Elmore Airfield

Military Decommissioning. The airfield was a temporary installation built for a specific military purpose. With the conclusion of World War II and the end of the Philippines Campaign, the extensive network of auxiliary airfields was no longer required. U.S. military operations were consolidated at the larger, more permanent McGuire Field (now the modern San Jose Airport, RPUH), and Elmore Airfield was abandoned and decommissioned.

The site of the former Elmore Airfield has been completely reclaimed for agricultural use, primarily consisting of rice paddies and farmland. While no structures or pavement remain, the faint outline of the former runway is still visible in satellite imagery as a 'ghost runway'—a common feature for abandoned WWII airfields. The land is rural, and there is no physical indication on the ground of its past as a military airstrip.

Elmore Airfield was a significant auxiliary U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) airfield during World War II. It was constructed by U.S. Army aviation engineers in late 1944 or early 1945 following the Allied amphibious landing on Mindoro Island. Its primary function was to support the main airbase, McGuire Field, by serving as a dispersal strip to relieve congestion and protect aircraft from enemy attack. The complex of airfields at San Jose was strategically vital for the liberation of Luzon, providing a base for fighter aircraft (like the P-38 Lightning) and bombers to strike Japanese targets. Elmore Airfield played a direct role in the success of the Allied air campaign in the final stages of the war in the Philippines.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Elmore Airfield. The aviation needs of San Jose and the Occidental Mindoro province are served by the nearby, fully operational San Jose Airport (RPUH). The land has been privately owned and used for agriculture for over 75 years, making any potential reactivation economically and logistically infeasible.