Some of the descendants of the early French settlers still lived in the bottoms in 1939, when the area was razed to make way for the airport.

The second was Rosecrans Municipal Airport on the waterworks road, abandoned because of its small size and its dangerous proximity to the Missouri River bluffs to its east.

During World War II the federal government established an Army Air Forces base at Rosecrans with numerous improvements being made in 1942 and 1943.

In 1948 much of the airfield's facilities were conveyed to the city, except for 142 acres (0.57 km2) set aside for use by the Air National Guard.

The Great Flood of 1951 damaged many of the temporary World War II airport buildings beyond economical repair.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers formalized the course change by dredging cut-off channel for the river between the airport and downtown St. Joseph.

Successor Braniff pulled out in 1959, replaced by Frontier Airlines and Ozark Air Lines; Ozark left in 1960 and Frontier left in 1969, three years before Kansas City International Airport opened 30 miles (48 km) south of St Joseph.

With the end of World War II, much of the former U.S. Army Air Forces installation was transferred to the city with the exception of 142 acres (0.57 km2) for the National Guard.

The mission of the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center (AATTC) is to increase the warfighting effectiveness and survivability of all USAF air mobility forces.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency