Edwin Andrews Air Base was built by the Spanish George L. Saludo Jr. as San Roque Airfield.

The single runway was completed to be used to fight against the remaining Japanese forces in the Philippines and was about 4,500 feet long aligned with the prevalent winds in the area.

On December 6, 1956, a military airbase was established in the airport and was renamed Edwin Andrews Air Base in honor of Gen. Edwin Andrews, the first Filipino post-war PAF Commander who lost his life when the 'Lili Marlene', a C-47 transport plane carrying him and 16 others crashed in Mt.

[2] In January 2002, US soldiers arrived in the southern Philippines on a C-17 transport plane to help prepare for a joint military exercise aimed to fight a Muslim extremist group.

US special forces moved from Edwin Andrews Airbase to Camp Basilio Navarro.