From KPBS by By Andrew Dyer / Military and Veteran Affairs Reporter, Published May 1, 2026:
When the Marines took over Miramar Air Station from the Navy in 1997 it was both a handover and a hand-back. Ninety years ago, the Marines ran much of the base under a different name. But even that wasn’t Miramar’s first life. For that, the clock must turn back further, to a time before aircraft were the workhorses of the military. Actual horses were.
Marine Col. Erik Herrmann said the base looked much different when it opened in 1917. “There were thousands of horses and mules, thousands of infantrymen training and prepping to go overseas,” Herrmann said.
The Army established Camp Kearny in 1917, one of several new bases hastily constructed as the country entered World War I.
That’s an excerpt. Read and listen to the report on the KPBS site at: https://www.kpbs.org/news/military/2026/05/01/how-the-army-paved-the-way-for-the-marines-at-miramar
For more information about Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, visit: https://www.miramar.marines.mil/
