Shaw Field was established on 14 August 1941 and opened in December 1941 as a primary flying school for the United States Army Air Corps. The base was renamed in honor of 2d Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw, one of the first Americans to fly combat missions in World War I. Shaw, a Sumter County native, died after three enemy aircraft attacked his Bristol while he was returning from a reconnaissance mission on 9 July 1918. Lt. Shaw downed one of his attackers before he was killed.

With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base on 13 January 1948. The base has been in continuous operation since it was opened in 1941.

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