Bolling Field Bolling Field is a military installation , located in Southeast Washington , D . C . , established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission . The legislation ordered the consolidation of Naval Support Facility Anacostia ( NSF ) and Bolling Air Force Base ( BAFB ) , which were adjoining , but separate military installations , into a single Joint Base , one of 12 formed in the country as a result of the law . Coast Guard Station Washington , D . C . , is located on the post , next to the Capitol Cove Marina . The headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Agency , the Defense Intelligence Analysis Center , is located on the post . The only aeronautical facility at the base is a helipad ( ICAO : KBOF ) . Overview . Joint Base Anacostia - Bolling ( JBAB ) is responsible for providing installation support to 17 , 000 military , civilian employees and their families , 48 mission and tenant units , including ceremonial units ( United States Air Force Honor Guard , USAF Band , USAF Chaplains , the Navy Ceremonial Guard ) , various Army , Marine Corps , Coast Guard , Joint Service commands and other DOD and federal agencies . History . Bolling ' s property has been a Department of Defense ( DOD ) asset since 1917 . From its beginning , the installation has included the Army Air Corps ( predecessor to today ’ s Air Force ) and Navy aviation and support elements . The tract of land selected for the base was scouted by William C . Ocker at the direction of General Billy Mitchell . The base began near Anacostia in 1918 , as the only military airfield near the United States Capitol and was originally named The Flying Field at Anacostia on 2 October 1917 . It was renamed Anacostia Experimental Flying Field in June 1918 . Not long after its acquisition by the military , the single installation evolved into two separate , adjoining bases ; one Army ( later Air Force ) and one Navy . Bolling Field was officially opened 1 July 1918 and was named in honor of the first high - ranking air service officer killed in World War I , Colonel Raynal C . Bolling . Colonel Bolling was the Assistant Chief of the Air Service , and was killed in action near Amiens , France , on 26 March 1918 while defending himself and his driver , Private Paul L . Holder , from an attack by German soldiers . In the late 1940s , Bolling Field ’ s property became Naval Air Station Anacostia and a new Air Force base , named Bolling Air Force Base , was constructed just to the south on 24 June 1948 . Bolling AFB has served as a research and testing ground for new aviation equipment and its first mission provided aerial defense of the capital . It moved to its present location , along the Potomac in the city ' s southwest quadrant , in the 1930s . Over the years , Marine Corps , Coast Guard and National Guard units , as well as DOD and federal agencies also found the installation to be an ideal place from which to operate . Although fixed - wing aircraft operations ceased , the installations continued their important service to the country and the world , serving in many capacities , including service with the Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) ; the headquarters for the Air Force District of Washington ; the Air Force 11th Wing ; Commander , Naval Installations Command , Naval Media Center ( now , Defense Media Activity - Navy ) and many other military commands and federal agencies The Air Force District of Washington ( AFDW ) was created and activated at Bolling on 1 October 1985 with the mission of providing administrative support to Air Force members . On 15 July 1994 , AFDW was inactivated , but was reactivated 5 January 2005 to " provide a single voice for Air Force requirements in the National Capital Region " according to the base ' s website . Bolling field units also provide ceremonial support to the White House , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff , mainly through 11th Wing , the United States Air Force Honor Guard and The United States Air Force Band . The Defense Intelligence Agency built its Defense Intelligence Analysis Center at Joint Base Anacostia - Bolling and moved many of its operations and headquarters there in 1987 .