The mission of the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is to deliver effective and efficient readiness from the shore.
Some of the terrific recreational facilities on the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi are open to the public through the MWR Guest Card Program. Open facilities include the golf course, the marina, recreational-vehicle parks and food establishments. Instructions and the application form can be found on the Naval Air Station (NAS) website.
Storied history
The Naval Air Station Corpus Christi was created by an act of Congress in 1938, establishing the nation’s second air-training station capable of meeting an emergency demand for pilots. The first flight from NAS took off May 5, 1941. At the time, 800 instructors were providing training for more than 300 cadets a month. The training rate nearly doubled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Former President George H.W. Bush was in the third graduating class in June 1942. He was the youngest cadet to ever graduate.
By the end of World War II, more than 35,000 aviators had earned their wings at NAS. Corpus Christi was the only primary, intermediate and advanced training facility in existence in the United States. At one time, it was the largest pilot training facility in the world. The Blue Angels performed air shows at NAS every other spring until 2013, when automatic budget cuts by Congress grounded the Angels — at least for the time being.
The station, which is surrounded on three sides by water, now trains the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and foreign student pilots. NAS also houses the Corpus Christi Army Depot, the aviation component of Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi and many other organizations. For more information and a directory of contacts, visit the NAS Corpus Christiwebsite.
