North Island Naval Air Station is located on the Coronado peninsula, on the west coast of the United States. It is part of Naval Base Coronado, the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the Navy. NAS North Island is pretty close to San Diego, and in fact used to be called San Diego NAS.
NAS North Island is home to several Navy aircraft carriers, as well as 23 aviation squadrons, plus an additional ~80 tenant commands, such as the Naval Aviation Depot, which happens to be the largest employer in San Diego’s Aerospace industry. The Depot employs more than 3,300 civilians, and has its own commissary, as well as housing units for Navy families.
Overall, NAS North Island is home to more than 230 aircrafts, and 3 carriers – the USS Nimitz, USS Ronald Reagan, and USS Carl Vinson. The latter is a recent build, just added to the base in April 2010. The base is also home port for Mystic and Avalon, the only 2 deep submergence rescue vehicles the Navy currently has. With all active ships in port, the population of NAS North Island is around 35,000.