Pierce Field

Pierce Field

Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary Field #2
Pierce Field ; Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary Field #2
Part of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC)
Located near: Valparaiso, Florida
	2006 USGS airphoto
	Pierce Field
Coordinates	30°34′49″N086°26′54″W / 30.58028°N 86.44833°W Coordinates: 30°34′49″N086°26′54″W / 30.58028°N 86.44833°W
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force ; Eglin Air Force Base
Site history
Built	1941
In use	1942-Present
Battles/wars	World War II

Last updated March 09, 2022

Pierce Field, (Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary Field #2), is a satellite airfield located northeast of the Main Base, 5.5 miles north-northeast of Valparaiso, Florida.

Overview

Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #2 is named Pierce Field for Lt Col George E. Pierce, USAAF, killed 19 January 1942 while piloting B-25C-1 Mitchell, AAF Ser. No. 41-13118, which crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 2 miles (3.2 km) S of Destin, Florida.^[1] Joe Baugher cites date of 19 October 1942 for loss.^[2] Pierce Field is also known as Site C-3.

History

With the onset of World War II, the Eglin Field military reservation was greatly expanded when the Choctawhatchee National Forest was turned over to the War Department by the U.S. Forestry Service on 18 October 1940, and a series of auxiliary airfields were constructed from January 1941 onward.

The history of Pierce Field is largely unknown, and the exact date of construction of Pierce Field is undetermined. It was constructed in a similar manner to a fully equipped base with three 4,000-foot runways, a large parking ramp, at least one hangar and numerous support buildings. It was possibly used by then-Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle in 1942 as one of several practice sites on the greater Eglin Field complex for the short takeoff runs needed for his B-25 bomber crews to conduct their carrier-launched raid on Japan.

At some point after 1945, a new 8,000-foot jet runway was laid down west of the north/south runway 18/36, with 18/36 also being extended to 8,000 feet. The use of these jet runways, however is undetermined. Between November 1966 and 1970, Pierce Field was the site of the 560th Civil Engineering Squadron, also known as the Civil Engineering Field Activities Center, for the training of RED HORSE personnel.

In 1975, after the Fall of Saigon, the installation served as one of four South Vietnamese resettlement camps established in the United States as part of Operation New Arrivals, the largest humanitarian airlift in history. Air Force personnel housed and processed more than 10,000 Southeast Asian refugees in a "Tent City." It again became an Air Force refugee resettlement center processing over 10,000 Cubans who fled to the U.S. between April and May 1980.

Current status

The active use of the field initially ended in the late 1970s, was reactivated in the late 1980s and closed again in 2000. The airfield remains under the ownership of the United States Air Force and is under the jurisdiction of the 96th Test Wing, formerly the 96th Air Base Wing (96 ABW) at Eglin AFB. It is likely used as part of the testing of new weapon systems, defensive systems and support systems. It was used as part of the former Air Armament Center (AAC) until that organization was disestablished in October 2012 and merged with the 96th Air Base Wing into the current 96th Test Wing.

The last active-duty USAF F-4D Phantom II, AF Ser. No. 68-8800, has been sitting on ramp at Pierce Field since 1992.

Related Research Articles

Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about three miles (5 km) southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.

Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), the 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW), the USAF Special Operations School (USAFSOS) and the Air Combat Command's (ACC) 505th Command and Control Wing. It was named for First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Hurlburt, who died in a crash at Eglin. The installation is nearly 6,700 acres (27 km²) and employs nearly 8,000 military personnel.

McCoy AFB is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a front line Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War and Vietnam War. It was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone prior to the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971.

Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins, a World War II C-47 pilot who died near Sicily.

Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gunter Air Force Station. It has been a military training base since its opening in 1940.

Duke Field, also known as Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #3, is a military airport located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Crestview, in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States.

Royal Air Force Station Rattlesden or more simply RAF Rattlesden is a former Royal Air Force station located 9 miles (14 km) south east of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England.

North Air Force Auxiliary Airfield is a military airfield located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of North, a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States.

Graham Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in Marianna, Florida. After it was closed in 1960, it was reused as Marianna Municipal Airport.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Wyoming for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.

Taylor Field, now an industrial park, was an airport and military airfield located near Ocala, Florida. It was closed in 1962 and replaced by Ocala International Airport-Jim Taylor Field.

Naval Outlying Landing Field Choctaw is the United States Navy's designation for an auxiliary airfield that was originally constructed during World War II as Eglin Field Auxiliary Field # 10. It is located 16.6 miles northeast of Pensacola, Florida.

Wagner Field,, is a component of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. It is located northeast of the main base, 13.9 miles northeast of Valparaiso, Florida.

Eagle Pass Army Airfield is a former World War II military airfield complex. It is located 10.6 miles (17.1 km) north of Eagle Pass, Texas. It operated as a training base for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945.

Peel Field,, is a closed United States Air Force field. It is located 5.7 miles west of Valparaiso, Florida.

Piccolo Field,, is a closed United States Air Force field. It is located 9.3 miles northwest of Valparaiso, Florida.

Baldsiefen Field,, is a closed United States Air Force field. It is located 10.2 miles east of Valparaiso, Florida.

Biancur Field, (Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary Field #6,, is a satellite airfield located northwest of the Main Base, 5.9 miles north-northeast of Valparaiso, Florida. It is also known as site "Test Site B6".

Epler Field,, is a satellite airfield located west-northwest of the Main Base, 18.2 miles west of Valparaiso, Florida. It is designated Site B-12.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

↑ USAAF/USAF Accidents for Florida Archived 2014-10-07 at the Wayback Machine . Accident-Report.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-31.
↑ 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-6722 to 41-13296). joebaugher.com. August 27, 2011

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[ReferenceA-1] USAAF/USAF Accidents for Florida Archived 2014-10-07 at the Wayback Machine . Accident-Report.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-31.

[joebaugher.com-2] 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-6722 to 41-13296). joebaugher.com. August 27, 2011

[1]

[2]