[2] 82nd Airborne Division U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group As part of Exercise Test Drop in August 1952, the 406th Engineer Brigade constructed an airfield in the vicinity of Smith Lake on land acquired by Fort Bragg.

In May 1953 Fort Bragg engineers completed final plans for an expanded field and started construction the next summer.

On June 21, 1955, the airfield was renamed in honor of Warrant Officer Herbert W. Simmons, Jr., a pilot killed on November 3, 1953, when two H-29B helicopters collided near the field.

In the early 1960s Fort Bragg and Simmons played an important role in emerging air mobility.

Fixed wing aircraft based at Simmons included the XVIII Airborne Corps and 82nd Airborne Division liaison planes, Grumman OV-1 Mohawk observation aircraft and the 4th ASTA (Aerial Surveillance Target Acquisition) attached to the 82nd Aviation Battalion.

On the first day of the Gulf War, February 24, 1991, the 18th Aviation Brigade airlifted troops and equipment into Iraq.

By 2002 Simmons AAF had more than 180 aircraft, along with Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache flight simulators.