Jessica Alba recalls formative childhood years at Laughlin Air Force Base

Jessica Alba spent part of her childhood at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, living there from about age 5 to 9 while her father served in the U.S. Air Force. She has described those years as formative and close-knit, a period when Del Rio felt like home before her family moved again.

Alba was born in Pomona, California, in 1981, but her childhood followed the rhythm of military life. Her family moved often because of her father’s Air Force career, taking her across bases in Texas, Mississippi and California. A 2024 PEOPLE profile identified her parents as Mark and Catherine Alba and noted that Mark Alba served in the Air Force. Alba has said the back-and-forth of that upbringing shaped her early sense of self.

That experience also left her speaking about childhood in unusually stark terms. In a 2022 PEOPLE interview, Alba said she grew up in “survival mode” and with no “safety net.” She has connected that mindset to the hardships of moving frequently and to the discipline that came with growing up in a military family. A 2012 Fortune profile also traced her rise through adversity, placing those early pressures at the center of her story.

Her childhood was marked by more than frequent moves. PEOPLE has also reported that Alba was hospitalized often as a child and underwent five surgeries before age 11. Those health struggles later helped shape the wellness focus that became part of her public identity and the business model behind The Honest Company, which she helped found.

Alba now has three children with husband Cash Warren, but her Del Rio years remain a touchstone in how she tells her own story. For Val Verde County, that makes her more than a famous name who once lived on base. It places Laughlin Air Force Base in a long local tradition of shaping children whose lives later reach far beyond South Texas, while still carrying the imprint of Del Rio’s military community.