Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
The Air Station was established in 1942 as Naval Lighter-Than-Air Station Santa Ana,
a base for airship operations in support of the United States Navy's coastal patrol
efforts during World War II. It was renamed Marine Corps Air Station Tustin in 1979.
By the early 1990s, MCAS Tustin was a major center for Marine Corps helicopter aviation
and radar on the Pacific Coast.
In 1991 and again in 1993, under the authority of the Base
Realignment and Closure Act of 1990, it was announced that MCAS Tustin would be closed.
Operational closure of the base occurred in July 1999. However, the north hangar is
still used as a storage and repair center for commercial blimps.
In 1993, the blimp hangars were designated National Civil Engineering Landmarks
by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). There have been talks regarding
making one of the hangars a military museum.
The site of the base is now the home of the academy of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.