Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) is a United States Navy base in Ventura County, California. Formed by the merger of NAS Point Mugu and CBC Port Hueneme, NBVC is a diverse installation composed of three main locations — Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, and San Nicolas Island. The base serves as an all-in-one mobilization site, deep water port, railhead, and airfield. NBVC supports more than 100 tenant commands with a base population of more than 19,000 personnel, making it the largest employer in Ventura County.
History
Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme
The facility at Port Hueneme was built as a temporary depot in the early days of World War II to train, stage, and supply the newly created Seabees (from "C.B.", the initials for "Construction Battalion"). The base was officially established and began operating May 18, 1942 as the Advance Base Depot. In 1945 the Advance Base Depot was renamed the Naval Construction Battalion Center.
During the Korean War, almost all Navy construction equipment and supplies for the war were routed through CBC Port Hueneme.
Naval Air Station Point Mugu
In 1941, as the United States entered World War II, Point Mugu also became a training area for the Seabees. The Seabees put down a section of Marston mat runway that would become Point Mugu's first airstrip. NAS Point Mugu served as an anti-aircraft training center during the war and was developed in the late 1940s into the Navy's major missile development and test facility. This facility was the site where most of the Navy's missiles were developed and tested during the 1950s and 1960s, including the AIM-7 Sparrow family and the AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air, Bullpup air-to-surface, and Regulus surface-to-surface missiles.NAS Point Mugu has dominated the area since the 1940s, and is one of the few places in the area that is not agricultural. The base has been home to many ordnance testing programs, and the test range extends offshore to the Navy-owned San Nicolas Island in the Channel Islands. In 1963 the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program was established on a sand spit between Mugu Lagoon and the ocean. The facility was relocated in 1967 to Point Loma in San Diego, California.
NAS Point Mugu was the airfield used by former President Ronald Reagan during his presidency on visits to his Santa Barbara ranch. The airfield was used during the state funeral in 2004, as the place where the former President's body was flown to Washington, D.C. to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The body was flown to Point Mugu aboard presidential aircraft SAM 28000 two days later.
Until the late 1990s, the base hosted Antarctic Development Squadron SIX (VXE-6), the squadron of LC-130s equipped to land on ice in Antarctica, to supply the science stations there. Now, the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing has assumed that responsibility.
Naval Base Ventura County
Naval Base Ventura County was established on October 11, 2000, during a ceremony held at Point Mugu. The two commands of NAS Point Mugu and CBC Port Hueneme were consolidated into a completely new organization. San Nicolas Island was transferred to NBVC on October 1, 2004, after several years under the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division.
NBVC provides the Pacific Fleet with an all-in-one mobilization site, deep water port, railhead, and airfield. NBVC hosts more than 100 tenant commands and, as of 2006, is the largest employer in Ventura County, with over 19,000 military and civilian personnel working for or stationed on the base. The base contributes directly or indirectly to another 8200 jobs throughout the county.
In February 2013, the U.S. Navy proposed to base four MQ-4C Tritons beginning in 2020; this would require 700 personnel and dependents to move to the base, and $74.3 million in estimated construction cost.
In May 2018, an investigation found that mismanagement had resulted in more than $32 million worth of equipment being unaccounted for because warehouse employees had failed to keep proper inventory records. Some classified materials in the warehouses had been stored improperly also. The warehouses hold supplies and repair equipment for destroyers, frigates and cruisers that carry classified weapons systems.