Biggs Army Airfield

In August 1919 construction commenced on a steel hangar for an airship station at Camp Owen Bierne, Fort Bliss and in December 1919 the 8th Balloon Company moved there from Brooks Field, Texas.

[2] On 16 March 1948 the 97th Bombardment Wing, Heavy operating B-29 Superfortresses moved to Biggs AFB from Smoky Hill Air Force Base, Kansas.

In January 1966 Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics) Paul Ignatius testified to Congress that "The operational environment at Biggs poses serious problems.

[8] Vietnamese instruction continued at the Defense Language Institute-Southwest (DLISW) until 2004, concurrent with the establishment in 1972 of the US Army's Sergeants Major Academy.

[9] The former Biggs AFB remained under DoD control in a caretaker status until 1973 when it was transferred to the U.S. Army as a sub-post of nearby Fort Bliss.

Biggs AFB gate in the late 1950s