 Similar to other airfields established in Florida during World War II, the approximate 1,025-acre airport was built by the United States Navy in 1943 (known then as Roseland Satellite Field or Outlying Field Roseland) in support of naval flight training operations at nearby Naval Air Station Vero Beach and Naval Air Station Melbourne.The military paid approximately $1,300 for the property in 1943.Inactivated as a naval facility following the end of World War II, the aviation facility was transferred by the War Assets Administration, as part of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, on January 29, 1959, to the City of Sebastian.