Due to the Navy's need to expand to 27,500 aircraft, it was decided to build multiple auxiliary air facilities, including one in Nantucket.
The proposed facility would have a refueling station and emergency support for one-half of an Air Carrier Group of the Eastern Sea Frontier Command.
The facility was later improved in or around the date of commissioning with stabilized roads for the transportation of ammunition and loaded aircraft, for use in an experimental rocket training program carried out at the 2,896 acres (1,172 ha; 11.72 km2) Tom Nevers Target Area, also known as the Nantucket Ordnance Site.
[3] Over the next two years, various improvements were added to the site, including a firehouse, a gasoline storage facility, hangars for planes in one squadron, steel magazines, and 14,089 sq yd (2.911 acres; 11,780 m2) of parking space.
A water range was also located a half of a mile south of the island in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore of Surfside.