Naval Air Station Cecil Field Naval Air Station Cecil Field or NAS Cecil Field was a United States Navy air base , located in Duval County , Florida . Prior to 1999 , NAS Cecil Field was the largest military base in terms of acreage in the Jacksonville , Florida area . NAS Cecil Field consisted of four separate facilities , the NAS Cecil Field Complex ( Cecil Field ) , Outlying Field Whitehouse ( OLF Whitehouse ) , the Yellow Water Weapons Department and the Pinecastle [ Pine Castle ] Electronic Warfare Target Area / Warfare Range . Including nearly 2 , 500 acres ( 10 km² ) at OLF Whitehouse , the NAS Cecil Field complex consisted of 22 , 939 acres ( 92 . 8 km² ) ; in addition , the base leased another 8 , 379 acres ( 33 . 9 km² ) . By late 1999 , approximately 17 , 200 acres ( 69 . 6 km² ) were transferred to the civilian sector in the form of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority , while the remainder was transferred to Naval Air Station Jacksonville . As directed by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission ( BRAC ) and the U . S . Congress pursuant to BRAC 1993 and BRAC 1995 , NAS Cecil Field was decommissioned as an active naval installation on 30 September 1999 . It is now a civilian , public - use , joint civil - military airfield and industrial park known as Cecil Commerce Center and Cecil Airport . History . NAS Cecil Field was named in honor of Commander Henry Barton Cecil , USN , who died in 1933 in the crash of the Navy airship USS Akron . Shortly before the United States ' entry into World War II , a 2 , 600 acre ( 11 km² ) tract of land was purchased in western Duval County and construction began on the " U . S . Naval Auxiliary Air Station , Cecil Field " ( NAAS Cecil Field ) . 1940s . The base got its start in June 1941 , and operations were accelerated just 11 days after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor . VF and VSB units of Advanced Carrier Group , Atlantic arrived at Cecil Field in late 1942 to commence replacement pilot combat training . Cecil Field was commissioned as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station ( NAAS ) in February 1943 . In March 1943 , the fighter training unit moved to nearby Naval Auxiliary Air Station Lee Field in Green Cove Springs , and NAAS Cecil Field became the principal war - at - sea and dive - bombing training center for the U . S . Navy and U . S . Marine Corps . From 1943 until the war ended , NAAS Cecil Field was a pilot ' s last stop before assignment to combat in either the Atlantic Fleet or Pacific Fleet . It operated at full capacity during the war years and after the war . 1950s . Disestablished at the end of World War II , it was then re - established and disestablished until finally redesignated as a Naval Air Station on 30 June 1952 . The station was rejuvenated as an operating base for fleet aircraft units which ushered in the " jet age " for the Jacksonville area . In the mid - 1950s , NAS Cecil Field ' s growth was given further impetus when the station was selected to serve as one of four naval air stations to be designated as Master Jet Base s specifically used for the operation of carrier - based jet aircraft . In 1951 the land area of NAS Cecil Field was increased to 4 , 600 acres ( 19 km² ) and additional new buildings and facilities were constructed . Naval Air Station Cecil Field occupied 19 , 664 acres ( 79 . 6 km² ) , and was projected to be Navy ' s largest master jet base . Commands . Numerous commands operated from NAS Cecil Field over its lifetime . During the 1980s and 1990s , in addition to the station leadership of NAS Cecil Field , the principal tenant commands were : It was RF - 8 Crusaders from VFP - 62 out of NAS Cecil Field who detected the presence of missiles and monitored the Soviet buildup during the Cuban Missile Crisis . Squadrons from NAS Cecil Field were aboard every Atlantic Fleet aircraft carrier deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . During this period , 13 NAS Cecil Field pilots were listed as POW or MIA . The POW / MIA memorial located behind the base chapel has become the chosen site for many retiring officers and enlisted personnel to hold their retirement ceremonies . The first Atlantic Fleet Squadrons to fly the A - 7 Corsair II , the F / A - 18 Hornet , the S - 3A and S - 3B Viking , and the ES - 3A Shadow were all based at NAS Cecil Field . NAS Cecil Field squadrons again made history during the Gulf War , marking the final combat deployment for the A - 7E Corsair II and the first combat operations for the S - 3B Viking . The first weather observations were recorded at NAS Cecil Field in May 1949 , with the first meteorological equipment installed in December of the same year . In those days , weather observing and forecasting services were provided by the Meteorology Division of the Air Operations Department . The " weather guessers " of Cecil Field first became a detachment , as Naval Weather Service Environmental Detachment ( NWSED ) , Cecil Field when , in an effort to centralize control of support from the Navy ' s shore - based meteorological units , the CNO established the Office of the Naval Weather Service on 29 December 1965 . In September 1979 , almost 14 years later , the name changed to Naval Oceanography Command Detachment ( NOCD ) , Cecil Field . Base Realignment and Closure . Naval Air Station Cecil Field was identified for closure by the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission ( BRAC ) and approved by the U . S . Congress and President Bill Clinton in July 1993 . Upon this notice by the BRAC , the city of Jacksonville initiated the development of a reuse plan to guide transition of base property and facilities to other uses that support local goals for economic and community development . There have been efforts to see the base returned as a Naval Air Station ( NAS ) , but these have failed due to political and economic forces . Current Military Operations . A continuing military presence at what is now Cecil Airport and Cecil Commerce Center remains with Army Aviation Support Facility # 1 ( AASF # 1 ) of the Florida Army National Guard ( FLARNG ) , which relocated its flight operations from nearby Craig Airport in late 1999 . The FLARNG operates CH - 47 Chinook , UH - 60 Blackhawk , UH - 72 Lakota and C - 12 Huron aircraft from AASF # 1 at Cecil Field . Also located at Cecil Field is Coast Guard Air Facility Jacksonville , which supports the U . S . Coast Guard ' s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron ( HITRON ) and its MH - 65C Dolphin helicopters . The airfield is also extensively used for practice approaches and touch - and - go landings by military aircraft based at NAS Jacksonville , Naval Station Mayport and Jacksonville Air National Guard Base at Jacksonville International Airport , as well as itinerant military aircraft , especially those undergoing modification or repair work at former military aircraft maintenance facilities at Cecil Field now operated by The Boeing Company and Northrop Grumman .