The installation began as an aerodrome that was constructed in southeastern Sicily, at the foot of the Hyblaean Mountains ("Monti iblei") and near the city of Comiso. The airport was designed in 1934 under the fascist regime but building works did not start until 1935 and were finished in 1939. Magliocco Aerodromo was dedicated in 1936 and named in honor of Major General Vincenzo Magliocco, the first Sicilian to become a general officer in the Italian Air Force. Magliocco had been killed in the Ethiopian war in 1936. It became one of several key aerodromes in southern Sicily during the Second World War. German forces were stationed there in 1941, as part of Italy's Axis Alliance, and the German Luftwaffe in 1943 conducted air operations against Allied positions in Maghreb and Malta after its withdrawal from Tunisia. Aerial bombardments by the Allies rendered the airfield unserviceable on 26 May and 17 June 1943 in preparation for Operation Husky, the allied landings on Sicily. Just after the landing on the nearby Sicilian beaches two Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers took off from Comiso to bomb the landing beaches, only to be met by United States Army troops at the airfield when they landed for rearming and fuel. Ground assault forces of the II Corps, under the command of (then) Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, captured the base on 11 July 1943. Six days later, after quick repairs to the airfield, Allied air forces began operations at Magliocco, designated Comiso Airfield by the Allies, coming under the USAAF Twelfth Air Force. It was primarily used to support airborne and assault glider operations. Known allied units assigned to the base were: USAAF: 340th Bombardment Group, 3–27 August 1943 (B-25 Mitchell) 17th Troop Carrier Squadron, 3 September 1943 – 8 July 1944 (C-47 Skytrain) 16th Troop Carrier Squadron, 4 September 1943 – 10 July 1944 (C-47 Skytrain) 35th Troop Carrier Squadron, 7 September 1943 – 9 January 1945 (C-47 Skytrain) 18th Troop Carrier Squadron, 8 September 1943 – 9 January 1945 (C-47 Skytrain) 12th Troop Carrier Squadron, 22 October-9 November 1943 (C-47 Skytrain) RAF: No. 43 Squadron (Supermarine Spitfire) No. 111 Squadron, (Supermarine Spitfire) No. 243 Squadron, (Supermarine Spitfire) No. 3201 Servicing Commando, Royal Air Force Serving Commandos The airfield remained under Allied control when they left in early 1945. The airfield and facilities at Magliocco fell into disuse during the postwar years. In 1954 Alitalia, the Italian national airline, began commercial operations there. The facilities were extended, with a runway that was to be 1,740 m (5,710 ft) long, the airport was opened to civil aviation. The airport was also a base for the 41st Storm of Catania (Italian Air Force), until 1973. However, the airport was little used. During the Cold War, in December of 1979, it was officially selected as the second European main operating base for BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM), deployed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in response to the development and deployment of new intercontinental and intermediate range missiles by the Soviet Union. On 17 March 1982, Commander George W. Holland, of the U.S. Navy Civil Engineering Corps, arrived at Comiso as the resident officer in charge of construction (ROICC). The Air Force activated the 7024th Special Activities Squadron at nearby NAS Sigonella in May 1982 as a primary point of contact and liaison with Lelio Lagorio the Italian Minister of Defence regarding initial site preparations at Comiso. At Comiso, the buildings on the base were almost all bombed out shells and the runway had trees growing out of it. A few of the old buildings were refurbished and used by the USAF or the Italian Air Force, but most were demolished carefully, because of the large amount of Second World War unexploded ordnance, a new base was constructed from the ground up, which was completed on 13 August 1982.