Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) San Clemente Island , also known as Frederick Sherman Field, is a military

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located on San Clemente Island, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has been owned by the

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 ...

since 1937. San Clemente Island is the southernmost Channel Island, covering 57 square miles (150 km²). The island is approximately long and is across at its widest point. It lies south of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and west 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 ...

Operations

One of the primary military functions of San Clemente has been to support research and development of many of the Navy's weapon systems. In 1939, the Navy developed the first Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel (LCVP) "Higgins Boat" at SCI. This was the beginning of the Naval Amphibious Force, which was one of the key factors in the outcome of

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 ...

. Today SCI's primary function is twofold: to support tactical training of the Pacific Fleet, and to continue as a key research and development facility. SCI provides the Navy and Marine Corps a multi-threat warfare training range. A major part of Navy training takes place on the ranges right off the SCI shores. The primary range covers over and is the Navy's busiest fleet airspace. Also included in this training area are two mine exercise areas, the Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare Range, seven submarine areas, the shallow water Undersea Training Range, and two laser training ranges. In total, SCI is a unique combination of airfields, airspace and ranges unlike any other facility owned by the Navy. It is the only location in the Pacific where surface ships, submarines, aircraft and Navy expeditionary forces can train in all warfare areas simultaneously using shore gunnery,

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

, air defense,

antisubmarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

. The station was designated as the Frederick C. Sherman Field on 11 January 1961, in honor of Vice Admiral

Frederick C. Sherman Frederick Carl Sherman (May 27, 1888 – July 27, 1957) was a highly decorated admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. Early life Sherman was born in Port Huron, Michigan on May 27, 1888. His grandfather, Loren Sherman, was the lo ...

, a three-time recipient of the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

Environment

To reduce the use of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

and prevent harmful emissions, the Naval facility on San Clemente Island installed three 225 kilowatt wind turbines. From February 1998 to April 2000, the turbines produced two GWh, approximately 13 percent of the island's total electricity needs. In FY99, the turbines helped the installation decrease consumption of 141,757

US gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...

s (537 m³) of No. 2 diesel fuel, and avoided 18,450 pounds (8,369 kg) of carbon monoxide emissions. In the future, the turbines should provide 15 percent or more of the island's

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

, further reducing diesel fuel use and emissions.

References

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20071225175104/http://www.nbc.navy.mil/index.asp?fuseaction=NBCInstallations.NALFSCI {{CAMilitary, state=autocollapse Airports in Los Angeles County, California San Clemente Island, Naval Landing Field Installations of the United States Navy in California San Clemente Island