Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach or NOLF Imperial Beach is a United States Navy facility for helicopter s , situated on approximately south of San Diego and within the city limits of Imperial Beach , California . It is known as " The Helicopter Capital of the World " . Mission statement . The mission of NOLF Imperial Beach at the present time as described , is to handle the overflow of helicopter squadrons traffic both VFR and IFR , from North Island . As a result the helicopter squadrons at North Island do 95 percent of their operations at Imperial Beach . History . In 1917 , the United States Army established Aviation Field on the current site of OLF Imperial Beach . Aviation Field was used for air gunnery practices , among other things , by the Army and was kept active throughout World War I . In 1918 , it was renamed in honor of Army Major William Roy Ream , the first flying surgeon of the American Army and the first flight surgeon killed in an aircraft accident . In the early 1920s the Navy began using Ream Field for practice carrier landings , but the field was not considered as advantageous for expansion as Brown Field , some inland , and did not develop much further until later during World War II . In 1943 , the present runways were built and construction on the installation ’ s buildings began , and on 17 July 1943 Naval Auxiliary Air Station Ream Field was commissioned . By 12 April 1946 the station had 78 buildings and four airstrips consisting of runways , one oriented northwest by southeast and the other oriented northeast by southwest , both of which were 2500 by . In addition to the four runways , 82 , 730 square yards of aircraft parking area were built . Shortly after World War II , Ream Field was decommissioned . In 1951 , it was re - commissioned as an Auxiliary Landing Field , and in 1955 was re - designated as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Imperial Beach . In 1951 , Ream Field Imperial Beach became home to its first helicopter squadron when HU - 1 moved on board . HS - 2 and HS - 4 were also commissioned here in 1952 . They was followed by many others , HS - 6 and HS - 8 in 1956 and HS - 10 was formed in 1960 . In 1967 , the oldest of the helicopter squadrons , HC - 1 , commissioned in 1948 at NAS Lakehurst , was divided into five different squadrons , HC - 3 , HC - 5 , HC - 7 , HAL - 3 and HC - 1 and brought on board at Imperial Beach . On January 1 , 1968 NAAS Imperial Beach was raised to the status of a full Naval Air Station and renamed NAS Imperial Beach . The mission of NAS Imperial Beach was to support operations of Naval aviation activities and units . In this capacity it was the home of seven helicopter squadrons , eventually to become the home of ten squadrons , constituting all of the Navy helicopter squadrons on the west coast . The station also supported a Naval Air Maintenance Training Detachment and a Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit . At that time NAS Imperial Beach had a total complement of approximately 3400 military personnel . On August 1 , 1974 , NAS Imperial Beach was once again re - designated as a Naval Auxiliary Landing Field and in October 1975 was designated an Outlying Field ( OLF Imperial Beach ) and presently operates as a branch of Naval Base Coronado . When Imperial Beach was designated on Outlying Field , this put a halt to a master plan developed on 1967 to determine the facilities required to support units assigned by the Chief of Naval Operations . Under this plan , construction commenced on a new Enlisted Dining Hall and modern Bachelor Enlisted Quarters . In 1968 the control tower and operation building was completed , along with a new Enlisted Men ’ s Club and a $ 1 . 2 million hangar was opened . Other building constructed under the plan were , a new Bachelor Officer Quarters , a second new hangar , and a new Navy Exchange retail store with five times the floor space of the previous Navy Exchange . Along with the halt of construction on base , the helicopter squadrons all were moved to NAS North Island . This meant there was no further need for barracks , meal facilities , aircraft hangars and clubs . These new buildings were closed and everyone associated with them was moved and expected to use the facilities at North Island . In 1977 , the empty aircraft hangars were leased to Defense Property Disposal Office ( DPDO ) , now the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office ( DRMO ) of the Defense Logistics Agency for storage of excess and salvageable material . In 1978 , almost half of the buildings on base , those east of Lexington Street were leased to the Department of Labor . Presently OLF Imperial Beach encompasses with 270 of those acres leased out for agricultural purposes and leased to the State of California for a wildlife refuge at the southeast corner by the base itself .