Naval Support Activity Mid - South Naval Support Activity Mid - South ( NSA Mid - South , NAVSUPPACT Mid - South , NSAMS ) , in Millington , Tennessee , is a base of the United States Navy . A part of the Navy Region Midwest and the Navy Installations Command , NSA Mid - South serves as the Navy ’ s Human Resources Center of Excellence . Headquartered onboard NSA Mid - South are Navy Personnel Command , Navy Recruiting Command , the Navy Manpower Analysis Center , as well as the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers Finance Center . More than 7 , 500 military , civilian , and contract personnel are assigned / work on base . Initially established as Park Field , it was one of thirty - two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917 . Overview . The Naval Support Activity operates and functions with an allowance of approximately 7 , 500 enlisted and officer personnel , civilians , and full - time contract personnel , who provide all essential logistic and operational support to the commands and activities on board . As the base has evolved and changed , so has its impact on the area . It plays an important part in the community and is one of the largest single employers in the state of Tennessee . Major commands aboard NSA Mid - South . Of the more than 30 tenant commands that are located aboard Naval Support Activity Mid - South , these are some of the major commands : Community involvement . Throughout the year , NSA Mid - South partners with the Millington and Memphis communities to put on several projects : Navy Ten Nautical Miler . Beginning in 2010 , Naval Support Activity Mid - South is sponsoring the Navy Ten Nautical Miler , the first and only race measured in nautical miles instead of statute miles . The world - class foot race , intended to take the place of the Navy ’ s previous premiere race , the Blue Angels Marathon , the race attracts runners from all over the world . History . The training base was named after 1st Lieutenant Joseph D . Park , who was killed on 9 May 1913 when a military biplane , which he was flying plunged its nose into a gulley , turned a somersault and crashed against a tree , at Olive , California , thirty - nine miles southeast of Los Angeles . The aviator fell only fifteen feet , but the radiator crushed his head , and then fell upon his body . World War I . This site was originally established by the Army Signal Corps in May , 1917 after the United States entered World War I . The Department of War sent a cadre of officers to the Memphis area to survey sites for an aviation school . The group decided on a location in the Millington area , about 16 miles northeast of Memphis . An agreement to lease the land for the Army was concluded , and the construction of some 50 buildings began . Park Field covered of over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1 , 000 personnel . Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters , maintenance , and officers ’ quarters . Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents . The first unit stationed there was the 160th Aero Squadron , which was transferred from Kelly Field , Texas in November , 1917 . However , a few U . S . Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 160th , Most of the Curtiss JN - 4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar . Park Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service . In 1917 , flight training occurred in two phases : primary and advanced . Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction with a student capacity of 300 . After completion of their primary training , flight cadets were then transferred to another base for advanced training . Training units assigned to Park Field were : By February 1918 , flight operations were in full swing , but with the sudden end of World War I in November 1918 , the future operational status of Park Field was unknown . Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918 were allowed to complete their training , however no new cadets were assigned to the base . Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment in December , as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized . Finally , flight training activities ceased in July , 1919 . Inter - war years . In March 1920 the War department officially purchased Park Field , and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons . At that time the airfield began pioneering airmail routes throughout Tennessee and the surrounding states . However , the airfield continued to decline until it was little more than a storage area for aircraft and parts . By 1921 , the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets . and the War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Park Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus . The field was closed and abandoned in January , 1922 . Ironically , the Stock Market Crash of 1929 breathed new life into Park Field . During the 1930s the field served as a transient camp for unemployed workers . In 1937 the Resettlement Administration ( later the Farm Security Administration ) took over the land and developed model farms used to demonstrate what could be achieved with correctly managed land . Park Field remained under this agency ' s jurisdiction until the outbreak of World War II . World War II . Just as the onset of World War I had given Park Field its birth in 1917 , the declaration of war on December 8 , 1941 , had similar results , heralding the arrival of naval aviation to the Memphis area . In February 1942 , the Navy Shore Station Development Board recommended approval of a reserve aviation base on the former site of Park Field . On September 15 , 1942 , the Naval Reserve Aviation Base was officially commissioned on the south side of the station . Cold War . On January 1 , 1943 , the Naval Reserve Aviation Base was renamed Naval Air Station Memphis . However , in April 1949 , the base ' s functions completely changed , and a new Naval Air Station was established , different in both scope and function . The new NAS assumed logistic support for all the commands at Navy Memphis , except the Naval Hospital . The boundaries included all Navy property on both sides of the Millington - Arlington Road ( Navy Road ) . NAS Memphis continued its support and logistics role for some 50 years . Modern era . The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed the realignment of Naval Air Station Memphis . NAS Memphis was redesignated Naval Support Activity Memphis September 30 , 1995 . The name was changed to Naval Support Activity Mid - South October 1 , 1998 , to more closely identify the base ' s mission requirements and to reflect the Navy ' s approach to regionalization . Guardsmen Shooting on 24 . October 2013 . On 24 . October 2013 a gunman opened fire and injured two soldiers . The suspect after the shooting taken into the custody . The two injured soldiers have no life - threatening injuries .