Prior to the commissioning, on September 7, Commander Jimmy Grant became the first pilot to land on the still unfinished runway in his N3N-3 biplane.

More than 10,000 pilots and 11,000 airmen followed their lead to earn their "wings of gold" at the air station during World War II.

Increased training and construction characterized NAS Jacksonville's response to America's entry into World War II.

More than 700 buildings sprung to life on the base before V-J Day (Victory over Japan), including an 80-acre (320,000 m2) hospital and a POW camp which housed more than 1,500 German prisoners of war.

Archbishop (later Cardinal) Francis J. Spellman dedicated the Catholic Chapel (St. Edward's) at its Birmingham Avenue location on January 17, 1943.

Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, who had called NAS Jacksonville home but later moved to NAS Corpus Christi in the late 1940s, performed a last air show at the station on April 29, 1950, before forming the nucleus of an operational fighter squadron, VF-191 (Satan's Kittens), which was assigned to combat in Korea.

In the early 1950s, Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) Jacksonville was also reactivated and included nine different schools.

[citation needed] The installation is one of the central hubs for naval activity in the U.S. South, with over 50,000 civilian employees, contractors and active-duty personnel employed.

[6]Finally, support facilities at NAS Jacksonville include its being an Aviation Maintenance training facility for several aviation ratings (facilitated by the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville), an additional outlying field (OLF Whitehouse) for pilot training, a maintenance depot employing more than 150 different trade skills capable of performing maintenance as basic as changing a tire to intricate micro-electronics or total engine disassembly, a Fleet Industrial Supply Center, a Navy Family Service Center, a DeCA commissary, Navy Exchange, and recreational facilities for both single sailors and families of the Active, Reserve and Retired military communities.

[citation needed] NAS Jacksonville houses a facility to train pilots for the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton.

[7] In addition to that NAS Jacksonville has trained foreign aircrews including that of Royal Australian Navy's New Squadron 725.

[8] Fleet Readiness Center Southeast is the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) maintenance, repair and operations depot for NAS Jacksonville.

Staffed at over 5,000 DoN Civilian Employees, Contractors, and Military personnel, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast is the largest employer in Northeast Florida/Southern Georgia region.