Moore Army Airfield is a former airfield located in

Fort Devens Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer, Massachusetts, Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts, Shirley, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and Harvard, Massachusetts, Harvard in Worcester ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It was closed following the closure of the fort in 1995. It is named for Ayer native Chief Warrant Officer 2

Douglas Moore Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American composer, songwriter, organist, pianist, Conducting, conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is genera ...

. It was the only Army Airfield named for someone killed in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It is currently used for racing and State Police driver training.

History

Beginnings

The earliest information concerning the construction of the airfield dates to 1 July 1926. It was originally known as Ayer (Camp Devens) Emergency Field. The sod airfield's dimensions were: . It also ran northwest/southeast. Camp Devens Airfield, as it was called later, was operated by the Army. A second runway was established the following year. Approximate dimensions were said to be . In 1934, it was marked as an auxiliary airfield to the Navy.

World War II

When the nearby fort was expanded in 1940, the airport supposedly "gained" its own airfield. It was described as having a runway. In 1944, the army withdrew from the airfield and it became known as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Ayer, which supported training operations at Squantum Naval Air Station. Carrier Air Groups 4 and 83 were at Ayer in 1944. The nearby Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Beverly was used as a bounce field.

Postwar years

The Navy discontinued their use of Ayer NAAS for unknown reasons between the years of 1944–1946.

was deactivated as part of demobilization, in 1946, but it was reopened in 1948. By 1954, it was known as Ayer AAF. Then it was renamed Fort Devens AAF between 1954 and 1959. It had three operating runways but they were used intermittently on and off throughout the years. The longest runway was listed in 1960 as being 3,745 feet (not including overrun). In the 1970s it got an upgraded control tower and it was used for helicopter operations. The air traffic controllers worked in conjunction with their counterparts at the nearby Hanscom AFB. Around 1976 the field was renamed Moore Army Airfield.

Closure and redevelopment

The field was closed around 1995 after the Army left. It is now a State Police driver training facility on week days. On weekends the runways are currently the largest and only centrally located venue in southern

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

for

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...

Solo style autocross competitions.New England Region SCCA Solo II
/ref> Several other clubs also use the runways for similar competitions.ne-svt
/ref>BMWCCA-Boston autocross

/ref>New England Region Porsche Club
North Country Porsche Club
/ref> There is now talk of putting an industrial park over the runways of Moore Army Airfield.

Groups Hosted

* 152nd Observation Squadron (1941–1943) * Carrier Air Group 4 * Carrier Air Group 83 *

10th Special Forces Group The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: Unconventional warfare (United States), ...

(Minus the First Battalion) (1968–1995)

Aircraft Hosted

* Aeronca L-16 * R-16/H-16 - Piasecki * North American BC-1 *

North American O-47 The North American O-47 is an American observation fixed-wing aircraft monoplane designed in the mid-1930s and used by the United States Army Air Corps during the World War II. It has a low-wing configuration, retractable landing gear, and a th ...

* O-49 * O-52 Owl * O-58 * HU-21 Workhorse/Shawnee * U-10D Super Courier * UH-1 Huey * C-45 Expeditor *

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

* C-12 Huron * UH-60 Blackhawk * U-10 Helio courier *

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

Accidents and Incidents

2003 Emergency Landing

In the morning hours of February 10, 2004, a single-engine Diamond DA20 Katana N-303EC suffered an in-flight engine-loss during an instructional flight. The aircraft landed at the closed airport with no additional damage or injuries.

References

External links

Moore Army Airfield
at GlobalSecurity.org {{MA Airport 1929 establishments in Massachusetts 1995 disestablishments in Massachusetts Airports in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Massachusetts Defunct airports in Massachusetts Fort Devens Military facilities in Massachusetts Closed installations of the United States Navy Former installations of the United States Army