Eagle Pass Army Airfield is a former

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

military airfield complex. It is located north of

Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County in the U.S. state of Texas. Its population was 28,130 as of the 2020 census. Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across th ...

. It operated as a training base for the

United States Army Air Forces 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 ...

from 1943 until 1945. Later, during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, Eagle Pass Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-188) was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Radar facility. It was operated by

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

on the site of the World War II air base. Opened in 1957, it was closed in 1963. The facility was finally closed in 1991 when the

ended its use of the airfield, having designated the field as Laughlin Air Force Auxiliary Landing Field #1 in 1962, using it as part of the pilot training school at

Laughlin AFB Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas. Overview Laughlin AFB, the largest pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and ...

History

World War II

The airport was activated on 30 June 1942 as Eagle Pass Army Air Field as part of the

Army Air Forces Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Corp ...

. It was assigned to the Central Flying Training Command (CFTC), being under the jurisdiction of the 57th Basic Flying Training Group, 33d Flying Training Wing (Advanced, Single-Engine).Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas The airfield consisted of three 5,500-foot concrete runways. During the summer of 1942, three runways were laid down along with a large parking ramp and taxiway system. Four large hangars along with support buildings, barracks a street network, electric, sewer and water lines were constructed. In addition, Eagle Pass controlled three auxiliary fields. * Cueves Field Aux #1 * Pinto Field Aux #2 * Eagle Pass Aux #3 The mission of Eagle Pass AAF was advanced flying training in single-engine trainers. Its principal trainer aircraft was the

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

. It was a third phase training base, its flying cadets having successfully completed primary and basic flight training. Upon graduation, the flying cadets were commissioned as Second Lieutenants and assigned to one of the numbered air forces for assignment to an operational unit. The 57th Basic Flying Training Group consisted of the following subordinate units: * 367th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron * 1046th Guard Squadron * 354th Aviation Squadron (Separate) * 826th Flying Training Squadron (Single Engine) * 827th Flying Training Squadron (Single Engine) On 1 March 1944, aircraft training units in the United States were re-organized and the 57th was inactivated, being taken over by the 2516th Army Air Force Base Unit. On 23 November 1944, the training at the base was changed to a phase one basic flying school, providing flight training to cadets with little or no previous flying training. File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Control Tower.jpg, Airfield control tower File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Base Chapel.jpg, Base Chapel File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Trainees.jpg, Flight Cadets marching to a ground class. File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - AT-6C Texans.jpg, North American AT-6C Texan trainers on flight line. File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Flight Instructors.jpg, Flight Instructors File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - AT-6C Texans Takeoff.jpg, Taking off, formation flying File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Base HQ.jpg, Base Headquarters building File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Coke Break.jpg, After flight break with flight instructor File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Alert Shack.jpg, Awaiting training flight File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Chow Hall.jpg, Chow Line File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Physical Training.jpg, Physical Training File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Gas Mask Training.jpg, Gas Mask Training File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Day Off.jpg, Between ground training classes File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Skeet Range.jpg, Skeet target practice range File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Club Dance.jpg, Club dance File:Eagle Pass Army Airfield - Barracks Life.jpg, Barracks life On 19 April 1945, Army Air Forces Training Command notified the base commander at Eagle Pass that the station would be inactivated. Personnel began to be transferred to other bases and the number of personnel was decreased rapidly. All flight training at the field was discontinued on 30 April 1945 and the base was turned over to Air Technical Service Command; the base was inactivated on 1 May 1945. After inactivation, all useful military equipment was transferred from the base; the wood and tarpaper buildings were dismantled or sold. Title however, was retained by the United States Air Force and the facility was carried as a reserve airfield in the postwar years and through the 1950s.

Air Defense Command

In 1953, the United States Air Force Air Defense Command requested a third phase of twenty-five mobile radar sites be constructed to supplement the permanent national network of sites established during the

. In 1957, the Air Force returned and reactivated a portion of the reserve World War II facility; opening Eagle Pass Air Force Station on a small area of the former ground station.A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946–1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado The

733d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron The 733d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector, Aerospace Defense Command, stationed at Eagle Pass Air Force Station, Texas. It was inactiv ...

was assigned to Eagle Pass AFS by the

33d Air Division The 33rd Air Division (33d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 ...

on 3 July 1957. The squadron began operating an

AN/FPS-20 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

A search radar and an

AN/FPS-6 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Sta ...

height-finder, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.Information for Eagle Pass AFS, TX
/ref> In addition to the main facility, Eagle Pass operated several

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating i ...

Gap Filler sites: * Carrizo Springs, TX (TM-188A): * Laredo, TX (TM-188B/C/TM-189B): In March 1963 the Air Force ordered the Radar site to close and operations ceased on 1 August 1963. With the closure of the ADC radar site, the majority of the station was disposed of, although the airfield was retained by the Air Force.

Air Training Command

A portion of the wartime Eagle Pass airfield was reopened under the name of Laughlin AF Aux #1 in 1962 for touch and go landings by

T-37 Tweet The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The T ...

training aircraft based at

. The wartime NW/SE (14/32) runway was refurbished and asphalted, with the runway extended to the southeast to accommodate overruns on each end. The airfield was uncontrolled and no personnel were assigned to the field. In 1991 a replacement auxiliary airfield was built in nearby Spofford , and Eagle Pass Auxiliary field was closed.

Current use

With the closure of the radar station in 1963, the World War II station area was disposed of by the Air Force and transferred to Maverick County. The former ADC military family housing area was redeveloped into a government civil housing development. The local government also took over the ADC water filtration plant and a sewage disposal plant. Several light commercial and industrial sites were built on the former air base. At some point between 1991 and 1994, after the closure of the flying field by the Air Force, the touch-and-go runway was apparently operated as a private airfield, named Bowles Airfield. In the late 1990s, Eagle Pass Municipal Airport was closed and general aviation operations moved to Bowles Airfield, being renamed Maverick County Memorial International Airport (FAA: 5T9). Today, the airport has about 50 general aviation flight operations per month, but no commercial airline service. The airport utilizes the former Air Force NW/SE (14/32) runway, its asphalt in fair condition. The airport also has a terminal and FBO building constructed on the former World War II parking ramp. The large World War II airfield not used by the Air Force or the airport remains abandoned and left to the elements. Concrete foundations of two of the wartime hangars remain, the structures torn down in the 1960s, and the large parking ramp remains, largely in a deteriorated state. One of the World War II hangars remains, it is utilized by a private firm. The Air Defense Command radar station is largely intact. Following the radar-site closure, the FPS-20A and FPS-6 towers were torn down in late 1965. Several abandoned barracks remain standing, although one of the buildings has a collapsed second floor along with the station support buildings, the operations buildings remain standing; all concrete and steel structures, largely overgrown with vegetation and deteriorated after 50 years of abandonment. Many of the former streets of the station remain in undeveloped areas.Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.

References

External links

Eagle Pass Air Force Station
from the ''

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

'' of the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...

Class 44-D and 44-E yearbooks from Eagle Pass AAF
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II 1942 establishments in Texas Defunct airports in Texas Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas Military airbases established in 1942 Military installations closed in 1991 1991 disestablishments in Texas