1921 -- The land area known as the Barking Sands was acquired by the Kekaha Sugar Company. This area became a runway for private planes.

1932 -- Australian pilot Kingsford Smith completed a historic flight from Barking Sands to Australia in his Ford Trimotor. 

1940 -- The U.S. Army acquired the land, naming the airfield Mana Airport and paving the runway.

1941 -- The Army acquired additional acreage, giving Mana Airport a total of 2,058 acres.  Private airlines frequently utilized the airport, and World War II saw heavy use of the runway by the military, especially for aircraft supporting the Battle of Midway.

1942 -- The airfield is renamed Barking Sands Air Base.

1948 -- The installation is again officially renamed as Barking Sands Air Force Base.

1954 -- The base is renamed again as Bonham Air Force Base for Major Carlos W. Bonham, Commanding Officer of the 199th Fighter Squadron, Territory of Hawaii Air National Guard who died in a mid-air collision with another F-47 near the air base.

1957 -- The base, now referred to as Bonham Field, is transferred to the Navy and the first contingent of Sailors arrive, setting up the first instrumentation vans near the airstrip to make it operational in supporting submarine launches of the Regalus missile.

1964 -- The base is transferred within the Navy Department from the Commanding Officer, NAS Barbers Point to the Commander, Pacific Missile Range at Pt. Mugu, Calif., and renamed the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands.