The first military airfield in South Carolina was the Parris Island Landing Field, which was operational in 1919, but abandoned by 1922. The first commercial airport in South Carolina was Spartanburg Airport, which opened in 1927, and with passenger service launching later that same year. With so many events foreshadowing an upcoming war, the U.S. military began to realize the benefits of having their own airfields in South Carolina in the late 1930s.