During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Flying Training Command used the airport as a cadet training center beginning in August 1942. The airfield was named Selman Army Airfield, named after a Navy Pilot, Lieutenant Augustus J. Selman, USN, a native of Monroe, Louisiana, who died in the line of duty at Norfolk, Virginia, on November 28, 1921, of injuries received in an airplane crash. A monument donated by area philanthropist Kitty DeGree commemorating the role of Selman Field is located at the airport.