Laurinburg–Maxton Army Air Base
Laurinburg–Maxton Army Air Base is an inactive United States Air Force base, approximately 6 miles east-northeast of Laurinburg, North Carolina. It was active during World War II as a I Troop Carrier Command training airfield. The Laurinburg–Maxton Airbase was the largest Waco CG-4A glider pilot training base in the world. It was closed on 30 October 1945 History Local citizens in the Laurinburg and Maxton area of North Carolina learned in December 1941 that the Federal Government wanted to locate an Air Training School in the vicinity of Maxton. The local governments petitioned the War Department and Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to have some type of airfield built in their area in early 1942 to help in the war effort. The plan was to build the airfield with local funds and money supplied by the CAA and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The War Department would have control of the facility and use of it for the duration of the war, and afterwards the airfield would become a public airport. Eventually an agreement was made in May 1942, and a combination of four local purchased 583 acres to lease to the government to be used as a military reservation. However,