NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE NEW ORLEANS
Joint reserve aviation on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans.
OVERVIEW
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is the U.S. Navy host of a joint reserve aviation installation in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 12 miles south of downtown New Orleans. The base occupies about 3,200 acres in Plaquemines Parish and supports approximately 5,000 active-duty, reserve, and civilian personnel from multiple services. Originally commissioned in 1957 as Naval Air Station New Orleans and formally redesignated as a Joint Reserve Base in 1994, the installation is the U.S. Gulf Coast's principal joint reserve aviation hub.
The Navy serves as host service and operates the airfield, with Navy Reserve fleet logistics support squadrons assigned to the base. The Louisiana Air National Guard's 159th Fighter Wing operates F-15C/D Eagles from the field — one of relatively few air defense fighter units in the southeastern United States. Marine Forces Reserve aviation, including detachments of Marine Aircraft Group 49, operates from the base, and the U.S. Coast Guard maintains the co-located Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans — a major Gulf Coast SAR, marine environmental protection, and homeland security air station. The proximity to New Orleans, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico makes the base a strategically important hub for joint, reserve, interagency, and humanitarian operations across the U.S. Gulf Coast.
KEY FACTS
- MissionJoint Reserve base supporting Navy, Marine, Air National Guard, and Coast Guard aviation
- CompositionJoint reserve installation hosting Navy, Marine Corps, Air National Guard, and Coast Guard
- Coast GuardCo-located U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans — Gulf Coast SAR and homeland security
- Fighter MissionLouisiana Air National Guard's 159th Fighter Wing operates F-15 Eagles from the field
- Geographic SettingLocated in Plaquemines Parish on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans
HISTORY
Naval aviation in the New Orleans area dates to World War II, when the Navy operated a Naval Air Station on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain (the present-day site of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport). After the war, the lakefront facility was deemed inadequate for modern jet operations, and the Navy began searching for a more suitable site for a permanent post-war Naval Air Station in the New Orleans area. The Navy ultimately selected a site in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 12 miles south of New Orleans, where flat available land and unrestricted approaches over the river and Gulf of Mexico offered ideal flying conditions.
Naval Air Station New Orleans at Belle Chasse was commissioned in 1957, replacing the wartime lakefront facility, and was developed through the late 1950s and 1960s as a modern reserve and active aviation site. The base supported a mix of Navy and Marine Corps Reserve squadrons through the Cold War, including reserve fighter, attack, patrol, and transport squadrons, plus a long-running Coast Guard air station presence supporting Gulf Coast search-and-rescue missions.
The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) review and subsequent BRAC rounds drove a major reorganization of the U.S. military reserve force structure, with new emphasis on joint, multi-service reserve installations. NAS New Orleans was redesignated Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in 1994, formalizing what had effectively been a joint installation for decades and bringing additional Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and Marine Forces Reserve units to the base. Marine Forces Reserve subsequently established its component headquarters at the adjacent Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans on the east bank of the Mississippi River, with Marine aviation reserve units flying from the joint base airfield.
The base played an outsized role in the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, serving as a critical staging area for federal, state, and local relief operations across the storm-devastated Gulf Coast. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans aircrews flew thousands of search-and-rescue sorties from the base in the days after the storm, and the Navy, Marine, and Air National Guard tenants supported the broader federal response. In the years since, the base has continued to serve as the U.S. Gulf Coast's principal joint reserve aviation hub, supporting routine reserve training, hurricane response, and Coast Guard maritime operations across the region.
MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS
- Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans (host, U.S. Navy)
- Marine Forces Reserve headquarters (Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans, separate site)
- Marine Aircraft Group 49 detachments — Marine Forces Reserve aviation
- 159th Fighter Wing — Louisiana Air National Guard (F-15C/D)
- U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY
NOTABLE EVENTS
- 1957NAS New Orleans CommissionedNaval Air Station New Orleans commissioned at Belle Chasse, replacing the WWII-era Naval Air Station New Orleans at Lake Pontchartrain.
- 1994Joint Reserve BaseNaval Air Station New Orleans redesignated Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, formalizing the base's joint reserve role.
- 2005Hurricane KatrinaBase served as a critical staging area for Hurricane Katrina relief operations and Coast Guard search-and-rescue missions.