Abemama Airport was originally built in late 1943 by the United States Navy Seabees of the 95th Naval Construction Battalion for the United States Army Air Forces. Seventh Air Force assigned the 30th Bombardment Group to the airfield in early January 1944, basing four squadrons of B-24 Liberator heavy bombers on the base. From Abemama, the USAAF attacked Japanese targets in the Marshall Islands in preparation for the Battle of Kwajalein Atoll (29 January-3 February 1944) and the Battle of Eniwetok (17–21 February 1944). For the United States, these battles represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan, and a victory significant for morale, because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific defensive sphere.