It was named after First Lieutenant Joseph D. Park, who was killed on 9 May 1913 when a military biplane which he was flying plunged nose-first into a gulley, turned a somersault, and crashed against a tree at Olive, California, 39 miles (63 km) southeast of Los Angeles.

A few United States Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 160th, Most of the Curtiss JN-4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar.

[5] Park Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service.

Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction with a student capacity of 300.

The separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment in December 1918, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized.

[5][6] In March 1920 the Department of War officially purchased Park Field, and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons.

The Department of War ordered the small caretaker force at Park Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus.

Park Field remained under Farm Security Administration's jurisdiction until the United States entered World War II in December 1941.

In February 1942, the Navy Shore Station Development Board recommended approval of a reserve aviation base on the former site of Park Field.

On September 15, 1942, the United States Navy commissioned the Naval Reserve Aviation Base on the south side of the station.

During the war, Naval Air Station (NAS) Memphis was a primary flight training center for aviators.

The name was changed again to Naval Support Activity Mid-South on 1 October 1998 to more accurately identify the base's mission requirements and to reflect the Navy's approach to regionalization.

[citation needed] On 24 October 2013 a gunman shot and injured two Army National Guard soldiers at NSA Mid-South.