posted on Dec, 27 2002 @ 05:46 PM
I think the one you are referring to is U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads which is located at the eastern edge of Puerto Rico. Here is a Brief
history of the base:
U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads is located at the eastern edge of Puerto Rico. Its land mass consists of 31,000 acres: 8,600 acres on the island of
Puerto Rico and 22,400 acres on Vieques Island, seven and one half miles Southeast of the main station. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the
construction of the facility in 1940. It was completed in 1943 and Roosevelt Roads was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base. It served as both
a training facility and base for Navy ships and aircraft during Word War II.
For several years after the war, Roosevelt Roads languished and was closed down seven different times. Then in 1955, as Cold War tensions increased,
Roosevelt Roads became the site for the establishment of the Atlantic Fleet Guided Missile Training Center, now known as Atlantic Fleet Weapons
Training Facility, and was redesignated as Roosevelt Roads in 1957, consisting of an airfield, Surface Operations and an industrial complex.
The initial build-up and expansion of Roosevelt Roads included the acquisition of the Army's Fort Bundy, which now comprises the Southern portion of
the naval station.
Today, Roosevelt Roads role is training and service to the fleet. In addition to the 17 NAVSTA departments, there are 24 tenant commands, including
the following: Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO), Commander Special Operations Command, South (SOCSOUTH), Atlantic Fleet
Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF), U.S. Naval Hospital, U.S. Naval Dental Center, Fleet Composite Squadron EIGHT (VC-8), U.S. Naval Computer and
Telecommunications Station (NAVCOMTELSTA), Naval Special Warfare Unit FOUR (NSWU-4), Personal Support Activity Detachment (PSD), Resident Officer in
Charge of Construction (ROICC), U.S. Naval Atlantic Meteorology Oceanography Detachment, Naval Media Center, Naval Legal Services Office (NLSO),
Mobile Diving Salvage Unit TWO Detachment, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), U.S. Army Reserve Center, U.S. Naval Reserve Center, U.S. Marine Reserve
Center, USCG Patrol Boat Support Detachment. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Antilles Consolidated Schools.
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads has an 11,000-foot runway, nine piers, a water treatment plant, four sewage treatment plants, 110 miles of road, 42
miles of oceanfront, 1,340 buildings and approximately 194,000 square miles of ocean for naval exercises. Over 250,000 visitors annually benefit from
Roosevelt Roads military and natural assets.
Although there aren't any Navy ships homeported at Roosevelt Roads, up to 1,000 military (U.S., foreign and NATO) and maritime ships use the
facilities and ranges at Roosevelt Roads annually.
Roosevelt Roads is the largest naval station in the world (by land mass). Roosevelt Roads supports over 17,000 people including: 3,000 active duty
military, 2,500 family members, 3,850 civilian employees and over 7,990 retired military. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads contributes an estimated $250
million per year to the economy of Puerto Rico.
I hope this answers your question.