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Alliance Municipal Airport

(former Alliance Army Airfield)
Alliance Municipal Airport; (former Alliance Army Airfield)
	View of terminal building (2017)
	IATA: AIA; ICAO: KAIA; FAA LID: AIA;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Alliance
Serves	Alliance, Nebraska
Elevation AMSL	3,931 ft / 1,198 m
Coordinates	42°03′12″N 102°48′14″W / 42.05333°N 102.80389°W
Website	www.flyalliancene.com
Maps
	; FAA airport diagram
Runways
Statistics (2022)
Aircraft operations (year ending 5/31/2022)
Aircraft operations (year ending 5/31/2022)	13,697
Based aircraft	53
	Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Alliance Municipal Airport (IATA: AIA^[2], ICAO: KAIA, FAA LID: AIA) is in Box Butte County, Nebraska, three miles southeast of the city of Alliance, which owns it.^[1] Denver Air Connection offers scheduled passenger flights to Denver, which are subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.^[3]

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility (the commercial service category requires 2,500 enplanements per year).^[4]

History

Alliance Municipal Airport was built during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) as one of eleven USAAF training airfields in Nebraska during World War II. On April 14, 1942, the secretary of war authorized the establishment of the field. It was built between summer 1942 and August 1943. The 4,205-acre (17.02 km²) site is bordered by low rolling sandhills to the east, and a wide plain on the north, west and south. Snake Creek flows through the southern section of the property.

During construction over 5,000 workers came from all over the country, causing a housing shortage. The population of Alliance doubled almost overnight. Workers moved into garages, store rooms, cellars, attics, and even their own trailers in established parks. Many of the workers were Sioux Indians from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations, Mexicans from the Southwest, and African Americans from Wichita and Kansas City.

The cantonment housing area of the airfield covered 1,088 acres (4.40 km²), and had 775 buildings and other structures, including hangars, chapels, warehouses, barracks, mess halls, service buildings, and latrines. Some were brick and steel, such as aircraft hangars, but most were frame construction on concrete foundations. Tar paper and plywood were generally used for walls and flooring, as the buildings were considered temporary, to be used for a few years. The airfield had a railroad spur, power plant, waterworks, sewage system and 35,503 feet (10,821 m) of runways. The airfield had been planned as a training facility for paratroops and air commandos, which needed long runways for C-47 Skytrains to tow gliders.

On August 22, 1943, a huge crowd of 65,000 people gathered for the dedication of Alliance Army Airfield, a training facility for Army paratroops and air crews. Between the opening of the airfield and spring 1944, the I Troop Carrier Command, 434th Troop Carrier Group commanded the airfield. The 411th Army Air Force Base Unit commanded the support elements at Alliance as part of Air Technical Service Command. In addition to the C-47s, the unit repaired B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator aircraft from other airfields.

Alliance AAF was divided into air operations, quartermaster, troop cantonment, and gunnery ranges. The airfield was home to as many as 14,000 paratroops in the area, using C-47 Skytrains as powered troop carriers, and CG-3/CG-4 Waco glider troop carriers for their training aircraft. The sandhills were thought to provide a softer landing than wooded areas for jumping paratroops. Known units that trained at Alliance AAF were:

403d Troop Carrier Group (December 18, 1942 - May 3, 1943)

The group eventually moved to the South Pacific as part of Thirteenth Air Force.

434th Troop Carrier Group (9 February 1943 - 5 September)