NAVAL BASE CORONADO

OVERVIEW

Naval Base Coronado is the U.S. Navy's principal aviation and special warfare consolidated installation in southern California, occupying roughly 57,000 acres across eight separate sites in San Diego County and the offshore Channel Islands. Created in 1997 by consolidating Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, and several outlying activities into a single regional command, the base supports approximately 36,000 active-duty Sailors and civilian employees across its constituent installations.

Naval Air Station North Island, on the northern end of Coronado Island, is the host airfield and one of the Navy's most historic aviation facilities — the birthplace of naval aviation in the Pacific. It serves as homeport for multiple Pacific Fleet nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and hosts the Navy's West Coast helicopter sea combat (HSC) and helicopter maritime strike (HSM) communities. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, on the Silver Strand south of the city of Coronado, is the West Coast home of the U.S. Navy SEAL community: Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Warfare Group ONE, multiple SEAL teams, and the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) school where every Navy SEAL begins training. Outlying sites — including Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (helicopter training), San Clemente Island (live-fire ranges), Camp Michael Monsoor (special warfare training), and the La Posta Mountain Warfare Training Facility — round out a uniquely diverse installation portfolio.

KEY FACTS

• CompositionEight separate installations consolidated under one command in 1997
• MissionWest Coast carrier aviation, naval special warfare, and helicopter training hub
• Major SitesNAS North Island, NAB Coronado, NOLF Imperial Beach, La Posta, Camp Michael Monsoor, San Clemente Island
• Special WarfareWest Coast home of the U.S. Navy SEAL community
• Carrier HomeportMultiple Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers based at North Island

HISTORY

Naval Base Coronado as a single command dates only to 1997, but the constituent installations are among the oldest and most storied in the U.S. Navy. The story begins on the northern end of Coronado Island, where the Navy established Naval Air Station San Diego — later renamed Naval Air Station North Island — in 1917 as one of the service's earliest air stations and the home of the Navy's first West Coast aviation community. The flat, sandy terrain of North Island had previously served as the site of Glenn Curtiss's Coronado aviation school, which trained the Navy's first three pilots in 1911 and earned North Island the official designation of "Birthplace of Naval Aviation" by joint act of the U.S. Congress.

Through World War I and the inter-war period, NAS North Island grew into the principal Navy air station on the West Coast, supporting the development of carrier aviation and the workups of the early aircraft carriers USS Langley, Lexington, and Saratoga, which all called North Island home at various times. World War II brought a massive expansion: a second airfield (Naval Auxiliary Air Station Brown Field), seaplane operations across San Diego Bay, and a new Naval Amphibious Base on the Silver Strand south of Coronado, where the Navy and Marine Corps trained tens of thousands of amphibious forces for Pacific island campaigns starting in 1943. The Naval Amphibious Base also became the wartime home of the Navy's Combat Demolition Units and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) — the direct ancestors of the modern Navy SEAL community.

The Cold War cemented Coronado's role as a hub for both carrier aviation and special warfare. North Island became home to a rotating roster of Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers and remains the principal West Coast carrier homeport. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado evolved into the West Coast center of naval special warfare, with the Navy formally establishing SEAL Team ONE in 1962 and basing the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training pipeline at the base. Through the post-Cold War decades, the SEAL community at Coronado expanded to include Naval Special Warfare Command and Naval Special Warfare Group ONE.

In 1997, the Navy consolidated NAS North Island, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, San Clemente Island, and several smaller activities into a single regional command — Naval Base Coronado — to streamline base operations across the southern California Navy enterprise. Today the consolidated installation supports continuous carrier and special warfare operations and remains one of the most visible Navy facilities in the United States.

MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS

• Naval Air Station North Island (host airfield)
• Naval Special Warfare Command (NSW) and Naval Special Warfare Group ONE
• Carrier Air Wing staffs and helicopter squadrons (HSC, HSM)
• Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers homeported at North Island
• Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (helicopter training)

LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY

NOTABLE EVENTS

1. 1917
   NAS North Island Established

   Naval Air Station San Diego (later North Island) commissioned on the northern end of Coronado Island as one of the Navy's earliest air stations.
2. 1943
   Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

   Naval Amphibious Base Coronado established on the Silver Strand to train amphibious forces for the Pacific war.
3. 1997
   Consolidation

   Naval Base Coronado created by consolidating NAS North Island, NAB Coronado, and several outlying activities into a single regional command.

NEARBY BASES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

SOURCES

• Wikipedia: Naval Base Coronado
• CNIC — Naval Air Station North Island
• CNIC — Naval Amphibious Base Coronado