Savannah Air National Guard Base Savannah Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Georgia Air National Guard ' s 165th Airlift Wing ( 165 AW ) and the Georgia ANG Combat Readiness Training Center ( CRTC ) . Overview . Savannah ANGB at Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport is home to the 165th Airlift Wing ( 165 AW ) , an Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) - gained unit of the Georgia Air National Guard , currently flying the C - 130H Hercules tactical airlift aircraft . The wing consists of over 900 full - time Active Guard and Reserve ( AGR ) , Air Reserve Technician ( ART ) and part - time " traditional " air national guardsmen , available for domestic operations as an Air National Guard unit or world - wide deployment in support of the U . S . Air Force and unified combatant commanders . Savannah ANGB also hosts the Combat Readiness Training Center ( CRTC ) . Located at Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport / Savannah ANGB , the CRTC is one of four such training facilities in the nation . The CRTC provides airspace and ranges , aircraft parking , aircraft ground equipment ( AGE ) , hangar facilities maintenance areas , briefing and training facilities , dormitories and other support functions for regular U . S . Air Force , Air Force Reserve Command , Air National Guard , U . S . Navy , Navy Reserve , U . S . Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve combat aviation units ranging from tactical jet fighters , attack jets , attack helicopters , fixed - wing and rotary - wing combat search and rescue , and special operations forces ( SOF ) aircraft . History . Origins . Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport was originally named Chatham Field and developed as a Works Progress Administration project at Cherokee Hill , one of the highest elevations in Chatham County , Georgia . In 1939 Congress had instituted a program to improve the nation ' s airport infrastructure in the interest of National Defense . If local governments provided the land , the Federal Government would fund construction of the airport . The City then approached the Civil Aeronautics Administration ( CAA ) about the possibility of building an airport at Cherokee Hill . The CAA accepted this proposal , informing the City that as much as $ 400 , 000 would be allocated for construction of three runways . The City purchased at the CAA approved site seven miles ( 11 km ) northwest of town center for $ 20 , 000 . By the time the project got underway in 1941 , the United States was on an unavoidable road to war and the Army Air Corps as well as the Navy took an interest in the strategically located coastal airport . The United States Navy , looking for a blimp base in the area , attempted to gain control of the airfield . The Air Corps , on the other hand , wanted the airfield for an auxiliary of Hunter Field , located south . The Interdepartmental Air Traffic Control Board , consisting of members of the Army , Navy and CAA to resolve conflicts such as this between the services , sided with the Air Corps . The Navy eventually built a blimp base at Brunswick , Georgia , to the south . With the Air Corps established already in the Savannah area at Hunter Field , work on Chatham proceeded at a slow pace . The construction project involved improving runways and airplane hangars , with three concrete runways , several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower being built . Several large hangars were also constructed . Buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled . Most base buildings , not meant for long - term use , were constructed of temporary or semi - permanent materials . Although some hangars had steel frames and the occasional brick or tile brick building could be seen , most support buildings sat on concrete foundations but were of frame construction clad in little more than plywood and tarpaper . Chatham Army Airfield , named for its Georgia county location , finally activated on 19 September 1943 , over two years since construction began . World War II . Initially a sub - base of Hunter Field , the Air Force intended Chatham AAF for use by Third Air Force , III Reconnaissance Command and the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command . In June 1943 , the 100th Bombardment Squadron ( Medium ) was assigned to the airfield flying B - 25 Mitchell bombers on antisubmarine patrols . However , in August , the antisubmarine patrol mission was transferred to the United States Navy . Two days after the base ' s activation , First Air Force took over command and made Chatham a sub - base of Jacksonville AAF . First Air Force used Chatham for B - 24 operational training . Although Chatham had an adequate airfield , the cantonment area was deemed lacking with accommodations for only a reduced station complement and one tactical squadron . This presented a major problem since insufficient facilities existed to accommodate a B - 24 group scheduled to arrive in the latter part of October . Hard work by base personnel provided necessary facilities when the 460th Bombardment Group , consisting of the 760th , 761st , 762nd , and the 763rd Bombardment Squadrons , arrived on 29 October 1943 . After the 460th BG deployed to Fifteenth Air Force in Italy during January 1944 , First Air Force changed Chatham ' s mission to replacement training . The 302d Bombardment Group ( 355th , 356th , 357th and 420th ) flew B - 24s as the Operational Training Units , training replacement B - 24 aircrews . The 460th was replaced by squadrons of the 302d Bombardment Group ( 355th , 356th , 357th and 420th ) flying B - 24s as Operational Training Units , training replacement B - 24 aircrews . On 1 May 1945 , Chatham AAF was transferred from the First to the Third Air Force . Among the eight generals present for the ceremony was Major General Frank Hunter , commander of the First Air Force , a Savannah native , and the namesake of nearby Hunter Field . Among his acts that day , Hunter decorated eleven of Chatham ' s men . Chatham ' s new mission under Third Air Force was a training base for the B - 29 Superfortress . By July , 29 B - 29s were on hand . However , with the end of the war in 1945 , Chatham AAF was no longer needed and it was placed on inactive status on 10 January 1946 , with the 324 Army Air Force Base Unit ( Standby ) assuming caretaker duties over the facility . Cold War . The reconstituted Georgia Air National Guard stationed its 158th Fighter Squadron at Chatham Field on 13 October 1946 , flying its P - 47 Thunderbolts until 1949 when it moved to Hunter AFB to accommodate the active - duty Air Force . On 17 July 1947 , the United States Air Force reactivated the Airfield . Chatham was assigned to Strategic Air Command , with the 380th Bombardment Group being assigned to jurisdiction of the base , and work was begun to modernize the airfield from its World War II wartime configuration into a permanent Air Force Base with modern facilities . Although Chatham had an adequate airfield for B - 29 operations , the cantonment area was in poor condition . Constructed to last for five years , the buildings had reached the end of their life expectancy . In addition , the buildings ' shortcomings also included outside latrines and potbellied stoves for heating . In January 1948 , the base was renamed Chatham Air Force Base . On 1 November 1948 Boeing B - 50 Superfortress aircraft were assigned to the base from the 307th Bombardment Group , with a mission being transition training of B - 29 bomber crews to the new B - 50 . On 1 March 1949 , Chatham was reassigned to Eighth Air Force and the 2d Bombardment Group was reassigned from Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona to Chatham , with B - 50s . The inadequacies of the support facilities at Chatham caused the Air Force to make the decision to leave Chatham and move to Hunter or leave Savannah . The facilities at Hunter AFB were built in the 1930s to permanent specifications and made Hunter much more desirable than Chatham . The City of Savannah interceded with the Air Force and offered to trade the larger Hunter Field , then a municipal airport , for the smaller Chatham AFB to keep SAC and the USAF in Savannah . This arrangement was agreed to and on 29 September 1950 , the 2d Bomb Group moved to Hunter AFB and Chatham was turned over to the City of Savannah . In 1953 , when the Air National Guard ' s 158th Fighter Squadron returned from activation during the Korean War , it was based at Travis Field . This required the extension of Travis ' east / west runway to for the Guard ' s F - 84 Thunderjet s .