DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Biggs Army Airfield, out there in El Paso County. Now, if you want to talk about a piece of ground that's done just about everything short of launching a rocket to the moon — well, hold on, because we'll get to something close before this story's done. Military aviation in El Paso goes back to around 1913, and it started on land that had been the first location of the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy, right there on Fort Bliss.
Humble beginnings, modest patch of earth. But that ground had ambitions. By 1916 and into 1917, the 1st Aero Squadron was operating out of what was then called Fort Bliss Field, flying in support of the Punitive Expedition into Mexico.
You think about those early aircraft — rattling, fragile, loud — and the sheer nerve it took to run those missions. After that expedition wound down, the field settled into a new role as home to the Border Air Patrol, from 1919 to 1921. Watching the Rio Grande from the sky.
Keeping an eye on things. Then came January 5, 1925, and the War Department made it official — the field was renamed for James B. Biggs. "Buster," they called him.
A native El Pasoan. A World War I fighter pilot. Killed in France in 1918.
His name went on the field because this ground already knew something about what it cost to send men into the sky. In 1926 — six years after the activation of the 8th Airship Company, mind you — the field pulled up stakes and relocated to Camp Owen Bierne, north of the Fort Bliss cantonment area. Not every airfield gets to move.
This one did, and it took its name with it. Then came World War II, and Biggs Field found out what it was truly capable of. The Army expanded the runway, added new facilities on adjacent land east of Camp Bierne, and this once-modest strip of West Texas hardpan became an important training base and the headquarters for the 20th Bombardment Command of the Second Air Force.
But there's more. Biggs also served as a key transient point for new aircraft moving from West Coast factories to the European Theater. Thousands of miles of open country between the Pacific and the Atlantic, and Biggs sat right there in the middle of it — a waystation between the factory floor and the war.
When the United States Air Force stood up as its own separate military branch in 1947, Biggs got a new title to go with its new era. On February 1, 1948, it became Biggs Air Force Base. Then the 97th Bomb Wing arrived, and with it came inclusion into the Strategic Air Command — and the need for still more expansion.
This field just kept growing, kept becoming more than what it had been the year before. In 1966, Biggs was declared inactive as an Air Force base. The wheel turned, and it came back under U.S.
Army command. Today, it holds the distinction of being the largest of the Army's airfields — capable of accommodating all aircraft. Every wingspan, every weight class.
All of them welcome. And about that not-quite-a-rocket-to-the-moon business? Since 1979, Biggs Army Airfield has supported NASA space shuttle ferry flights.
The same patch of earth where a handful of aviators buzzed the border in 1913 ended up hosting the space shuttle. Buster Biggs, fighter pilot, killed in France in 1918 — I'd like to think his name sitting on that field is fitting. Because that ground never once stopped reaching for something higher.
Today, through a variety of aviation activities, Biggs Army Airfield keeps right on supporting military operations at Fort Bliss. Over a hundred years of sky. Still open for business.
What the marker says
Military aviation in El Paso began circa 1913 at what had been the first location of the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy on Fort Bliss. Used by the 1st Aero Squadron in support of the Punitive Expedition into Mexico, 1916-17, Fort Bliss Field became home to the Border Air Patrol, 1919-21. On January 5, 1925, the War Department renamed it for James B. "Buster" Biggs, a native El Pasoan and World War I fighter pilot killed in France in 1918. In 1926, six years after activation of the 8th Airship Company, the field relocated to Camp Owen Bierne, north of the Fort Bliss cantonment area. During World War II, the Army expanded the runway and added new facilities on adjacent land east of Camp Bierne. With the improvements, Biggs Field became an important training base and headquarters for the 20th Bombardment Command of the Second Air Force. It also served as a key transient point for new aircraft en route from West Coast factories to the European Theater. With the establishment of the U.S. Air Force as a separate military branch in 1947, Biggs Field became Biggs Air Force Base on February 1, 1948. The arrival of the 97th Bomb Wing marked its inclusion into the Strategic Air Command, resulting in the need for further expansion. Declared inactive as an Air Force base in 1966, Biggs once again came under U.S. Army command, and it is the largest of the Army's airfields. Capable of accommodating all aircraft, Biggs Army Airfield has supported National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space shuttle ferry flights since 1979. Today, through a variety of aviation activities, the airfield continues to support military operations at Fort Bliss. (2006)