Naval Air Station Key West, which is located in Key West, Florida, is a naval air station and military airport. It is located pretty close to the main business district of Key West, with just about 4 miles between it and the main strip in town.
NAS Key West is primarily focused on national security. It monitors threats, and reports directly to the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, several federal agencies, allied forces, and even the National Guard. The base was built on December 15, 1940, but the Navy has had a presence in this area for much longer than that. The Navy presence in Key West dates back to 1823, when a small Navy base was formed to help counter piracy in the area. After that, during World War 1, the area was turned into a US Navy submarine base. There were several different military installations in Key West by the time World War 2 came around, and in an effort to organize, the Navy combined all the stations into NAS Key West.