Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH)
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on the left, and HNL on the right share the Reef Runway.
Honolulu International Airport and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) have been neighbors and partners for many years. In 1956 the Air Force and the Hawaii Aeronautics Commission (predecessor to the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation) agreed to a single airport complex that would be operated under a Joint Use Agreement.
Today, JBPHH and HNL share runways, safety networks, and a partnership that is more than 50 years old.
Hickam Field, as it was then known, was completed and officially activated on September 15, 1938. It was the principal army airfield in Hawaii and the only one large enough to accommodate the B-17 bomber.
During World War II the base played a major role in pilot training and aircraft assembly work, in addition to service as a supply center for both air and ground troops. Hickam served as the hub of the Pacific aerial network, supporting transient aircraft ferrying troops and supplies to, and evacuating wounded from, the forward areas, not only during World War II but also during the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War.
During the Korean Conflict, 19 percent of HNL operations were military. During the Vietnam War that increased to 20-50%.
Today, military operations are five to six percent of total operations.