Qualla: Marine Corps Air Station Yuma

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photo by Staff Sgt Jessica Smith, USMC, Public domain. The runway at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma is named for Brigadier General Casey Vincent, who commanded American fighter forces in China during World War II and became famous enough to inspire a character in the comic strip 'Terry and the Pirates.' The base itself was named Vincent Air Force Base in his honor in 1956. Three years later, the Marines took over, renamed it, and have been flying from it ever since — making it, by many measures, the busiest Marine air installation in the world.

Image: Photo by Staff Sgt Jessica Smith, USMC | Public domain

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma: From Municipal Field to Military Installation

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit USAAF, Public domain. The field that became MCAS Yuma began as Fly Field, a municipal airfield established in 1928 and named for Colonel Ben Franklin Fly, a local figure whose support for aviation in the region helped establish the facility. President Calvin Coolidge signed the Yuma Aviation Bill on F...

Image: USAAF | Public domain

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma: Vincent and the Comic Strip General

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, Public domain. Brigadier General Casey Vincent commanded the Chinese-American Composite Wing during World War II, leading fighter operations against Japanese forces in China. His exploits in this theater — flying combat missions personally, managing a complex multinational command with limited ...

Image: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos | Public domain

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma: The Busiest Marine Station

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, Public domain. MCAS Yuma is routinely described as the busiest Marine Corps air station in the world, measured by flight operations. The combination of good flying weather — over 350 days of flyable conditions annually — and the available training airspace in the surrounding desert makes Yuma o...

Image: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos | Public domain

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma: A Superfund Site in the Desert

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photo by Staff Sgt Jessica Smith, USMC, Public domain. The decades of military aviation at Yuma have left environmental consequences. MCAS Yuma is listed on the EPA's National Priorities List — the Superfund program — due to contamination from fuels, solvents, and other materials associated with aviation operations over many decades....

Image: Photo by Staff Sgt Jessica Smith, USMC | Public domain