If you are not familiar with Irvine’s rich military history, our City was home to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) for nearly six decades. It was commissioned in 1943 during World War II and became the Center for Support Operations & Combat Readiness of Fleet Forces in the Pacific during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The air station was also home to thousands of military families.
Over its nearly 60-year storied history, El Toro MCAS provided a training facility for tens of thousands of Marines, pilots, mechanics and related personnel. The air traffic control and radar facility was equipped with the most advanced technology of its time, making the air station one of the nation’s premier training grounds for air traffic control personnel.
MCAS was decommissioned in 1999. A few years later, the land was transferred to the City of Irvine, and is now home to our Great Park…