Chitose's first flight came in 1926, when the Otaru Shimbun newspaper sponsored the "Hokkai One" (Hokkai-ichigō) flight, originating at a 10-hectare air field donated by the villagers of Chitose. In 1939, the Imperial Japanese Navy took over the field. After Japan's surrender in 1945, ending World War II, the United States Armed Forces took over the base, being primarily under the control of the United States Army Air Forces, and later the United States Air Force Fifth Air Force. Major USAF occupation units assigned to Chitose Air Base were: