[1][2] In the year ending December 21, 2022, the airport had 18,000 aircraft operations, average 49 per day: 98% general aviation and 3% military.

In 1941 the Civil Aeronautics Authority built two 4,000-ft. asphalt runways under Congress's National Defense Program.

With the start of World War II, the Army Air Forces took an interest in the site entering negotiations with Ware County and Waycross to lease 3,000 acres that included the airport.

In August, the Army enlarged the cantonment area by providing adequate housing for two more service squadrons plus a fire station, motor repair building, and two quartermaster warehouses.

One of the problems was the poor natural drainage, The area is relatively flat and a series of ditches had to be constructed to carry away water during heavy rainfall.

This was alleviated with the establishment of a gymnasium, movie theater, enlisted recreation building and officer's club organized during 1943.

The 85th Bomb Group had been activated at Hunter in February 1942 and initially equipped with the Vultee A-31 Vengeance dive bombers repossessed from British contracts when the war began.

The next month, the 85th Bomb Group and its four squadrons, the 499th, 500th, 501st, and 502nd, returned to Waycross from Harding Army Airfield, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In September, the 499th Fighter Squadron t moved to Harris Neck Army Airfield, near the Atlantic coast.

The same month, the Army placed Waycross under the jurisdiction of Dale Mabry Field, Tallahassee, Florida.

In December 1943, the 499th returned to Waycross, the 500th moved to Harris Neck, and the 502nd transferred to Punta Gorda Army Airfield, Florida.

For air-to¬ground training, the Army established a 32,000-acre range 27 miles SSW at Homerville, Georgia that included skip-bombing, strafing, and rocket targets.

A monument that remembers the Army's presence has been erected at the airport's entrance and a display in the terminal building gives a brief history of the AAF at Waycross.

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