Naval Outlying Landing Field (NOLF) Imperial Beach is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

facility for

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, situated on approximately south of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and within the city limits of

Imperial Beach, California Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the southernmost city in California and the West Coast of the United States. It is in the South Bay area ...

. It is known as "The Helicopter Capital of the World".

Mission statement

The mission of NOLF Imperial Beach is to handle the overflow of helicopter squadron traffic (VFR and IFR) from NAS North Island. As a result, the helicopter squadrons at North Island perform 95% of their operations at Imperial Beach.

History

In 1917, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

established Aviation Field on the current site of OLF Imperial Beach. Aviation Field was used for air gunnery practices (among other activities) by the Army and was kept active throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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 A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

began using Ream Field to practice carrier landings. The field was not as advantageous for expansion as was Brown Field, inland, and did not develop further until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1943, the present runways were built and construction on the buildings began. 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

, Ream Field was decommissioned. In 1951, it was recommissioned 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 aboard. HS-2 and

HS-4 Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Four (HSC-4) (previously Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4)), also known as the Black Knights, is a multi-role combat helicopter squadron of the United States Navy based at Naval Air Station North Island ...

were also commissioned there in 1952. They were followed by many others, HS-6 and

HS-8 Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Eight (HSC-8) "Eightballers" is a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. HSC-8 is attached to Carrier Air Wing 11 ( CVW-11) and deploys aboard . HSC-8 ...

in 1956, and HS-10 in 1960. In 1967, the oldest of the helicopter squadrons, HC-1, commissioned in 1948 at

NAS Lakehurst Lakehurst Maxfield Field, formerly known as Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (NAES Lakehurst), is the naval component of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst (JB MDL), a United States Air Force-managed joint base headquartered approximately ...

, was divided into five squadrons, HC-3, HC-5, HC-7,

HA(L)-3 HA(L)-3, (Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light) 3), nicknamed the "Seawolves", was an all-volunteer squadron in the US Navy formed in support of Naval Special Warfare operations and Mobile Riverine Forces during the Vietnam War. Beginnings of the Na ...

and HC-1 and brought aboard at Imperial Beach. (note: HC-1, HC-3 and HC-5 were home based at Imperial Beach, while HC-7 was home based at

NAS Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean and once housed the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which d ...

, Japan until March 1971, moving to NAS Imperial Beach and HA(L)-3 was home based at

Binh Thuy Air Base Binh Thuy Air Base (also known as Can Tho Air Base and Trà Nóc Air Base) was a United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) ''(Khong Quan Nhan Dan Viet Nam)'' ...

, South Vietnam since 1 April 1967 and was never US based. On January 1, 1968, NAAS Imperial Beach was raised to the status of 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 home to seven helicopter squadrons, eventually to become home to ten squadrons, all of the Navy west coast helicopter squadrons. 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 Naval Base Coronado (NBC) is a consolidated Navy installation encompassing eight military facilities stretching from San Clemente Island, located seventy miles west of San Diego, California, in Los Angeles County, California, to the Mountain Warfa ...

. When Imperial Beach was re-designated as an 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 A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

was opened. Other building constructed under the plan were a new Bachelor Officer Quarters, a second 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 Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

on base, the helicopter squadrons were moved to

NAS North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

. Thus there was no further need for barracks, meal facilities, aircraft hangars and clubs. These new buildings were closed and all personnel associated with them were moved, and expected to use 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 The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a combat support agency in the United States Department of Defense (DoD), with more than 26,000 civilian and military personnel throughout the world. Located in 48 states and 28 countries, DLA provides su ...

for storage of excess and salvageable material. In 1978, almost half of the buildings on base (e.g., those east of Lexington Street) were leased to the US Department of Labor. The San Diego

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

Center was opened on this leased space in 1979. In the early 2000s, naval activities external to Naval Aviation at OLF Imperial Beach were increased by the establishment and homeporting of Coastal Riverine Group ONE (CORIVGRU 1) and one of its subordinate squadrons, Coastal Riverine Squadron THREE (CORROVRON 3) at Imperial Beach. 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.

Tenant commands

* Maritime Security Group 1 * Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eleven

Border Naval Outlying Landing Field

Border Naval Outlying Landing Field - Border Field was built just south of Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach. Built and used during World War 2, it was used for dive bombing training, gunnery training with moving-targets and in dry weather for landing practice, also as an Emergency Landing pad. The base was also part of the US coastal defense system. On Bunker Hill on the east of Monument Mesa a 50 foot radar tower was built. There is no trace of the field remain and the land is not developed. The base was near the current

Border Field State Park Border Field State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing beach and coastal habitat on the Mexico–United States border. The park is within the city limits of Imperial Beach in San Diego County, next to the suburb of Pla ...

. Border Field was built in 1918 as a small airstrip.Van Wormer, Stephen R. "A Land Use History of the Tia Juana River Valley," California State Parks, Southern Service Center, June 2005.

Notes

External links