Naval Air Station Corpus Christi Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , also known as Truax Field , is a naval base located six miles ( 10 km ) southeast of the central business district ( CBD ) of Corpus Christi , in Nueces County , Texas , USA . History . A naval air station for Corpus Christi had been proposed since the mid - 1930s , and the city ' s congressman , Richard M . Kleberg , supported it . But it remained a low priority construction project for the U . S . Navy as late as January 9 , 1940 . ( The Kleberg family and Roy Miller both supported John Nance Garner ' s quest for the 1940 presidential nomination . ) Rep . Lyndon B . Johnson made himself a key Texas ally of President Franklin D . Roosevelt ' s bid for a third term , and the White House told the Navy Department to consult Johnson , and heed his advice , on Navy contracts in Texas . By February 1940 , the project was on the Navy ' s preferred list . Brown & Root , a Houston firm , shared the construction contract with another New Deal supporter , Henry Kaiser ; the president personally signed the ( first ) cost plus fixed fee contract June 13 , 1940 . The Roosevelt campaign in Texas no longer had a shortage of cash . The official step leading to the construction of the Naval Air Station was initiated by the 75th United States Congress in 1938 . A board found that a lack of training facilities capable of meeting an emergency demand for pilots constituted a grave situation . They recommended the establishment of a second air training station , and further , that it be located on Corpus Christi Bay . NAS Corpus Christi was commissioned by its first Commanding Officer , CAPT Alva Berhard , on March 12 , 1941 . The first flight training started on May 5 , 1941 . In 1941 , 800 instructors provided training for more than 300 student pilots a month . The training rate nearly doubled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor . By the end of World War II , more than 35 , 000 naval aviators had earned their wings here . Corpus Christi provided intermediate flight training in World War II , training naval pilots to fly SNJ , SNV , SNB , OS2U , PBY , and N3N type airplanes . In 1944 it was the largest naval aviation training facility in the world . The facility covered , and had 997 hangars , shops , barracks , warehouses and other buildings . The Corpus Christi training facility consisted of the main location and six auxiliary air stations at Rodd , Cabaniss , Cuddihy , Kingsville , Waldron and Chase fields . Former President George H . W . Bush was in the third graduating class , June 1943 , and the youngest pilot ever to graduate . NAS Corpus Christi also was home to the Blue Angels from 1951 - 1954 . It also served as a Project Mercury Tracking station in the early 1960s . A T - 34C aircraft with two crewmen , Lieutenant John Joseph Houston , 29 , of Houston , and Lieutenant Bret Travis Miller , 30 , of East Troy , Wisconsin , from VT - 28 on a training mission disappeared on October 28 , 2009 . Bad weather had initially hampered the subsequent search for the aircraft and crew . Unfortunately both pilots were found dead and were buried with full military honors . Current operations . Today , the training program is much longer , approximately 18 months , due to the increased complexity of today ' s aircraft . Currently , Training Air Wing FOUR produces approximately 400 newly qualified aviators each year . Training Air Wing FOUR consists of four squadrons . VT - 27 and VT - 28 handle primary training in the T - 34C Mentor , a single engine turboprop aircraft . VT - 31 provides advanced training in the twin engine T - 44A and T - 44C Pegasus aircraft , while VT - 35 flies the twin engine TC - 12B Huron aircraft . Other aircraft found at NAS Corpus Christi include the UH - 1N Huey , a helicopter used primarily for search and rescue , as well as P - 3 Orions and RQ - 1 Predators . In addition to Navy students , VT - 31 and 35 train pilots from the Air Force , Coast Guard , and Marines . However , due to policy changes , Air Force students will no longer be training at the base and the last USAF graduates should complete training in mid - 2012 . The station employs officer , enlisted and civilian personnel serving in the U . S . Navy , U . S . Marine Corps , U . S . Air Force , U . S . Coast Guard , U . S . Army , U . S . Customs and Border Protection and the military services of numerous NATO / Allied / Coalition partnet nations . In support of the base ’ s training mission are two nearby outlying landing fields owned by the Navy : NOLF Waldron , which is southwest of the Naval Air Station ; and NOLF Cabaniss , which is west of the Naval Air Station . NAS Corpus Christi is also home to the Corpus Christi Army Depot ( CCAD ) , the largest helicopter repair facility in the world ( and an unusual arrangement of an Army installation located on a Naval facility ) . The commanding officer is currently COL Christopher Carlisle . The Army is considering moving its helicopter squadron from Honduras to this air station to save money , using facilities recently abandoned when large Navy minesweeping helicopters moved elsewhere . References . The Boeing Company