March ARB, CA

March ARB is a Riverside County census-designated place built around March Air Reserve Base, between Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. The base is a military landscape first and a town-shaped place second: runways, hangars, housing, training areas, and controlled-access roads occupy the map, while the Inland Empire’s freeway network runs alongside it. The installation began in 1918 as an Army flying field. Cadet Harold Compare made the first official landing on March 1, and the field was renamed for Lt. Peyton C. March later that month. It went from primary flight training to wartime B-17 and B-24 operations, then into the postwar jet, bomber, and air-refueling eras.

March’s modern identity comes from the 1993 realignment that converted the former active-duty base into a reserve installation in 1996. The 452d Air Mobility Wing hosts Air Force Reserve operations, while other service and National Guard units share the larger installation. Surplus land became part of a civilian reuse plan through the March Joint Powers Authority, bringing cargo, public-safety training, parks, housing, and the March Field Air Museum into the surrounding map. For the CDP’s residents, daily life follows base schedules and access rules; for the region, March is both a working military airfield and a piece of Riverside County’s redevelopment story.