Vernam Field Vernam Field ( locally spelled Vernamfield ) is a former World War II United States Army Air Forces airfield located in Clarendon Parish , west - southwest of Kingston , Jamaica . The airfield was renamed Vernam Air Force Base by the newly formed United States Air Force in 1948 , but was closed in 1949 . History . The base was named in honor of First Lieutenant Remington de Bremont Vernam ( March 24 , 1896 - December 1 , 1918 ) was an American pilot who entered the French air service during World War I . Vernam was shot down behind German lines on October 30 , 1918 . After the Armistice he was found by American forces in a hospital in Longwey , France , with another wounded aviator , Lt . Arthur C . Dineen . Vernam died of his wounds on December 1 . He is buried in the American cemetery at St . Mihiel in Thiaucourt , France . He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross ( United States ) . World War II . The airfield has its origin in the 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement between Great Britain and the United States . For material support in the allied war effort , Britain agreed to lease as potential naval and air bases to the United States at several locations in the Americas . The development of Vernam Field was viewed initially by the Army Air Corps as a staging field for training and for the operations of Borinquen Field , Puerto Rico . It was given its designation on 14 June 1941 , and a force of 200 officers and enlisted men ( known as " Force Tuna " ) embarked from New York and arrived on 17 November as a survey party to establish the airfield . The design of the airfield was upgraded to that of a bomber airfield , and consisted of three runways : a 6000 - foot concrete runway and two shorter asphalt runways to accommodate crosswind landings . When officially activated on 21 November 1941 , the station was assigned to the 24th Composite Wing , Sixth Air Force , which controlled ( in addition to this base ) Atkinson , Beane , Coolidge , Ramey and Waller Fields in the Antilles Air Command . Constructions of airfield runways and a support station was ongoing throughout 1942 , and the first operational unit did not arrive until September . With the United States entry into the war in December , the primary mission of Vernam Field was antisubmarine patrols in the Northern Caribbean . In addition , the Florida - based Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics would send student groups to Vernam for advanced base operations training in combat tactics , returning to Florida after completion . By 1944 , the airfield had fallen into " backwater " status , as the anti - submarine war in the Caribbean had moved much further south towards South America and Panama . After the departure of the 35th Bomb Squadron , the remaining units assigned to the field were a detachment of the 10588th Ordnance Company and the 305th Signal Company , along with a medical detachment . On 30 June 1944 , Eleanor Roosevelt visited the station . In early 1945 , Vernam Field became the destination for many B - 29 Superfortress aircraft from Second Air Force training flights originating from training bases in Kansas and Nebraska ( approximately 2 , 000 miles distant ) . The B - 29s would fly on cross - country training flights to Vernam and land at the airfield , be refueled and have turnaround maintenance performed if necessary before returning to the Midwest . It was , unfortunately , the site of several B - 29 crashes . Postwar use . With the end of the war , Vernam Field was reduced in scope to a skeleton staff . By the end of 1946 only two aircraft , a C - 45 and a C - 47 were assigned to the station with both aircraft being down for parts and minimal maintenance being undertaken . It was placed under the command of the 24th Composite Wing , Headquartered at Borinquen AFB , Puerto Rico . The airfield became a training destination for early jet aircraft cross country flights , with P - 80 Shooting Star s , F - 84 Thunderjet s and early F - 86A Sabres using its long wartime bomber runways . The airfield was redesignated Vernam Air Force Base on March 26 , 1948 , by Department of the Air Force General Order Number 10 . The mission of the base was primarily weather reporting , with a detachment of the Military Air Transport Service ( MATS ) 6th Weather Squadron ( Regional ) being the primary unit on the base . It also became a destination for long - range Strategic Air Command fighter escort aircraft , with F - 82 Twin Mustang s flying to Vernam from Kearney AFB , Nebraska then returning on cross - country training flights . President Harry S . Truman visited Vernam AFB on 30 June 1948 during a tour of the Caribbean . Vernam AFB closed on 28 May 1949 due to budgetary cutbacks . After closure , the base was essentially abandoned and all structures were removed or torn down . The facility has been derelict for decades . The only use of the former airfield area has been an automobile racetrack known as Vernamfield which uses some of the old runways and taxiways . Current development plans . During the 2000s ( decade ) , the Government of Jamaica made several proposals to develop Vernam Field as the island ' s fourth international airport . In September 2008 it was announced that as part of this development Jamaica ' s military , the Jamaica Defence Force ( JDF ) , was to be moved to Vernam Field from its historic city centre site at Up Park Camp in Kingston . By June 2009 the JDF had secured the site and it was reported that the Vernam Airfield Development Project was to build an initial 10 , 000 - 11 , 000 foot runway and adjoining taxi ways capable of handling the largest contemporary aircraft including the Antonov An - 124 , Antonov An - 225 and the Airbus A380 .