Greenwood Airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces as a basic flight training airfield.

During the peak of basic training activities, the airfield averaged about 36,000 operations per month and the aircraft consumed millions of gallons of aviation gasoline annually.

The original mission of Greenwood Army Air Field (GAAF) was Basic Flight Training and the base was home to several hundred Consolidated Vultee BT-13 and BT-15 Valiants.

Third Air Force operated the airfield until flight training ceased in late 1945 and the base was placed in caretaker status until being turned over to the city of Greenwood by the War Assets Administration.

As late as 1948, the Army and War Assets Administration maintained a fire station and a small contingent to look after the dormant air base.

Weeds were removed from the miles of expansion joints on the otherwise intact ramp and a new rotating beacon was installed.

In 1989 a control tower was commissioned, and in the early 1990s runway 18/36 was lengthened to 6,503 feet and strengthened to accommodate wide-body aircraft.

[1] In the year ending March 14, 2012 the airport had 42,116 aircraft operations, average 115 per day: 87% general aviation, 10% military, and 3% air taxi.