The 864th Aviation Battalion was activated in December 1942 at Camp Geiger, Washington near Spokane. The Battalion served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, earning three campaign streamers for New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Luzon. The unit also earned the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. The unit was deactivated in Japan on 30 June 1946. The army allotted the battalion to the organized Reserves and activated it at Morristown, New Jersey on 14 March 1949.