Navy Region Southwest comprises the former areas of the Eleventh and Twelfth Naval Districts. The
Eleventh and
Twelfth Naval Districts, were both established on 7 May 1903 in accordance with General Order No. 128, signed by Acting
Secretary of the Navy Charles H. Darling. The Eleventh Naval District was to be headquartered at the Lake Training Station in
Lake Bluff, Illinois, while the Twelfth was to be headquartered at the
Mare Island in
Vallejo, California. Both districts were part of a larger administrative unit known as the "Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Naval Districts". In 1919 when the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Districts were split, the Eleventh Naval District, then known as Commander Navy Southwest, established headquarters for the first Commander with a staff of seven officers at
Naval Station North Island. In 1922, when the Naval Supply Center buildings at the foot of Broadway Street on Harbor Drive were completed, the Naval Base Headquarters moved to its present site. With the outbreak of World War II, San Diego's naval establishment played an important role in coordinating the supply provisioning to the war fronts in the Pacific. Naval bases and stations throughout the region were expanded to provide maximum support to combatant forces of the fleet. With Korea, Vietnam and "cold war" commitments, fleet support activities under Commander Naval Base San Diego remained at a very high level. At that time, the Eleventh District consisted of
New Mexico;
Arizona;
Clark County,
Nevada; the southern part of
California, including Counties of
Santa Barbara,
Kern, and all of the counties south of (and including)
San Bernardino. When the Twelfth Naval District was disestablished in 1977, Navy Southwest assumed all its duties and responsibilities, and annexed the areas of
Colorado,
Utah, the rest of
Nevada, and the rest of
California The Eleventh Naval District was disestablished on 30 September 1980. However, the Commander, Navy Southwest remained as the commander of
Naval Base San Diego. In 1999 the command was officially renamed Commander Navy Region Southwest. == Subordinate Commands ==