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Esler Field, also known as Esler Regional Airport , is a military and public use
airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...
in
Rapides Parish, Louisiana Rapides Parish () () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,023. The parish seat and largest city is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. ''Rapides'' is th ...
, United States, near the City of Pineville. It is located 10
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...
s (12
statute mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
s, 19
kilometre The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...
s) northeast of the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...
of
Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat and largest city of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River ...
, The airfield is owned by the
Louisiana Army National Guard The Louisiana Army National Guard (; ) is a component of the Louisiana National Guard, and the state's reserve force within the United States Army. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal ...
and is the home of Army Aviation Support Facility #2 (AASF#2). This airport is included in the FAA's
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. With the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of September 3, 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to develop a ...
for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a ''
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
'' airport. It has no scheduled
commercial airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...
service at present but was served by
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
in the past with mainline passenger jet service.


History


World War II

After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1919, the Army had abandoned
Camp Beauregard Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville (previously Camp Beauregard) is a Louisiana National Guard installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish, but also extending northward into Grant Pari ...
and turned the property over to the state of Louisiana, which returned it to the United States; however, interest in the military utilization of Camp Beauregard increased significantly in 1939 when war began in Europe. The United States needed a training ground for American troops. In 1940 the land was returned to the War Department for use as a
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
training area. That area included the now-abandoned Camps Claiborne and Livingston and what has become Esler Regional Airport. Construction of the airport, originally called Camp Beauregard Army Field, for the
United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
began in 1940. In the summer of 1940 and throughout 1941 the area was used for the
Louisiana Maneuvers The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held from August to September 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of ...
. The Air Corps used the airfield extensively during the maneuvers, with the 67th Observation Group stationing the 107th Observation Squadron at the airfield between 28 October 1940 and 14 December 1941. In addition, the 109th Observation Squadron used the airport from 27 February 1941 until 18 December 1942 flying light observation planes. The airfield was renamed Esler Army Airfield in 1941 to honor Lt. Wilmer Esler, a pilot who became the first casualty of the airfield when his plane crashed on April 11, 1941. Esler AAF was assigned to
Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, 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 ...
,
III Air Support 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 3 ...
. The 333d Air Base Group was the host unit at the airfield, being activated on 1 February 1942. The first unit assigned for training at Esler was the
12th Bombardment Group 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive bra ...
, arriving for
B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...
training on 21 February 1942. The unit remained at Esler until July until being deployed to the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and being assigned to
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
. In December 1942, the mission was changed to training Reconnaissance units, and Esler was reassigned directly to Third Air Force. The 347th Army Air Force Base Unit became the host unit at the station. Reconnaissance groups receiving training at the airfield were: * 74th Reconnaissance Group, 13–28 December 1942 * 71st Reconnaissance Group, 24 January-31 March 1943 * 69th Reconnaissance Group, March–December 1943 *
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 ...
, 13 September-14 November 1943 In late 1943, Esler was again reassigned within Third Air Force, to the I Tactical Air Division, to become a close air support training field. The Division moved its headquarters to the field in April 1944. The
P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...
-equipped 372d Fighter Group trained at Esler in March and April 1944. With the departure of the 372d, the 353d Army Air Force Base Unit took over training for replacement pilots, and unit training ended. On 20 April 1945, the 353d BU was redesignated as the 353d AAF BU (Maneuver Station), and Esler supported various training maneuvers at Fort Polk, providing simulated tactical air support to Army units. On 1 August 1945, the airfield was again reassigned directly to Third Air Force. With the end of the war, inactivation of Esler Field began on 7 September 1945. However, the Air Force's inactivation was quite slow, with the airfield being put on standby status 31 January 1946. The 353d was redesignated as a Standby Unit, but not inactivated, keeping a skeleton force of 6 officers and 50 civilians assigned to the base until 31 May 1946 when the base was finally closed. The airfield remained Federal property until the 1950s when it was finally ceded to the Police Jury as surplus property. A small civilian airport opened after return to civil control.


