Abemama Airport was originally built in late 1943 by the United States Navy Naval Base Abemama Seabees of the 95th Naval Construction Battalion for the United States Army Air Forces as O’Hare Field.

For the United States, these battles represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan, and a victory significant for morale, because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific defensive sphere.

In March 1944, the USAAF combat units moved west into the Marshalls, and Abemama became a transport hub for the 9th Troop Carrier Squadron until August.

With the movement of the Allied forces west towards Japan, the airfield on Abemama Atoll was abandoned by the Americans, and after the war, was developed into a commercial airport.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency