Biggs Army Airfield, Biggs AAF, Biggs Field, or simply “Biggs” (IATA: BIF, ICAO: KBIF, FAA LID: BIF) is a military airport located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, in the United States. The airfield was previously Biggs Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command installation, between 1947 and 1966. The U.S. Army began operations supporting Ft. Bliss and its mission in 1973.
BIGGS ARMY AIR FIELD (FORT BLISS) HISTORY
Origins
What is now Biggs Army Airfield started life in 1915 as an encampment at Fort Bliss, Texas for the 82d Field Artillery. That location was on what is now Ft Bliss, approximately two miles, south southwest of the current Biggs Army Airfield. The next year aircraft of the 1st Aero Squadron used the field as a stopping point between San Antonio, Texas and Columbus, New Mexico, in response to Pancho Villa’s raid on the small town. They were equipped with Curtiss JN-2 “Jennys”, and their mission included scouting, observation and courier service for the cavalry and infantry units on the ground. The field was referred to as “Fort Bliss Aviation Field”. In 1919, the field was used to conduct air patrols of the US-Mexican border, when two squadrons of DeHaviland DH-4 Bombers, known affectionately as “Flying Coffins”, replaced the frail Jennys and the Border Air Patrol was born.
BIGGS ARMY AIR FIELD (FORT BLISS) LOCATION
Biggs Army Airfield, Biggs AAF, Biggs Field, or simply “Biggs” (IATA: BIF, ICAO: KBIF, FAA LID: BIF) is a military airport located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, in the United States.
BIGGS ARMY AIR FIELD (FORT BLISS) FACTS
ICAO/IATA: BIF/KBIF
Lat: 31°50′58″N
Long: 106°22′48″W
Elevation: 3946 ft.
Runway length available: 03/21 13554×150 ft.
