The War Department officially established "Pope Field" in 1919, and it ranks as one of the oldest installations in the Air Force.

Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.

In December 1927, Pope Field played a role in the development of tactics that would prove critically important in shortening World War II.

In 1935, Pope Field hosted 535 aircraft in one day as the United States Army Air Corps practiced large scale operations along the East Coast.

Operational squadrons were: The 10th TRG was inactivated on 1 April 1949 and the host unit at Pope was the 4415th Air Base Group.

The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.

The training gained in operating in the North Carolina area immeasurably improved aircrew preparedness for combat duty.

The wing was a pioneer in the use of adverse weather aerial delivery system (AWADS) equipment in active combat operations in Southeast Asia, and after the end of American involvement, trained European-based NATO aircrews in those same techniques.

As part of the inactivation, its operational squadrons were dissolved as follows: Lessons learned in the Gulf War in 1990–1991 led senior defense planners to conclude that the structure of the military establishment created numerous command and control problems.

In addition, the number of Air Force wings was to be reduced by about one-third to reflect the financial constraints of the post Cold War environment.

23rd Wing Flying Tiger C-130s were also tasked to assist in other humanitarian relief efforts, to include Hurricane Andrew in Florida.

In September 1994, 23rd Wing Flying Tiger C-130s participated in what was to be the largest combat personnel drop since World War II, Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY.

The squadron deployed their aircraft to Shaw AFB, South Carolina, where they were scheduled to launch close air support operations for the invasion force before recovering in Puerto Rico.

The first operational deployment of a composite wing happened in October 1994, when Iraqi troops began massing near the Kuwaiti Border.

Eventually, the 75th Fighter Squadron redeployed to Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, becoming the first U.S. fixed-wing aircraft to be stationed in that country since the end of the Gulf War.

Several of these planes provided the missing-man formation at the conclusion of the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXXII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on 25 January 1998.

The wing traces its roots back to the 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), which was constituted 20 November 1940, and activated 15 January 1941, at Langley Field, VA.

It operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and later a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy-bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force.

The 43rd Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit.

BRAC 2005 determined that the Air Force Reserve Command's 440th Airlift Wing and its C-130 aircraft were to be moved from Mitchell Field, Wisconsin to Pope.

[9] Despite opposition from North Carolina congressmen and senators, the 440th Airlift Wing was inactivated as an Air Force cost savings measure.

An article in the 6 March 2014 issue of the Fayetteville Observer noted that the Air Force has proposed the wing's inactivation and the retirement of its 12 C-130H aircraft.

The Commission called for moving the 23rd Fighter Group's 36 A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthogs) to Moody AFB, Georgia and the 43rd Airlift Wing's 25 C-130E's to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas; established a Medical Squadron; activated an Air Force Group to provide mission execution, planning, and management of efficient load-out of Fort Bragg assets; and transferred Real Property accountability to the Army.

From the fall of 2019 through spring of 2021, a major planning effort was undertaken to completely replace the runway and lighting system while continuing operations of units that rely on Pope Field at other locations.

The project was completed ahead of schedule in approximately four months, opening on 14 October 2021 with the landing of a USAF C-17 Globemaster III crewed by elements of the 437th Airlift Wing (Joint Base Charleston, SC), and the 43d AMOG.