Marine Corps Air Station Tustin (MCAS Santa Ana (1966-1979 name))

Marine Corps Air Station Tustin is a closed military installation located in Tustin, California. The United States Navy established the facility in 1942 as Naval Air Station Santa Ana. Commissioned on 1 October 1942, it operated as a lighter-than-air base supporting blimp operations for coastal patrols during World War II. The Navy decommissioned the site in 1949 but reactivated it in 1951 as Marine Corps Air Facility Santa Ana to support the Korean War. Upon reactivation, it functioned as the first United States air facility developed solely for helicopter operations.

During the Vietnam War, the installation operated as a helicopter pilot training facility and a testing center for radar systems, including the Sperry TPS-34, which were assembled and evaluated on-site before deployment to South Vietnam. The facility was designated Marine Corps Air Station, Santa Ana in 1966 and renamed Marine Corps Air Station Tustin in 1979.

By the early 1990s, the installation supported United States Marine Corps helicopter aviation and Pacific Coast radar operations. It provided support services and material to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and other tenant units. At that time, the base employed approximately 5,000 military and civilian personnel and housed 4,500 residents. The site’s infrastructure included World War II-era blimp hangars, which the American Society of Civil Engineers designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1993.

Following the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990, the military ceased operations at MCAS Tustin in July 1999. Approximately 1,294 acres of the former 1,600-acre installation have undergone redevelopment into residential, commercial, and educational zones known as Tustin Legacy. A portion of the former base grounds currently hosts the Orange County Sheriff's Department academy.