Cairns Army Airfield

Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) Fort Rucker
NAIP aerial image, 30 June 2006
FAA diagram of runway area
IATA: OZR ICAO: KOZR FAA LID: OZR
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	U.S. Army
Location	Fort Rucker / Dale County, Alabama
Elevation AMSL	301 ft / 92 m
Coordinates	31°16′33″N 085°42′48″W / 31.27583°N 85.71333°W / 31.27583; -85.71333 (Cairns Army Airfield)Coordinates: 31°16′33″N 085°42′48″W / 31.27583°N 85.71333°W / 31.27583; -85.71333 (Cairns Army Airfield)
Website	www-rucker.army.mil
Map
KOZR Location of Cairns Army Airfield
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 6/24 4,546 1,386 Asphalt 18/36 5,025 1,532 Asphalt
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Cairns Army Airfield (IATA: OZR, ICAO: KOZR, FAA LID: OZR) is a military airport forming a part of Fort Rucker, in Dale County, Alabama, USA and is owned by the United States Army. The airfield is south of the town of Daleville, which sits between it and the main post.

In September 1942, 1,259 acres (5.1 km²) south of Daleville were acquired for the construction of an airfield to support the training camp. It was a training airfield as part of the United States Army Air Forces Third Air Force during World War II, then placed on inactive status with the war's end.

Needing a location to shoot all takeoffs and landings for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High, including the spectacular B-17 Flying Fortress belly landing sequence early in the film, director Henry King selected Ozark since its dark runways more closely matched wartime bases in England as opposed to the light-colored runways at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the primary shoot location. Since the field had been allowed to overgrow during its inactive status, it was also an ideal location for the character Harvey Stovall to post-war reminisce about his World War II service (which is seen at the beginning of the film) before the crew mowed and dressed the field to start the rest of shooting.

Released by the U.S. Air Force as excess, the field was subsequently acquired by the U.S. Army as part of the Fort Rucker complex in 1952. It was known as Ozark Army Air Field until January 1959, when the name was changed to Cairns Army Air Field, named for U.S. Army Major General Bogardus Snowden "Bugs" Cairns, who was killed instantly when his H-13 Sioux helicopter crashed minutes after take off in dense woods northwest of the Fort Rucker, Alabama headquarters on 9 December 1958. He was en route to Matteson Range to observe a firepower rehearsal in preparation for a full-scale armed helicopter display. He was commander of the Aviation Center and Commandant of the Aviation School.