Naval Air Station Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville or NAS Jacksonville is a military airport located four miles ( 6 km ) south of the central business district of Jacksonville , Florida , United States . It is one of two naval bases ( the other being Naval Station Mayport ) located in Duval County . History . During World War I , the area now occupied by NAS Jacksonville , often referred to colloquially as " NAS Jax " , was named " Camp Joseph E . Johnston " , and was commissioned on October 15 , 1917 . The United States Army trained quartermaster s and the center included more than 600 buildings ; by 1918 Camp Johnston was the largest of all Quartermaster mobilization and training camps . The second largest rifle range in the U . S . was constructed there , but the camp was decommissioned on May 16 , 1919 . The Florida National Guard began using the site in 1928 and it was renamed " Camp J . Clifford R . Foster " . The first detail of Marines arrived from Parris Island , South Carolina on June 4 , 1940 to secure the area , setting up a barracks in a former residence on Allegheny Road . On October 15 , 1940 , Naval Air Station Jacksonville was officially commissioned , and became the first part of the Jacksonville Navy complex that would eventually include NAS Cecil Field and Naval Station Mayport , as well as numerous naval auxiliary air stations and outlying fields in northeast Florida . On the same date , Captain Charles P . Mason , USN , raised his command pennant as the station ' s first commanding officer . Prior to the commissioning , on September 7 , Commander Jimmy Grant became the first pilot to land on the still unfinished runway in his N3N - 3 biplane . More than 10 , 000 pilots and 11 , 000 aircrewmen followed their lead to earn their " wings of gold " at the air station during World War II . Increased training and construction characterized NAS Jacksonville ’ s response to America ’ s entry into World War II . Three runways over long were operating , as were seaplane runways in the St . Johns River and seaplane ramps leading from the water . Overhaul and Repair ( O & R ) facilities were built to rework the station ' s planes , a facility that in ensuing years would be renamed Naval Air Rework Facility Jacksonville ( NARF Jax ) , Naval Aviation Depot Jacksonville ( NADEP Jax ) and its current name of Fleet Readiness Center Southeast . More than 700 buildings sprung to life on the base before V - J Day ( Victory over Japan ) , including an hospital and a prisoner - of - war compound which housed more than 1 , 500 German prisoners of war . Archbishop ( later Cardinal ) Francis J . Spellman dedicated the Catholic Chapel ( St . Edward ’ s ) at its Birmingham Avenue location on January 17 , 1943 . The chapel and other buildings constructed during the war years , intended for a life of only 20 years , are still in use . During the late 1940s , the jet age was dawning and in 1948 the Navy ’ s first jet carrier air groups and squadrons came to NAS Jacksonville . By April 1949 , NAS Jacksonville was the East Coast ' s aircraft capital , with more naval aircraft stationed here than at any other naval base from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean – 60 percent of the Fleet ' s air striking force in the Atlantic area from pole to pole . NAS Jacksonville continued growing throughout the late 1940s . Fleet Air Wing Eleven made its move to the base , bringing with it Patrol Squadron THREE ( VP - 3 ) from NAS Coco Solo , Panama and Patrol Squadron FIVE ( VP - 5 ) from NAS San Juan , Puerto Rico . The now famous U . S . Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron , the Blue Angels , who had called NAS Jacksonville home but later moved to NAS Corpus Christi in the late 1940s , performed a last air show at the station on April 29 , 1950 , before forming the nucleus of an operational fighter squadron , VF - 191 ( Satan ’ s Kittens ) , which was assigned to combat in Korea . The " Blues " would not return to the station for more than two years . In the early 1950s , Naval Air Technical Training Center ( NATTC ) Jacksonville was also reactivated and included nine different schools . In the mid - 1950s , an air traffic control center for joint use by the Navy , Air Force , and Civil Aeronautics Administration was approved and completed at a cost of $ 325 , 000 . Major changes also occurred as parking ramps were added shore - based aircraft hangars and a - long taxiway was built . By the mid - 1950s , with the station ' s continuing growth , the Navy was having a tremendous impact on the economic growth in the Jacksonville and Duval County area . The station had over 11 , 000 military personnel assigned , along with 5 , 000 civilians and an annual payroll of more than $ 35 million . In March 1959 , Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO ( VMA - 142 ) of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami , along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment ( MARTD ) . VMA - 142 would remain at NAS Jax until its relocation to nearby NAS Cecil Field in 1978 . In 1970 , a major reorganization of the Naval Reserve resulted in three separate Naval Air Reserve flying squadrons , identical to their active duty Regular Navy counterparts , being activated at NAS Jacksonville . These squadrons consisted of Attack Squadron TWO ZERO THREE ( VA - 203 ) , Patrol Squadron SIXTY - TWO ( VP - 62 ) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FIFTY - EIGHT ( VR - 58 ) . VA - 203 would later relocate to NAS Cecil Field in 1977 , with the remaining reserve squadrons joined by Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron SEVENTY - FIVE ( HS - 75 ) in 1985 following its relocation from NAS Willow Grove , Pennsylvania . In 1973 , with the assignment of Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One , the station ’ s primary mission became antisubmarine warfare . Accompanying the wing were five helicopter squadrons which are still based here today . With the new wings and squadrons , opportunities grew for both sea duty and shore duty assignment to NAS Jacksonville . The station ' s popularity grew and it became one of the most requested duty station for sailors and officers in Naval Aviation throughout the Navy . A piece of history and Navy and Marine Corps tradition was lost in 1986 when the last unit of Marines left NAS Jacksonville . Marine Barracks Jacksonville had been one of the first groups to arrive at the base in 1940 , but left due to mission realignments and a reduction in Marines authorized for Marine Corps Security Force duties at U . S . Naval installations . USAF Radar Station . The United States Air Force Air Defense Command established a Phase III Mobile Radar station at NAS Jacksonville in 1 July 1957 with the 679th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron operating AN / FPS - 3 , AN / FPS - 8 , and AN / MPS - 14 radars as part of the ADC radar network . It was designated as ADC site M - 114 . In 1962 AN / FPS - 66 radar and a pair of AN / FPS - 6 heightfinder radars were added . During 1962 M - 114 joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) system , feeding data to DC - 09 at Gunter AFB , Alabama . After joining , the squadron was re - designated as the 679th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) on 1 October 1962 . On 31 July 1963 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 114 . In addition to the site at NAS Jacksonville , the 679th operated several " Gap Filler " remote sites to extend its radar coverage : In 1963 M - 114 became a joint - use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) . It performed routine general radar surveillance until 30 September 1981 when the site was inactivated . Current operations . Force reductions in the 1990s and early 2000s ( decade ) eliminated several P - 3C squadrons ( VP - 24 , VP - 49 , VP - 56 ) and SH - 60F / HH - 60H squadrons ( HS - 1 , HS - 9 , HS - 75 ) at NAS Jacksonville , while the BRAC - directed closure of nearby NAS Cecil Field resulted in the relocation of Sea Control Wing ONE and its multiple Sea Control Squadrons ( VS - 22 , VS - 24 , VS - 29 , VS - 30 , VS - 31 ) operating the S - 3 Viking until that aircraft ' s retirement from the active Fleet in 2008 . Today , 23 , 000 civilian and active - duty personnel are employed on the base . The installation is considered to be one of the hubs for naval activity in the U . S . South . Other U . S . Navy Bases in the area include Naval Station Mayport , Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County , Georgia , Naval Outlying Landing Field Whitehouse ( just north of the former NAS Cecil Field ) and the Pinecastle Range Complex stretching from just south of Camp Blanding to the southern border of the Ocala National Forest . With the BRAC - directed closure of NAS Brunswick , Maine by mid - 2011 , Patrol Squadron EIGHT ( VP - 8 ) , Patrol Squadron TEN ( VP - 10 ) , Patrol Squadron TWENTY - SIX ( VP - 26 ) , Special Projects Patrol Squadron ONE ( VPU - 1 ) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron SIXTY - TWO ( VR - 62 ) began relocating to NAS Jacksonville in 2007 with their P - 3C and C - 130T aircraft , with all of these squadrons in place at NAS Jacksonville by late 2010 . In addition to the many operational active and reserve squadrons aboard , NAS Jacksonville is also home to Patrol Squadron THIRTY ( VP - 30 ) , the Navy ' s largest aviation squadron and the only P - 3 Orion and P - 8 Poseidon Fleet Replacement Squadron that prepares and trains U . S . and NATO / Allied pilots , air crew and maintenance personnel for further operational assignments in the P - 8A , P - 3C Orion and EP - 3E Aries in the U . S . Navy , and P - 3B , P - 3C and similar variants in various NATO and Allied navies and air forces . VP - 30 is the first squadron to operate the U . S . Navy ' s new P - 8 Poseidon aircraft , and commenced training flight crews and maintainers in this replacement for the P - 3C in 2012 . All U . S . Navy patrol squadrons eventually transition to this new platform . NAS Jacksonville is also an Aviation Maintenance training facility for several aviation ratings , facilitated by Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville . Support facilities include an additional outlying field ( OLF Whitehouse ) for pilot training , a maintenance depot employing more than 150 different trade skills capable of performing maintenance as basic as changing a tire to intricate micro - electronics or total engine disassembly , a Naval Hospital , a Fleet Industrial Supply Center , a Navy Family Service Center , a DeCA commissary , Navy Exchange , and recreational facilities for both single sailors and families of the Active , Reserve and Retired military communities . Tenant Commands . Aviation Units Shore Commands Other Agencies