Bellows History
Covered with sugar cane and guava bushes, Bellows Air Force Station had a simple beginning. In 1917, Waimanalo Military Reservation was established by Presidential Executive Order. The land was leased from Waimanalo Sugar Plantation. The only clearings were for training areas and tents where the men slept. In 1933, the land was renamed to Bellows Field, honoring the memory of 2nd Lt Franklin Barney Bellows, a World War I hero.
Bellows Field was a training area for the infantry, Coast Artillery and Air Corps. There was a wooden traffic control tower that overlooked the single asphalt runway which was 75 feet wide and 983 feet long.
On July 22, 1941, Bellows Field became a separate permanent military post under the jurisdiction of the Commanding General, Hawaiian Department. Overnight, an accelerated construction program began, and Bellows began to grow. A two story wooden barracks and a new and large runway started filling the landscape. Today there is little evidence of the old flying field days. The runways that were at their peak in the late 1940's are overgrown.
Six years after the attack on O'ahu the first beach cabins began construction. Today, Detachment 2, 18th Force Support Squadron presently operates Bellows Air Force Station. Much of the Waimanalo community remains the same as it was more than 50 years ago.
