Dijon-Longvic Air Base was one of the oldest of the Armée de l'Air, being established in 1914, having origins beginning in September 1910 as a civilian aerodrome.

In the years following the sumptuous "aviation parties" that were held in Dijon (from 22 to 25 September 1910), the French War Department decided to build a military airfield near the city, and on 7 July 1913, nine hectares located between the villages of Ouges and Longvic, near the National Road 468, were declared of public utility.

Civil aviation was built near the future base 102, at the northern end of the coast and southwest of Dijon, aeronautical lighthouse great power of Mt.

Initially, during the Occupation of France, it was used as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp for French and Allied personnel, during August and September 1940, who surrendered during the German Blitzkrieg, being named "Front Stalag 155".

German engineers moved in during the winter of 1940/1941 and expanded the main runway from 800 to 1400m in length, in addition to constructing many new buildings to replace the destroyed French facilities.

[3] The first operational Luftwaffe unit to take up residence at Dijon was IV/KG 55 "Greiff", in February 1941, consisting of three squadrons (Staffel) numbers 10, 11 and 12, equipped with twelve Heinkel He 111 bombers each.

Tactical air units of Twelfth Air Force, moving up from Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon attacked the base with B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt attacks, dropping 500-pound general-purpose bombs on the airfield, hangars, maintenance shops and other support buildings, causing great damage to the Luftwaffe aircraft as well as destroying much of the support station.

Their work paid off, as Dijon Air Base was declared operationally ready on 25 September, about two weeks after their arrival.

In addition to the American units, the Free French Air Force operated B-26 Marauders from Dijon beginning on 11 October 1944.

The war had left the airbase in genuine ruins, littered with rubble, debris, scrap metal and charred remains of airplanes.

A number of aircraft remains and unexploded German munitions had been hastily bulldozed into bomb craters, all of which needed to be removed.

[3] The station area and the hangars and aircraft mechanical shops were devastated, also with huge quantities of unexploded munitions still littering the ground.