Simmons Army AirfieldSimmons Army Airfield
at Fort Bragg. United States Army. Accessed 14 October 2009. is a military 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 ...

located in

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

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 located on the southeast portion of

Fort Liberty Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 29,000 military personnel. The military reserva ...

and supports the aviation needs of the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America ...

, the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

Special Operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

and

U.S. National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.

Units

US Army-82nd Aviation Regiment-Beret Flash

Combat Aviation Brigade A Combat aviation brigade (CAB) is a multi-functional brigade-sized unit in the United States Army that fields military helicopters, offering a combination of attack/reconnaissance helicopters (Boeing AH-64 Apache), medium-lift helicopters (Sikor ...

1st Squadron,

17th Cavalry Regiment The 17th Cavalry Regiment is a historical organization within the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry after the Pancho Villa Expedition. The unit was constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 17th Cavalry at Fort ...

formerly flew the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and swapped airframes to the AH-64E in 2017. ** US Army 1st BN-82nd Aviation Reg Flash

1st Battalion (Attack), 82nd Aviation Regiment AH-64E ** US Army 2nd BN-82nd Aviation Reg Flash

2nd Battalion (Assault), 82nd Aviation Regiment

UH-60M The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift Utility helicopter, utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transpo ...

3rd Battalion (General Support), 82nd Aviation Regiment UH-60M(Medevac),

CH-47F The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Ch ...

122nd Aviation Support Battalion

U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command * USASOAC Flash

United States Army Special Operations Command The United States Army Special Operations Command (Airborne) (USASOC ( )) is the command charged with overseeing the various special operations forces of the United States Army. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, it is the largest ...

Flight Detachment

History

As part of Exercise Test Drop in August 1952, the 406th Engineer Brigade constructed an airfield in the vicinity of Smith Lake on land acquired by Fort Bragg. The field originally known as Smith Lake Airfield. In June 1952 the 6th Transportation Company (Helicopter) arrived with 21 Sikorsky H-19C Chickasaw and two

Bell H-13 Sioux The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter and manufactured by Westland Aircraft under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. Development In 1947, the United States Army ...

helicopters; it deployed to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in December 1952 as the first combat helicopter company. In May 1953 Fort Bragg engineers completed final plans for an expanded field and started construction the next summer. In August 1954, the runway was repaved, aprons improved, and the floor was laid for field's first hangar. On June 21, 1955, the airfield was renamed in honor of Warrant Officer Herbert W. Simmons, Jr., a pilot killed on November 3, 1953, when two H-29B helicopters collided near the field. During the mid-1950s, the

Helio U-10 Courier The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraft Company. The design featured four leadin ...

aircraft was tested at Simmons. Most of the Army's U-10s were stationed at Fort Bragg and in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

. The first U-10 from Fort Bragg is now in the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker in Alabama. Construction in 1956-1957 converted the field to a permanent army airfield, allowing transfer of air activities from overcrowded

Pope Air Force Base Pope Field is a U.S. military facility located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective 15 November 2012 ...

to Simmons AAF. In 1957 the 82nd Aviation Company was formed at Simmons. In the early 1960s Fort Bragg and Simmons played an important role in emerging air mobility. In December 1961 the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter), departed Simmons AAF with their

Piasecki H-21 The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicop ...

helicopters for duty in Vietnam. The 8th and another unit, the 57th Transportation Company, were the first helicopter units to serve in Southeast Asia. By 1965 Simmons comprised 23 permanent buildings, which remain in use. Fixed wing aircraft based at Simmons included the

and 82nd Airborne Division liaison planes,

Grumman OV-1 Mohawk The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an armed military observation and attack aircraft that was designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It has a twin turboprop configuration, and carries two crew members in side-by-side seating ...

observation aircraft and the 4th ASTA (Aerial Surveillance Target Acquisition) attached to the 82nd Aviation Battalion. During July 1965 the 116th Assault Helicopter Company formed at Simmons and trained for duty in Vietnam. The company departed for Vietnam in October 1965 and joined the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion there. The 18th Aviation Brigade activated at Fort Bragg on July 1, 1966, formed from the 269th Aviation Battalion. Following seven months of training, the 269th departed for Vietnam in January 1967 where it served in the

12th Aviation Group 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. By 1976 Simmons had 176 aircraft assigned and 375 flights operations a day. In 1983 the number grew to 298 aircraft. The

82nd Combat Aviation Battalion The 82d Aviation Regiment, part of the U.S. Army, has three battalions and one separate company under the Combat Aviation Brigade, 82d Airborne Division. The brigade also has the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment and the 122d Aviation Support B ...

expanded in July 1979, acquiring the 119th and 129th Assault Helicopter Companies of the 269th Aviation Battalion. These two companies became A and B companies of the newly designated 82nd Combat Aviation Battalion. The Battalion deployed to Grenada for

Operation Urgent Fury The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

in October 1983 and remained into 1984. In the early 1980s there were 22 operating activities with total personnel strength of 2,134 and 298 assigned aircraft. On August 17, 1987 the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 269th Aviation Battalion, reorganized and was redesignated as the

18th Aviation Brigade The 18th Aviation Brigade ("Black Barons") is an inactive aviation brigade of the United States Army. Its initial formation in 1987 drew upon the resources of the 269th Aviation Battalion, originally formed in 1966. History The 269th Aviation B ...

. The brigade served in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, first

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, and provided storm relief following Florida's

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...

. On the first day of the Gulf War, February 24, 1991, the 18th Aviation Brigade airlifted troops and equipment into Iraq. By 2002 Simmons AAF had more than 180 aircraft, along with

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift Utility helicopter, utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transpo ...

and

Boeing AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night visi ...

flight simulators.

Facilities

Simmons AAF has one

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 ...

designated 9/27 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 measuring 4,650 by 110 feet (1,417 x 34 m).

References

External links

* *
{{NCMilitary Airports in North Carolina Transportation in Cumberland County, North Carolina Military installations in North Carolina United States Army airfields Buildings and structures in Cumberland County, North Carolina

Units

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links