The Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center was built between 1938 and 1941 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the Art Deco style as part of the "New Deal".

Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center was built with a pool, damage control training room, rifle range and the mock up of a deck of a ship, a space that looked and worked like a sea vessel.

California architects Robert Clements and Associates declared the building "Designed as the largest enclosed structure without walls".

[2][3][4] The 1st Civil Affairs Group was activated June 6, 1985, originally as 3rd Civil Affairs Group, and stationed at Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Los Angeles, between 1987 and 1988, the group recruited and trained Marines to fulfill its mission of providing civil affairs support to active forces in training exercises in the United States and overseas.

Frank Hotchkin and other firefighters were on the roof cutting vent holes the building to reduce smoke and spread of the fire.

[6] [7][8][9][10][11] The training facility has on display a pylon from the New York World Trade Center in memory of the Firefighters lost in the attacks on September 11, 2001.