The facility at Port Hueneme was built as a temporary depot in the early days of World War II to train, stage, and supply the newly created Seabees (from "C.B.

[2] San Nicolas Island was transferred to NBVC on October 1, 2004, after several years under the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division.

NBVC hosts more than 100 tenant commands and, as of 2006, is the largest employer in Ventura County, with over 19,000 military and civilian personnel working for or stationed on the base.

[9][10] In May 2018, an investigation found that mismanagement had resulted in more than $32 million worth of equipment being unaccounted for because warehouse employees had failed to keep proper inventory records.

Administratively, it initially became a subunit of the Coast Guard Air Station in San Francisco, as a satellite facility called Forward Operating Base Point Mugu.

[12][14] On 27 July 2021, the Coast Guard broke ground on the construction of a new facility to "transition the site from its current, semi-permanent Forward Operating Base Point Mugu to the full-service air station".

[15] Vice Admiral Michael F. McAllister, then commander of USCG Pacific Area stated, “We’re excited to break ground to re-establish a permanent air station.

The hangar facility features four bays, shops, and storage for an all MH-60T helicopter squadron, as the USCG phases out its MH-65 Dolphin fleet.

An untimely off-duty casualty of a member of the station crew resulted in the postponement of the official opening ceremony in recognition of their fallen brother.

The range allows the military to test and track weapons systems in restricted air- and sea-space without encroaching on civilian air traffic or shipping lanes.

Telemetry data can be tracked and recorded using technology housed at San Nicolas Island, Point Mugu and Laguna Peak,[23] a Tier 1 facility also controlled by NBVC.

The port facility is located on the vast agricultural Oxnard Plain, about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Los Angeles, on the Southern California coast.

Other facilities on the island include radar tracking instrumentation, electro optical devices, telemetry, communications equipment, missile and target launch areas, as well as personnel support.