Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro

 military airbase, military, United States Navy

NAF El Centro, winter training camp for the USN Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels is the United States Navy's flight demonstration squadron, with pilots that are from the Navy and the Marines. The Blue Angels squad formed in 1946, making it the second oldest formal flying aerobatic team in the world, after the French Patrouille de France formed in 1931. The Blue Angels' six demonstration pilots currently fly the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, typically in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in their 1946 opening season. An estimated of 11 million spectators view the squadron during air shows each year.

The Naval Air Facility El Centro home of the Blue Angels is in the heart of Southern California’s Imperial Valley. It is a two-hour drive from San Diego and Palm Springs, one hour from Yuma, AZ, and fifteen minutes from the Mexican border; with the year-round of great flying weather and the proximity of several instrumented bombing ranges, we are an integral part of Naval Aviation Training. Although small, NAF El Centro has a full array of support facilities: Commissary, Navy Exchange, Medical and Dental Clinics, Consolidated Officer/Chief Petty Officer and Enlisted Club, and a wide variety of recreational activities. Naval Air Facility El Centro is a military airport located six miles (10 km) northwest of El Centro, in Imperial County, California.

The mission of the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels) is to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach. The Blue Angels have shown their history through war and now they’re something part of entertainment to the community. In the addition, the colors have a meaning. For example, originally, the aircrafts were navy blue (nearly black) with gold lettering. The current shades of blue and yellow were adopted when the team transitioned to the Bearcat in 1946. For a single year in 1949, the team performed in an all-yellow scheme with blue markings. For the first 35 years, the mission of NAF El Centro was devoted to aeronautical escape system testing, evaluation, and design. As the winter home of the Blue Angels, the Navy Air Facility El Centro annual air show is the first show of their season, every year. Drawing a crowd of approximately 35,000, it is the largest single-day event in the Imperial Valley. Unlike other performances, these air show allows the sponsors unprecedented front row access to the show, with nothing between them and the performers.