The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Incirlik Air Base in the spring of 1951. The U.S.A.F. initially planned to use the base as an emergency staging and recovery site for medium and heavy bombers. The Turkish General Staff and the U.S.A.F. signed a joint-use agreement for the new Air Base in December 1954. On February 21, 1955, the Air Base was officially named Adana Air Base, with the 7216th Air Base Squadron as the host unit. This Air Base was renamed the "Incirlik Air Base" on February 28, 1958.
In mid-1975, the Turkish government announced that all American military bases in Turkey would be closed and transferred to the Turkish Air Force. This action was in response to an arms embargo that the United States Congress imposed on Turkey for using American-supplied equipment during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Only the Incirlik Air Base and the İzmir Air Base remained open due to their NATO responsibilities, but all other non-NATO activities at these locations were suspended.
After Congress lifted the embargo in September 1978, and also restored military and naval assistance to Turkey, normal operations resumed in Turkey, and the United States and Turkey signed a "Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement" (DECA) on March 29, 1980. After signing the DECA, the USAFE initiated the "Turkey Catch-up Plan" to improve the quality-of-life of airmen stationed at Incirlik. One of the major projects was a completely new base housing complex for airmen and officers.