Beauregard Regional Airport is a public use
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
in
Beauregard Parish
Beauregard Parish (french: Paroisse de Beauregard) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,654. The parish seat is DeRidder. The parish was formed on January 1, 1913.
Beauregard Parish ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is owned by Beauregard Parish and is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of
DeRidder, Louisiana
DeRidder is a city in, and the parish seat of, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. A small portion of the city extends into Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Vernon Parish. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...
.
The airport serves the
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
community, with no scheduled
commercial airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
service.
History
Origins
The present Beauregard Regional Airport has a long and colorful history, which began prior to its use as an airfield. The airport property includes most of what was once the Graybow Community. In 1912 Graybow was an active community and the location of the Galloway Sawmill.
The sawmill had been built along the
Santa Fe Railroad
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...
tracks with the planer mill on one side of the tracks and the big mill, commissary, and office on the other side of the tracks.
Two decades later the nation was experiencing the effects of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. To counteract the unemployment caused by the depression, work projects were activated across the country. One such project was begun in 1934, west of DeRidder under the Auspices of the
Emergency Relief Authority which later became the WPA. This project in a stump littered field provided employment for about 400 men, who worked to clear what had once been a densely wooded region. They constructed two earthen runways on of land leased from the owner. The field was used very little. Barnstorming pilots would occasionally visit and offer rides for $2.00.
World War II
Interest in the military utilization of the airfield increased significantly in 1939 when war began in Europe. The United States needed a training ground for American troops. In the summer of 1940 and throughout 1941 the area was used for the "Louisiana Maneuvers".
The Beauregard Parish Police Jury bought the previously leased plus an additional for $11,000. An additional was later bought to make up . In February, 1941, the
visited the site urging that a proposed development be filed as a National Defense Project. The Police Jury and the City of DeRidder agreed to furnish the additional , plus sewage and water facilities, and to remove obstructions to air navigation. The cost to be $475,518.85 excluding labor. On 1 July 1941, a contract for Lease was signed between the Beauregard Parish Police Jury and the
United States Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
for a military airfield to be built on the site.
An immediate construction program began to convert the civilian airport into a military airfield and support complex. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed. Buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for long-term use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. Although some hangars had steel frames and the occasional brick or tile brick building could be seen, most support buildings sat on concrete foundations but were of frame construction clad in little more than plywood and tarpaper. During the war years, the base had what was needed for the welfare of the men: a post exchange, library, chapel, finance building, orderly rooms, headquarters sub-depot, officers and enlisted men's clubs, hospital, theater, swimming pool, shooting range, bowling and billiards.
Just before Christmas 1941, the first troops arrived at the DeRidder Army Air Base. It housed anywhere from 3000 to 5000 troops at a time. The airfield was assigned to
Third Air Force
The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...
as a training airfield.
Initial training was performed by the
III Reconnaissance Command
The III Reconnaissance Command is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 8 April 1946. After transferring to ...
, for reconnaissance and observation units. Units assigned to the airfield were:
*
74th Reconnaissance Group, 10 April13 December 1942
*
77th Reconnaissance Group
The 77th Aeronautical Systems Wing (77 ASW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Its World War II predecessor unit, the 77th Reconnaissance Group ...
, 25 July28 September 1942
In late 1942, the airfield was reassigned to
III Tactical Air Command
The III Tactical Air Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. It was disbanded on 24 October 1945. The command was established in 1941 as the 3rd ...
which performed medium and light bomber tactical bomber training. Units assigned to DeRidder and the aircraft they trained on were:
*
321st Bombardment Group
The 321st Air Expeditionary Wing was a United States Air Force unit assigned United States Air Forces Central, the USAF component command of United States Central Command. The unit was reestablished on 1 November 2008 and was a nexus of all Coal ...
(Medium), 1 December 1942 – 31 January 1943
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
*
312th Bombardment Group
31 may refer to:
* 31 (number)
Years
* 31 BC
* AD 31
* 1931 CE ('31)
* 2031 CE ('31)
Music
* ''Thirty One'' (Jana Kramer album), 2015
* ''Thirty One'' (Jarryd James album), 2015
* "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Wild, ...
(Dive), 20 February13 April 1943
A-24 Banshee
A- or a- may refer to:
;A-hyphen
* A- (plane), a U.S. military aircraft prefix
* Privative a, a prefix expressing negation
* Copulative a, a prefix expressing unification
;A-minus
* A−, a blood type in the ABO blood group system
The ABO ...
*
417th Bombardment Group, 4 August10 December 1943
A-20 Havoc
*
409th Bombardment Group, 10 December 1943 – 10 February 1944
A-20 Havoc
*
408th Fighter Group, 12 February26 March 1944
P-40 Warhawk
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...
on 31 March 1944, the II Tactical Air Division of III Tactical Air Command was assigned to DeRidder and conducted replacement training. Training ceased in February 1945 and the airfield was placed in reserve status. DeRidder Army Air Base was declared surplus on October 2, 1946 and transferred to
War Assets Administration
The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Ord ...
on April 30, 1947.
![DeRidder Army Airfield 474](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/DeRidder_Army_Airfield_474.JPG)
The Beauregard Parish Police Jury assumed responsibility for the airport that year. On December 23, 1948 the government deeded the base to the Police Jury under the terms of the Surplus Property Act.
Current use
A requirement of the deed was that the property had to remain a public airport and all benefits of the property must be used to benefit the airport. In this case the federal government not only gave the parish an airport but also gave a means by which the airport could provide for its own financial self-support. Today the airport includes over and is financially self-supporting.
The airport continues to host military exercises which include parachute jumps by
Fort Polk
Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish.
It was named to honor Leonidas Polk, the first ...
personnel. Today it operates as the largest general aviation facility that is located in the state of Louisiana. The hangar area is essentially unchanged today except that the control tower has long since been removed and replaced by a metal light beacon tower.
The World War II hangar remains in use as the main hangar and terminal of the Beauregard Regional Airport. The concrete vault of the Army Air Base Finance Office is located adjacent to the hangar. The streets as laid out during World War II are still in use and several foundations of original buildings are still intact.
[Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ]
Facilities and aircraft
Beauregard Regional Airport covers an area of at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of 202 feet (62 m) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. It has two
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s: 14/32 is 4,220 by 60 feet (1,286 x 18 m) with an
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
surface; 18/36 is 5,495 by 100 feet (1,675 x 30 m) with an asphalt/
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
surface.
For the 12-month period ending July 8, 2008, the airport had 14,400 aircraft operations, an average of 39 per day: 86%
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
and 14%
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
. At that time there were 21 aircraft based at this airport: 81% single-
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
and 19% multi-engine.
See also
*
Louisiana World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous air facilities in Louisiana for antisubmarine defense in the Gulf of Mexico and for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. The larger facilitie ...
*
DeRidder USO Building
References
External links
*
{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II
1934 establishments in Louisiana
Airports in Louisiana
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Louisiana
Buildings and structures in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana