The United States Army Air Corps took control of the airport in 1940 for use as a training facility and renamed it the Orlando Army Air Base. For the next six years, the airport remained under military control. In June 1941, the Army Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces and beginning in late 1941 through mid-1943, Orlando Army Air Base was used by I Bomber Command and later by units of the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command (AAFAC) to fly antisubmarine patrols along both the east coast as well as over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits, augmenting U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard aircraft in that capacity.