Naval Air Facility El Centro or NAF El Centro is a United States Navy Naval Air Facility located approximately six miles (10 km) northwest of El Centro, in Imperial County, California. NAF El Centro is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Southwest and serves both as temporary homeport to military units conducting air-to-air and bombing training, and as the winter training home of the Blue Angels aerobatics display team. Founded in 1946 as Naval Air Station El Centro, the facility had previously been the site of a World War II era Marine Corps Air Station. In 1979, the facility was given its current designation as a Naval Air Facility. History In 1941 the Civil Aeronautics Administration offered to replace the small airport in Imperial, California with a larger complex consisting of two 4,500ft runways. After the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Navy leased the new airport and an adjacent 749 acres for additional construction. During this time the runways were extended and a third one was added. The expansion of MCAS El Centro was done by Vinson & Pringle and Del E. Webb Construction Company out of Phoenix, Arizona. MCAS El Centro was commissioned on July 23, 1943. During the war the air station was used as a training base for new squadrons and as a facility for squadrons returning from overseas to reorganize and begin preparing to deploy again. On March 15, 1945 a Marine Corps Aerial Gunnery School was opened. MCAS El Centro was decommissioned on May 1, 1946, the same day it was taken over by the Navy for use as a Naval Air Station. Fleet Air Gunnery Unit was opened. Through the years, Navy El Centro has had several names: Naval Air Facility, Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, Naval Air Station, and the National Parachute Test Range. For the first 35 years, the mission of NAF El Centro was devoted to aeronautical escape system testing, evaluation, and design. In November 1947, the Parachute Experimental Division from Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey moved to El Centro. In 1951, the Joint Parachute Facility was established and consisted of the Naval Parachute Unit and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) 6511th Test Group (Parachute). The USAF remained part of El Centro's test organization for the next 27 years. Current operations The facility has two operating runways. The east–west runway handles 96 percent of the traffic. It is equipped