As peace took hold on the land, Camp John Hay shed its wartime persona and reverted to its original role. Even before the niceties of surrender had been observed, AFWESPAC reiterated the Camp’s mission: to provide facilities for rest, recreation and recuperation for all military personnel stationed in Luzon. In late August 1945 a team under the command of Colonel Franklin Smith arrived to embark on the rehabilitation of Camp John Hay.

While the Camp was undergoing rehabilitation, the U.S. Army leased the facilities of Baguio Country Club. The club house served as the officers’ mess hall and quarters for visiting military personnel. The weed-infested golf course was restored and opened for their use. This echoed a time before each had their complete courses -- in the early 1900s when Camp John Hay and the Country Club shared a 3-hole golf course. However, this arrangement did not last.

Filipinos doing much of the actual construction completed the work at such a fast pace that by the end of the year most of the major facilities were not only ready for use, they had also been upgraded. A movie theater and bell chimes to announce meals were added to the Officers Club. Special services were expanded and a recreation center was set up at Snyder Hall. Sports facilities like the bowling lanes, billiard tables, badminton and tennis courts were refurbished. In addition, dances were organized, movies shown and USO shows presented. The headquarters building was rebuilt while the former Division Special Services building was repaired. New cottages were also constructed. The golf pavilion was expanded and the park beside it was made into a driving range. The golf course, which had been turned into a vegetable garden during the Japanese Occupation, was restored and reopened in mid-November. These signaled the Camp’s readiness to resume carrying on the mission that the war had interrupted.

The war had also postponed the Philippines becoming an independent country. When it did on July 4, 1947, relations between the two countries were defined in the 1947 RP-US Bases Agreement. Under its provisions, the American bases in the Philippines could stay for 99 years.

With its colony now a sovereign nation, the number of American Army troops in the Philippines was reduced. This led to the transfer of jurisdiction of Camp John Hay from the U.S. Army to the Air Force. It was placed under the supervision of the 13th Air Force based in Clark Air Base. With its mission remaining essentially the same, this move gave the Camp a new name, John Hay Air Base. However, this and its other official designations such as Det. 5, 405th Combat Support Group in 1959 never quite caught on. It was, and always has been, simply Camp John Hay.

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