Editing Millington, Tennessee (section)

==Naval Support Activity Mid-South==
{{Main|Naval Support Activity Mid-South}}
[[Image:NAS Memphis NAN8-47.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Naval Air Station Memphis in the mid-1940s]]

Millington is home to the [[Naval Support Activity Mid-South]] (NAVSUPPACT) naval station, one of the largest single employers in the state of [[Tennessee]], with more than 7,500 military, civilian, and contractor employees on {{convert|1950|acre|km2}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Naval Support Activity Mid-South|url=https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Regions/cnrse/installations/nsa_mid_south/|website=Commander, Navy Installations Command|publisher=US Navy|access-date=November 29, 2017}}</ref> The naval base hosts many tenant organizations, notably the [[Bureau of Naval Personnel]] (BUPERS). Formerly known as the [[List of United States Naval Air Stations|Naval Air Station (NAS)]] [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], a major technical training center for the [[United States Navy]] and Marine Corps comprising over {{convert|3800|acre|km2}}, the 1993 [[Base Realignment and Closure]] Commission report resulted in significant changes to the base's mission and its re-designation in 1995 as the '''Naval Support Activity Memphis'''. The airfield, which is now the [[Millington Regional Jetport]], was turned over to the city of Millington. In 1998, the name of the naval station was changed to '''Naval Support Activity Mid-South''' to better reflect its current mission and the Navy's approach to regionalization. Many military retirees, who live in and around Millington in order to have access to base facilities, contribute to the local economy.

This site was originally established in November 1917 as Park Field, an Army Signal Corps Aviation School used to train pilots for service with the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Forces]] during [[World War I]]. By February 1918, flight operations were in full swing, but only until November of that year when the [[Armistice with Germany|Armistice]] was signed. Two days after the signing, training operations were ceased.

At that time the airfield began pioneering [[airmail]] routes throughout Tennessee and the surrounding states. In March 1920, the government officially purchased Park Field. However, the airfield continued to decline until it was little more than a storage area for aircraft and parts.

Ironically, the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929]] breathed new life into Park Field. During the 1930s the field served as a transient camp for unemployed workers. In 1937 the [[Resettlement Administration]] took over the land and developed model farms used to demonstrate what could be achieved with correctly managed land. Park Field remained under this agency's jurisdiction until the outbreak of [[World War II]].

Just as the onset of World War I had given Park Field its birth in 1917, the declaration of war on December 8, 1941, had similar results, heralding the arrival of naval aviation to the Memphis area. In February 1942, the Navy Shore Station Development Board recommended approval of a reserve aviation base on the former site of Park Field.

The Naval Training Station was commissioned along with the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in 1942. On January 1, 1943, the name was changed from Naval Reserve Aviation Base to Naval Air Station Memphis. The main role of Naval Air Station Memphis was to provide aviation maintenance and pilot training. During this period of time more than 20,000 students were trained annually.<ref name="Navy Base Info">{{cite web|url=http://www.millingtontn.gov/navy.php |title=Navy Base Info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721050203/http://www.millingtontn.gov/navy.php |archive-date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> Pilot training for Student [[Naval Aviator]]s was discontinued after [[World War II]], but NAS Memphis continued to thrive as home of '''Naval Air Technical Training Center Memphis''' (NATTC Memphis), providing initial and advanced technical training to various aviation operations, aviation maintenance and aviation support specialities coded under Navy enlisted aviation ratings and Marine Corps enlisted aviation Military Occupational Specialities.  Training activities by these "A" Schools and "C" Schools at NATTC Memphis continued until 1993 when BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission)<ref name="BRAC">{{cite web|url=http://www.brac.gov|title=BRAC|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405120706/http://www.brac.gov/|archive-date=April 5, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> recommended that the training schools under NATTC transfer to [[NAS Pensacola]], Florida and occupy spaces being vacated by the former Naval Aviation Depot Pensacola (NADEP Pensacola) that was also being closed by BRAC action. During the same time period BRAC also recommended that BUPERS (Bureau of Naval Personnel)<ref name="BUPERS">{{cite web|url=http://www.npc.navy.mil/channels|title=BUPERS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220083330/http://www.npc.navy.mil/Channels/|archive-date=December 20, 2010}}</ref> move from [[Virginia]] to Millington.

[[Image:MillingtonAirshow20071.jpg|thumb|Plane at Midsouth Air Show, NSA Mid-South in 2007]]

; Annual events

* Flag City Freedom Celebration
** Draws more than 30,000 visitors to the city
** July 4
** [[USA Stadium]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://millington-news.com/2017/04/20/different-venue-board-votes-continue-contract-fireworks-freedom-celebration/|title=Different Venue: Board votes to continue contract for fireworks at Freedom Celebration - Millington Star|website=millington-news.com}}</ref>
* Air show<ref name="AirShow">{{cite web|url=http://www.msairshow.com|title=AirShow}}</ref>
** Sponsored by Mid-South Airshow Foundation
** 1999 to 2007
** was held every two years
** US Blue Angels