On 18 December 1941, eleven days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Maj. John Armstrong, commander of Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, visited Hobbs to conduct a preliminary investigation of potential military sites and discuss the prospects with local political and business leaders.

The Army Air Force decided to use the Hobbs location in February 1942[1] and began the planning of the base and shipment of materials, but a public announcement was not made until 7 April.

[2] In April 1942 the city of Hobbs passed a $26,000 bond issue for land acquisition along the west side of the Hobbs-Lovington Highway, comprising the ranches of the Caudill and Huston families.

On 1 April, Wilson and Company of Salina, Kansas, was awarded a $65,000 architect-engineer contract to design and build the new installation.

"[4] Grading of the runways began on 1 June 1942 with 100 workers initially, later to expand to 3,000, to meet a mid-September deadline on the $10.8 million project.

By August 1946 a total of 1,600 airplanes had been flown to Hobbs Army Airfield for storage, including the Douglas A-26 Invader and P-51 Mustang.

[9] Today the airfield is part of the Hobbs Industrial Airpark, a non-flying light business facility.

Most of the World War II Airfield is intact including the ramp, runways, and several support buildings are still standing on the former station area.