What This Field Means
The installation, base, station, or port the unit normally calls home.
This is the installation, base, station, port, or other location the unit normally calls home. It is often one of the strongest clues a veteran remembers and can separate units with similar names.
How to Read It Correctly
Home station is not every place the unit operated, deployed, rotated through, or held responsibility for. It also does not automatically identify the host command or parent unit.
Example
Scott Air Force Base or Naval Station Norfolk.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[HomeStationOrHomeport]. Optional permanent-location summary. It is distinct from host installation, temporary operating location, deployment site, and area of responsibility.
Record the official location name supported for the represented period, including homeport terminology for maritime commands. Effective-date changes and do not overwrite historical home stations with the current one.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | HomeStationOrHomeport |
| Column order | 38 |
| SQL data type | nvarchar(1024) |
| Kind of information | Evidence-derived text |
| Cardinality | One stored value per Unit row. |
| Required | No; NULL is permitted |
| Database default | No database default |
| Key or relationship | None |
| Database check constraint | ([CurrentStatus]=N'Planned' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Status unknown' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Historical' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Inactive' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Current') |
| Live population | 3641 of 9341 Unit records (38.98%) |
| Distinct nonblank values in the live table | 958 |
| Live profile measured | September 2, 2026, 20:43 UTC |
Allowed Values and Definitions
No preset menu applies to this field. It stores an identifier, relationship, measurement, date, timestamp, or evidence-derived narrative. Valid content is governed by the SQL type, key relationship, nullability, retained evidence, and the field-specific recording rule above. A list of observed contents would be data, not a list of allowed options.
Missing, Unknown, and Conflicting Information
A database NULL is permitted and means that no value is presently stored. It does not prove that the fact never existed, that the answer is no, or that the concept does not apply. Missing information must remain visibly different from a supported negative or inapplicable conclusion.
Connections to Other Fields
- Operating Location — A place where the unit is operating, deployed, detached, or rotating, which may be different from its home station.
- Area of Responsibility — The geographic area or assigned function for which the unit or command is responsible.
- Posture — How the unit is positioned for service—at home, forward, rotating, deployed, mobilized, or expeditionary.
- Effective From — The date from which the facts represented by this unit record are known to apply.
- Historical Command Alignment — The higher administrative or operational commands associated with the unit during a particular historical period.