Biggs Field

Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso County was originally named Biggs Field for Lt. James A. Biggs, an El Paso pilot killed in France in 1918. Though after World War I Biggs Field became the station of the First Surveillance Group, it was little more than a refueling stop until the outbreak of World War II, when it was greatly expanded by a $10 million construction program. In the summer of 1942 it became headquarters of the Twentieth Bomber Command and the Sixteenth Bombardment Operational Training Wing; B-17, B-24, and B-29 crews trained there. With the foundation of the United States Air Force in 1947 the field was renamed Biggs Air Force Base. Both the Tactical Air Command and the Strategic Air Command operated from the base until it was turned over the United States Army in 1966 and designated Biggs Army Air Field. In the early 1990s the field continued to serve as a support base for nearby Fort Bliss.