Constructed in 1943 as a RAF military airfield during the Second World War to assist damaged aircraft to land on their return from raids over Germany it was later used by the United States Air Force during the Cold War, being the primary home for the 79th and 78th Tactical Fighter Squadrons and squadrons of the 81st Fighter Wing under various designations until 1993.

These ELG (Emergency Landing Ground) airfields were intended for use by returning bombers suffering from low-fuel and suspected damage to their pneumatic (wheel brake) and/or hydraulic (undercarriage lowering) systems.

[1][2] The site at Woodbridge was chosen as it was 'nearly fog-free and had no obstructions for miles', although more than a million trees had to be cleared from Rendlesham Forest to take the new base.

No Aphrodite mission was ever flown from Woodbridge because, after one aborted attempt, the unit moved up to RAF Fersfield, near Diss, Norfolk.

The German crew had only just completed 100 hours of flight training, and had flown by compass heading, but had proceeded in exactly the wrong direction and thought they were over their own airfield.

Restricted space at Wethersfield compelled the 79th Squadron to move initially to nearby RAF Bentwaters on 6 June, then to Woodbridge, on 1 October.

The mission of the 79th was to provide escort for Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B-47 Stratojet rotational deployments from RAF Sturgate.

The 79th flew the F-84F only until 1958 when the 20th was re-designated a tactical fighter wing (20th TFW), and the squadron (now 79th TFS) was re-equipped with the North American F-100 Super Sabre.

It has been reported that the U.S. stored nuclear missiles at this site without the UK public knowing and that it was also the scene of a UFO sighting in 1980[according to whom?].

In November 1965, the 78th TFS received McDonnell F-4C Phantom IIs to replace the Voodoos, with red fin caps as their squadron marking.

The 67th ARRS participated in the rescue efforts of the capsized Townsend Thoresen ferry Herald of Free Enterprise outside of Zeebrugge Harbour on 6 March 1987.

With the inactivation, the USAF returned control of Woodbridge to the UK Ministry of Defence (The 81st was reactivated as the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi on 1 July 1993).

During August 2016 a 1700m length of rough scrubland was cleared and a compacted earth runway created at MOD Woodbridge, for testing the Airbus A400M Atlas.

[10][11] On 28 February 2019, defence minister Tobias Ellwood announces that MOD Woodbridge (Rock Barracks) would remain open, altering previous closure plans.

RAF Woodbridge features as setting and plot element in Julian Simpson's BBC4 2019 The Lovecraft Investigations The Whisperer in Darkness series.