Dedication of the Pendleton Army Aviation Support Facility Oregon Army National Guard. September 1997.

In November of 1940 the War Department selected the Pendleton airfield as a major Army base. The 17th Bombardment Group, consisting of 1,343 officers and enlisted men, were assigned to the Pendleton airport in June, 1941.

On December 7, 1941, air naval units from the Imperial Japanese Fleet attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, propelling the United States into World War II. In Mid-December, a portion of the 17th Bombardment Group moved to McCord Air Field, Washington, for submarine patrol work.

In February, 1942, the 17th Bombardment Group was ordered to Columbia, South Carolina, for submarine patrol work in the Atlantic. In February, 1942, volunteer crews from the 17th Bombardment Group arrived at Eglin Airfield, Florida, for special training. In March the volunteer crews flying B-25's, departed Eglin and flew to McClellan Airfield, California. On March 31, 1942, the B-25's flew to Alameda Naval Airfield, California and 16 B-25's were loaded onto the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet. On April 18, 1942 at 0820 Col. Jimmy Doolittle's B-25 was the first of 16 B-25's to leave the deck of the U.S.S Hornet to attack targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. At 1230 Tokyo time, the first American bombs were dropped on Japan.

Formed as an independent company on December 30, 1943, the all-black 555th Parachute Infantry Company was upgraded to the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion on November 25, 1944. The Triple Nickel's first home was Fort Benning, Georgia. The unit was later transferred to camp Mackall, North Carolina. From May to October 1945, more than 200, 555th paratroopers were assigned to the Pendleton Army Airfield. The paratroopers served as members of project Firefly, an effort to fight forest and grass fires created by bombs carried across the Pacific by Japanese balloons.