S. Harris, Director of Training, under whose supervision the total flying time was ammased; Major Hugh A. Griffith, Jr., Base Operations Officer, and Capt. William A. Payton, Assistant Operations Officer.