At the beginning of World War II, a 129-building Naval Air Station was constructed at Melbourne Municipal Airport and commissioned as Operational Training Unit No. 2 on October 20, 1942. The station trained newly commissioned Navy and Marine pilots, with more than 2,200 learning to fly Grumman F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat fighter planes. Among those trained there, 63 pilots died in aerial accidents and two enlisted men died in ground-related accidents. The location also served more than 310 officers and 1,355 enlisted personnel before closing on February 15, 1946. Today the area is operated by the City of Melbourne Airport Authority.