Gerstner Field Gerstner Field is a former World War I military airfield , located southeast of Lake Charles , Louisiana . It operated as a training field for the Air Service , United States Army between 1917 until 1919 . The airfield was one of thirty - two Air Service training camps established in 1917 after the United States entry into World War I . History . Gerstner Field was named for 2d Lieutenant Fredrick J . Gerstner ( 1891 - 1914 ) , who died in an airplane crash , 31 December 1914 . Lieutenant Gerstner was born in Michigan and was appointed to West Point in 1909 . On graduating in 1913 he was assigned to the Tenth Cavalry and in 1914 he was assigned to the aviation school at Rockwell Field , San Diego , California . He was killed when his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Oceanside , California , drowning while participating as a passenger in the annual Mackay Trophy contest . World War I . Beginning in June 1917 , Lake Charles had tried to acquire an army training camp , but the Army rejected the area as too flat for training foot soldiers . Nevertheless , local officials continued to lobby for a military facility in the area to support the war effort . In August 1917 , they successfully convinced the Air Service to establish a flying training field . The airfield was located about eleven miles southeast of Lake Charles and consisted to two separate facilities . The base was quite large , containing twenty - four hangars , twelve barracks for enlisted men , twelve buildings to house officers , twelve mess halls , four large warehouses , and numerous workshops and offices . All buildings were painted green with white trimming . The base was intended for 2 , 000 men , but reached a maximum of almost 3 , 000 , requiring tents and improvised messes to accommodate them . The first troops arrived in November 1917 , before construction was completed . Guards from a national guard unit in Mississippi were followed by airmen and equipment from Chandler Field in Essington , Pennsylvania which was being closed . The first unit stationed there was the 45th Aero Squadron , which was transferred from Essington . Some Curtiss JN - 4 Jennys to be used for flight training were ferried into Gerstner from Kelly Field , south of San Antonio , Texas , however most of the planes to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar . Training units assigned to Gerstner Field : Gerstner Field flight operations suffered tremendously from blowing sand that hampered flying and destroyed airplane engines . A chronic lack of spare engines and parts prevented many repairs , thus leaving men idle and , at one time , as many as two - thirds of the camp ' s airplanes out of commission . Sanitary conditions were probably never very good . The sewerage system was inadequate and drainage was poor . The field was somewhat lumpy , so good landing spots were hard to find , and a severe mosquito problem made life at the base frequently unbearable . Flying instruction was good , but the airplanes used to train pursuit pilots proved inadequate for truly valuable combat training . The school for training flight instructors worked impressively well . The bureaucracy had some problems , but the base was usually well - managed . Gerstner Field suffered two incidents of massive destruction in its history . The first occurred on February 5 , 1918 when a German submarine sunk the Tuscania , a British troopship , off the coast of Ireland . Among the dead were about twenty - seven men of the 158th Aero Squadron . They had trained at Gerstner Field and had left the base less than four weeks before . The second came from a hurricane that struck Southwest Louisiana on August 6 , 1918 . The storm killed three and injured eight at the field and destroyed ninety - six airplanes . The only building to survive at the Big Lake gunnery school was the mess hall , which was used as a temporary hospital . Closure . With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918 , the future operational status of Gerstner Field was unknown . Many local officials speculated that the U . S . government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Gerstner - trained pilots in Europe . Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training , however no new cadets were assigned to the base . Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment , as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized . Finally , flight training activities ceased on November 8 , 1919 . In December 1919 Gerstner Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield , and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons . But by 1921 , the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets . and it was closed . The War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Gerstner Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus , and Gerstner never was used again as a civil airport or a military airfield . Current status . Today , little evidence of its existence remains . The station apparently straddled both the east and west sides of Calcasieu Parish Highway 27 , with Old Camp Road being the northern boundary of the base . Woods and brush have taken over the west side . where at least a dozen aircraft hangars once stood . Outlines of walls and hangar foundations can be seen in aerial images , the airfield now being an agricultural field . A few isolated concrete foundations are all that remain of the station area to the east side of the road .