The year was 1928. The place—640 acres near Yuma covered with cactus, brush and desert wildlife. It was that year that Col. Benjamin F. Fly persuaded the federal government to lease the land from Yuma County. A 20-year lease with an option for an additional 20 years at $1 per year was signed. Fly Field became a reality.

Aviation was in its infancy and Fly Field became the center of attention in Yuma. During the summer of 1928, it was used as a stopover point for 25 planes in a New York to Los Angeles air race. It was used sporadically by private aircraft until 1941, when the U.S. government, through the Civil Aeronautics Administration, authorized an expenditure for permanent runways.

When the United States entered World War II, an air base was erected with the astounding speed that characterized the war effort. By early 1943, Yuma Army Air Base began graduating classes of pilots. The base became one of the busiest flying schools in the nation, training pilots of AT-6 single-engine trainers, T-17 multi engine trainers and B-17 Flying Fortresses.

At the end of the war, all flight activity here ceased and the area was partially reclaimed by the desert. During the period of inactivity, it was controlled successively by the War Assets Administration, the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Reclamation, which used it as a headquarters for its irrigation projects.

On July 7, 1951, the Air Force reactivated the base and the 4750th Air Base Squadron resumed training as part of the Western Air Defense Forces. The airfield was named Yuma Air Base, but was renamed Vincent Air Force Base in 1956 in memory of Brig. Gen. Clinton D. Vincent, a pioneer of bombing techniques, who died in 1955.

From Air Force Base to Marine Corps Air Station

The facility was signed over to the Department of the Navy on Jan. 1, 1959, and nine days later, Col. L.K. Davis became the first commanding officer of the newly designated Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station. On July 20, 1962, the designation was changed to Marine Corps Air Station.

From 1969 until 1987, the air station served primarily as a training base for pilots assigned to Marine Corps Crew Readiness Training Group 10, flying the F-4 Phantom, A-4 Skyhawk and AV-8A Harrier.

Since then, the main runway has been extended to 13,300 feet (enough concrete for 37 miles of two-lane highway) and the Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System has been added. The system is designed to provide realistic air-to-air combat training with electronically simulated weapons firing to all Navy and Marine squadrons.

In 1987, Marine Aircraft Group 13, with Marine Attack Squadrons 211, 214, 311 and 513, replaced MCCRTG-10 as the 19 major tenant command on the station. The move also brought Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 to Yuma, joining Marine Air Control Squadron 7 and 2nd Light Anti-aircraft Missile Battalion. Throughout the fall of 1990, virtually every Marine Corps fixed-wing squadron that participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm underwent pre deployment training on Yuma's ranges.