 Small detachments of the 25th, 53rd, 71st and 75th Naval Construction Battalions landed with the Marines and the 71st Battalion was tasked with establishing a by fighter airfield that would become Torokina Airfield.The airfield became operational on December 10, 1943 when VMF-216 landed with 18 F4U Corsairs.On 9 March 1944, the Japanese shelled the airfield and forced the squadrons that were based there to take off to avoid damage to their aircraft.