NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND
The Birthplace of Naval Aviation — Pacific Fleet carrier and helicopter hub.
OVERVIEW
Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) occupies the northern half of Coronado, California, immediately across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego, and is the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet master jet air station and carrier homeport. NASNI is one of the oldest naval aviation installations in the world — Glenn Curtiss opened a flying school on the site in 1911, and the U.S. Navy's first aviator, Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson, completed his pilot training there, giving the base its enduring nickname, "the Birthplace of Naval Aviation." The Navy formally established the air station in 1917, and it has operated continuously ever since.
Today NAS North Island is the principal component of Naval Base Coronado, the consolidated installation command for the Coronado-area Navy presence. NASNI is the homeport for multiple Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and it hosts Helicopter Sea Combat Wing and Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing — the Pacific Fleet headquarters of the MH-60S and MH-60R Seahawk communities — as well as the Airborne Command Control & Logistics Wing of the E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound communities. The headquarters of Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF), the Navy's senior naval aviation command (informally "the Air Boss"), is located on the base. Roughly 30,000 military members and civilians are assigned to NASNI and its tenants.
KEY FACTS
- MissionPacific Fleet master jet air station and carrier homeport
- Component OfNaval Base Coronado
- Aircraft CarriersHomeport for multiple Nimitz-class CVNs of the Pacific Fleet
- Helicopter HubPacific Fleet center for MH-60R/S Seahawk operations
- CNAFHeadquarters of Commander, Naval Air Forces (the "Air Boss")
HISTORY
North Island's role in U.S. naval aviation began in 1911, when aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss obtained permission to use the then-undeveloped island as a flying school. Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson, designated Naval Aviator No. 1, completed his pilot training under Curtiss on North Island, and the U.S. Navy began conducting its earliest flight training and aircraft experimentation there. The Navy and Army both used the field through the 1910s, and during World War I the federal government formally took control of the island. Naval Air Station San Diego — later renamed Naval Air Station North Island — was commissioned in 1917.
Through the interwar years North Island became one of the principal homeports of the Pacific Fleet's growing carrier force, supporting USS Langley, USS Lexington, and USS Saratoga, and a steady cycle of carrier operations from the bay. During World War II the base was a major fleet logistics, training, and aircraft overhaul installation, and in the postwar period the headquarters of Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNAP) was established there. From the Cold War through the post-9/11 era the base steadily added the Pacific Fleet's helicopter, command-and-control, and carrier-onboard-delivery wings, and in 1998 it was consolidated with neighboring Coronado-area installations under Naval Base Coronado as the host installation command. NAS North Island remains the operational center of Pacific Fleet naval aviation.
MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS
- Naval Air Forces (CNAF) — Pacific Fleet headquarters
- Carrier Strike Group 1 and Carrier Strike Group 11
- Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet
- Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet
- Airborne Command Control & Logistics Wing (E-2 / C-2 community)
- Naval Base Coronado (host installation command)
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY
NOTABLE EVENTS
- 1911Birthplace of Naval AviationGlenn Curtiss opened a flying school on North Island; the Navy's first aviator, Theodore G. Ellyson, trained there, earning the site its "Birthplace of Naval Aviation" title.
- 1917Naval Air Station EstablishedNAS San Diego (later NAS North Island) commissioned during World War I.
- 1955CNAP HeadquarteredCommander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNAP) established at NAS North Island.
- 1998Naval Base CoronadoNAS North Island consolidated with surrounding Coronado-area Navy installations under Naval Base Coronado.