page_title: San Diego
section_title: Defense and military
hierarchical_section_title: San Diego / Economy / Defense and military
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Navy Cmdr. Craig Reiner flies an F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter from Fleet Readiness Center Southwest over Naval Air Station North Island, California, and the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) November 18, 2008, in San Diego. The Hornet is painted to match that of the first F/A-18 flight for its 30th anniversary.
context_page_description: San Diego is a city in the U.S. state of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,423,851 as of July 1, 2019, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the U.S. and a bordering country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
  San Diego has been called "the birthplace of California". Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, it was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later.
context_section_description: The economy of San Diego is influenced by its deepwater port, which includes the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast. Several major national defense contractors were started and are headquartered in San Diego, including General Atomics, Cubic, and NASSCO.
  San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world: In 2008 it was home to 53 ships, over 120 tenant commands, and more than 35,000 sailors, marines, Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors. About 5 percent of all civilian jobs in the county are military-related, and 15,000 businesses in San Diego County rely on Department of Defense contracts.
  Military bases in San Diego include US Navy facilities, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations.
  The city is "home to the majority of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's surface combatants, all of the Navy's West Coast amphibious ships and a variety of Coast Guard and Military Sealift Command vessels".
caption: F/A-18 Hornet flying over San Diego and the USS John C. Stennis
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