The unit remained at Esler until July until being deployed to the Middle East and being assigned to Ninth Air Force.

In December 1942, the mission was changed to training Reconnaissance units, and Esler was reassigned directly to Third Air Force.

According to the February 1, 1976 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG), Delta was operating eight flights a day from the airport at this time with Boeing 727-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 mainline jetliners.

[7] 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 (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).

[7] In 1984, Best Airlines was serving Esler with nonstop Douglas DC-9-10 jet service to Atlanta, GA (ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW) and Gulfport, MS (GPT).

Royale operated nonstop service to Houston, Texas (serving IAH on behalf of Continental Airlines 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).

But the abandoned Esler presented the Louisiana National Guard 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 in a 99-year lease.