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Originally named Baer Army Air Base (or more colloquially, Baer Field), the base was named after Paul Baer, a Fort Wayne native, born in 1894. Baer, a sixteen victory Flying ace , flew with the Lafayette Escadrille and the 103d Aero Squadron American Expeditionary Force Air Service during World War I .
After the base was transferred to temporary inactive status, the city of Fort Wayne bought the airport from the federal government's General Services Administration for one dollar, renaming it Fort Wayne Municipal Airport in 1946, though colloquially the entire complex was still referred to as Baer Field, a practice reinforced by the reactivation of the base as Baer Field for military purposes ...
Fearing the loss of civilian access to Baer Field, city leaders took options to buy 700 acres (2.8 km 2) south of the city should the War Department decide to operate a military airfield in Fort Wayne. Early in January 1941, the War Department informed the city that it would locate a base in Fort Wayne if it could take possession by February 1.
Aviation arrived in 1919 with the opening of the city's first airport, Smith Field. The airport served as Fort Wayne's primary commercial airfield until Baer Field (now Fort Wayne International Airport) was transferred to the city in 1947 after serving as a military base during World War II. [43]
The city of Fort Wayne changed Baer Field Thruway to Airport Expressway, giving the road one name from I–69 to Paulding Road. [2] On October 17, 2007, the expressway was dedicated to honor State Representative Ben GiaQuinta .
A second squadron, the 163rd Fighter Squadron, was federally recognized and activated on 10 November 1947 at Baer Field, Fort Wayne. It was assigned to the 122d Fighter Group and also was equipped with F-51D Mustangs. Indiana Air Guard units were mobilized and served during the Korean War of the early 1950s and the Berlin Crisis of 1961.
The 163rd and the 113th Fighter Squadron at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, were the operational squadrons of the 122nd Fighter Group. Its mission was the air defense of Indiana. The 113th flew training missions primarily over the northern part of Indiana, while the 163rd operated from Indianapolis south to the Ohio River border with Kentucky.
La Junta Army Air Field, Colorado, 3 August – 7 November 1945; Stout Field, Indianapolis, Indiana, 9 December 1946; Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1 May 1951; Designated: Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station, 1991 – present