Decimomannu became in effect a military airport on 3 June 1940 with the transfer of the Italian 32º Wing from Cagliari Elmas.

During World War II the airport served both Axis powers and Allied forces.

Between 1941 and 1943 the airport hosted the 36th Wing, with Savoia-Marchetti SM79 bombers and Savoia-Marchetti SM84.

On 27 September 1941 the airport forces were involved in a bloody battle between the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force in the central Mediterranean.

On 17 February 1943, the airport was bombed by the Anglo-American allies.

In 1943 following the Armistice of Cassibile, the airport came under the control of the United States Army who used it as a base for fighter Curtiss P-40 "Warhawk" in charge of the USAAF.

Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - F-16 Takes Off as Part of IAF Delegation to Sardinia.jpg

Decimomannu airfield was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force 319th and 320th Bombardment Groups, which flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers from the field between 1 November 1943 and 21 September 1944.[3][4][5]

The American author Joseph Heller, while writing his novel Catch-22, was inspired by some events that happened in the Decimomannu airbase in 1944. [6]

In April 1957 a "Air Weapons Training Installation