Barstow-Daggett Airport

Barstow- Daggett (DAG) is a general aviation airport located near Daggett, California and approximately 12 miles east of the city of Barstow. The area is recognized as a major transportation hub, offering affordable housing, available land for industrial growth and the opportunity to accommodate manufacturing and industrial development. The airport is ideally situated to support military training conducted at the Fort Irwin National Training Center.

About Barstow-Daggett Airport

Barstow- Daggett (DAG) is a general aviation airport located near Daggett, California and approximately 12 miles east of the city of Barstow. The area is recognized as a major transportation hub, offering affordable housing, available land for industrial growth and the opportunity to accommodate manufacturing and industrial development. The airport is ideally situated to support military training conducted at the Fort Irwin National Training Center.

History of Bastow-Daggett Airport

The Barstow-Daggett Airport, 15 miles east of Barstow and about 100 air miles northeast of Los Angeles, began in 1928.  The Federal Aviation Administration built and operated the airport until 1942 when the War Department took over the entire 1,087+- acres of land.  The War Department constructed the entire facility as a Douglas Aircraft Modification Center.  Subsequently, in 1959 the County of San Bernardino regained title in order that the facility would be available for public use.

Just prior to World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) selected the site as an important civil air field and negotiated a standard agreement (AP 4) with the county of San Bernardino to maintain the air field. Shortly thereafter, the site was chosen by the War Department as a Modification Center. As a result, the county acquired fee interest to the additional land necessary for War Department use.      

About 29 May 1942 the government and Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., entered into a cost plus fixed fee ($1.00) contract (No. W-509-ENG-2557), whereby Douglas agreed to do all things necessary and incident to the procurement, furnishing, delivery and installation of equipment, machinery, machine tools, materials, supplies and facilities for proper operation of a Modification Center. Douglas established the Modification Center and operated it until the middle of 1944, when Army Air Forces deactivated the project. According to a narrative report contained in project files, there was no evidence of the lease ever having been executed, so it was believed that Douglas occupied and used the premises without any written agreement.

On 12 November 1942, the Secretary of War and Standard Oil Co. (San Francisco) entered into an agreement (unnumbered lease to run with lease W-868-ENG-4504), whereby Standard Oil agreed to install, operate, and maintain lubricating oil storage and distribution facilities at the site. In addition, on 20 December 1943, the CAA was granted a permit (to run with Lease No. W-868-ENG-4505) to use and occupy two parcels of land totaling 11.2 acres at the Modification Center for a radio range and communication building site, together with a right of way between the two parcels for establishing and maintaining subsurface cable lines. The original permit period ended 30 June 1944, however, the lease contained a provision for annual renewal, at the option of the government, through 30 June 1967. Upon the expiration of the permit, all CAA property was to have been removed to a condition satisfactory to the Commanding Office or other competent military authority.

About 65 buildings and 20 other structures were built at the facility (headquarters and flight operations buildings, hangars, barracks, sewage treatment plants, warehouses, water wells, water and fuel storage tanks, gasoline station, etc.). The total cost of government improvements was $3,924,273, with the CAA expending an additional $107,235 for various improvements. Douglas built a swimming pool, paint and dope storage shed, and an air hose station for which reimbursement was not made. According to airport personnel, improvements constructed by the county (non-DOD) consisted of one building, and the addition of a small surface water pond in the vicinity.

Barstow-Daggett Airport has changed significantly over the years.  Many of the structure built for the military are no longer functional.