Historical airline service

In the 1970s, the airport had scheduled passenger airline service provided by several air carriers including
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
which operated mainline jet aircraft from Esler. According to the February 1, 1976 edition of the
Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the United States, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, ...
(OAG), Delta was operating eight flights a day from the airport at this time with
Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...
and
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...
mainline jetliners.Feb. 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG), North American edition Destinations served on a nonstop or direct, no change of plane basis by Delta included Atlanta (ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), New Orleans (MSY), Washington, D.C. (DCA), Baton Rouge (BTR) and Shreveport (SHV). According to various Delta timetables from the 1970s, the airline also flew direct, no change of plane jet service at different times over the years from Esler to New York City (Kennedy (JFK) and Newark (EWR) airports), Philadelphia (PHL), Baltimore (BWI), Tampa (TPA), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Charlotte (CLT), Denver (DEN), Las Vegas (LAS) and Reno, NV (RNO).
Texas International Airlines Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States local service carrier, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTA), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Contine ...
(formerly known as Trans-Texas Airways, TTa) also served the airport at this time with Convair 600 turboprop aircraft with flights to Houston (IAH), Jackson, MS (JAN), Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX, (BPT) and Monroe, LA (MLU). In 1984, Best Airlines was serving Esler with nonstop
Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...
jet service to Atlanta, GA (ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW) and Gulfport, MS (GPT). Also during the 1980s, the airport was served by Royale Airlines, a regional airline that was based in Shreveport, Louisiana, with flights operated with twin turboprop aircraft including the
Grumman Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the co ...
(G-159) which was a regional airliner version of Grumman's successful propjet business aircraft. Royale operated nonstop service to Houston, Texas (serving IAH on behalf of
Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...
operating as the Continental Connection) and also flew as an independent air carrier nonstop to Baton Rouge (BTR), Lafayette (LFT), Lake Charles (LCH), Monroe (MLU), New Orleans (MSY) and Shreveport (SHV) in Louisiana as well as to Jackson, Mississippi (JAN) with direct one stop service being operated to Memphis, Tennessee (MEM).departedflights.com, Nov. 1, 1984 Royale Airlines system timetable; Jan. 1, 1987 Royale Airlines system timetable route map


A new role for Esler

In 1996, Esler Regional Airport became lifeless and quiet with an uncertain future after airport services including all scheduled passenger airline flights for central Louisiana were moved to the England Industrial Airpark and Community, the location of the former England Air Force Base which is now known as Alexandria International Airport (AEX). But the abandoned Esler presented the
Louisiana National Guard The Louisiana National Guard (; ) is the armed force through which the Louisiana Military Department executes the U.S. state of Louisiana's security policy. Consisting of the Louisiana Army National Guard, a reserve component of the United States ...
with a golden opportunity to expand the area available to conduct its training. On June 1, 2001, the Rapides Parish Police Jury transferred the airport's management to the
Louisiana Army National Guard The Louisiana Army National Guard (; ) is a component of the Louisiana National Guard, and the state's reserve force within the United States Army. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal ...
in a 99-year lease. Today, Esler is the site of numerous training exercises. About 60 percent of the airport's operations are military and the rest are civilian. Although Esler doesn't offer private jet passenger services it does provide both military and civilian aircraft fuel services through its civilian contractor Million Air Interlink Inc. While Alexandria International Airport is central Louisiana's primary airport and the leader of aviation services in the area, Esler is the area's secondary airport. The airport's runways can handle the heavy weight of most airline traffic, such as 137-passenger-capacity
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
s, 224-passenger-capacity
Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...
s and the
C-17 Globemaster The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...
s that are the primary cargo plane of the Air Force and weigh 169,000 pounds each.


Facilities and aircraft

The airport covers an area of 2,161 acres (875 ha) at an
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''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 equipotenti ...
of 112 feet (34 m) above
mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
. It has two
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
paved
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
s: 9/27 is 5,999 by 150 feet (1,828 x 46 m) and 14/32 is 5,601 by 150 feet (1,707 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending January 17, 2019, the airport had 12,725 aircraft operations, an average of 35 per day: 53%
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
and 47%
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
. At that time there were 30 aircraft based at this airport: 13 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 ge ...
, 1 jet and 16
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
.


See also

* Louisiana World War II Army Airfields *
List of airports in Louisiana This is a list of airports in Louisiana (a U.S. state), grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airports t ...


References


External links

* {{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II Airports in Louisiana Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Rapides Parish, Louisiana