Herington Army Airfield was a World War II staging base of the United States Army Air Forces Second Air Force. It is currently the city-owned Herington Regional Airport.

Herington Army Air Field was located eight miles from Herington, Kansas, on a 1,700-acre tract of land which had been purchased by the United States government. It was planned as a satellite of Topeka Army Airfield, a Second Air Force installation which was situated some 70 miles to the northeast and which served as the headquarters for the 21st Bombardment Wing.

Construction of Herington Army Air Field, accomplished by contract under supervision of the Air Service Command, commenced in September 1942, and continued over a period of 14 months. Three runways were built with a dimension of 150 x 6750 feet, with a gross load capacity of 74,000 pounds, wheel load of 37,000 pounds. Runways and apron (500 x 4,750 feet) were constructed with a ten-inch gravel base placed in layers on a six-inch compacted earth subbase, and surfaced with one and one-half-inch asphalt cement; the service strip (80 feet wide) was a six-inch concrete slab, thickened to nine inches at the expansion and construction joints. three taxiways, 50 feet wide, completed the runway system. Fronting on the field, three squadron hangars, 120 by 80 feet, were built.

Construction work of a general nature relative to the site chosen for the army air field near Herington, included a water storage and distribution system; a sewage collection and disposal plant; an electric distribution system; two gasoline storage and distribution systems; 128,000 square yards of paved roads and streets; 14,000 square yards of paved walks; and a swimming pool. The station contained about 100 buildings, electric transmission lines, and all the other things one could expect to find in a town of 2,500 people.

On 1 November 1942, however, Maj. Harold Painter, who was slated to become the first commanding officer, arrived to take over the field. On 26 January 1943, Major Painter formally assumed command of Herington Army Airfield and appointed an adjutant, a provost marshal, a post engineer, a quartermaster(Capt. Arthur J. Sand), and a medical officer. On the same day also the following units were activated:

In the ensuing weeks, a Base Signal Office was created, a Base Operations Section organized, a Finance Department set up, and a Base Chemical Service inaugurated. Commencing with only one officer on 1 November 1942, the number of military personnel on the field grew to 12 officers and 145 enlisted men by 1 March 1943 and to 103 officers and 1,768 enlisted men at the end of the following June. The first contingent of WACs, consisting of one officer and ten enlisted women, arrived one year later. The peak in the strength of the permanent party military personnel was reached in August 1944, with totals of 113 officers and 2,123 enlisted men and women.

The 21st Bombardment Wing was charged with the responsibility of the final processing of heavy bombardment crews and equipment just prior to their leaving for overseas assignments. To carry out that program the wing utilized Topeka Army Airfield, and three satellite fields (Herington AAF, Bruning AAF, and Fairmont AAF) in Kansas and Nebraska.

This processing of heavy bombardment crews and equipment, sometimes called staging and also preparation for overseas movements, proved to be the principal function of Herington Army Airfield. A preliminary step leading to the development of the program there was the assignment on 25 January 1943 of the 47th, the 48th, the 49th, and the 50th Airdrome Squadrons.