Before the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport became a state-of-the-art intermodal facility from commercial air travel to air cargo connecting more than 1.6 million residents across south Louisiana and southwest Mississippi from Lake Charles, Lafayette, Alexandria, St. Francisville, Gonzalez and Natchez, MS. it was a military installation United States Army Air Corps base known as Harding Field. Harding Field, dear to the hearts of many, operated for four years as a training base for fighter pilots flying the newest planes and bombers during World War II. The air base served as a temporary home for thousands of men and women from around the country. A number of the pilots who received their training here made history in the aviation industry. Entire units were trained and sent overseas: quartermaster units, fighter and bomber squadrons.