Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay

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Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay
Marion E. Carl Field
Part of Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Near Kaneohe, Hawaii in the United States
US Navy 100924-M-9232S-003 An aerial view of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.jpg
An aerial view of MCAS Kaneohe Bay during 2010.
MCAF Kaneohe Bay logo.jpg
MCAS Kaneohe Bay is located in Hawaii
MCAS Kaneohe Bay
MCAS Kaneohe Bay
Location in Hawaii
Coordinates21°26′45″N 157°46′11″W / 21.44583°N 157.76972°W / 21.44583; -157.76972Coordinates: 21°26′45″N 157°46′11″W / 21.44583°N 157.76972°W / 21.44583; -157.76972
TypeMarine Corps Air Station
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Marine Corps
Controlled by1st Marine Aircraft Wing
ConditionOperational
Websitewww.mcbhawaii.marines.mil
Site history
Built1939 (1939)
In use1939 – 1949 (US Navy)
1952 – present (US Marine Corps)
Garrison information
Current
commander		Lieutenant Colonel Tyler J. Holland
GarrisonMarine Aircraft Group 24
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: NGF, ICAO: PHNG, FAA LID: NGF, WMO: 911760
Elevation7 metres (23 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
4/22 2,369 metres (7,772 ft) Asphalt
Source: Airnav.com[1]
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Official nameKaneohe Naval Air Station
Designated28 May 1987
Reference no.87001299[2]
Period1900–
Area of significanceMilitary

Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay or MCAS Kaneohe Bay (IATA: NGF, ICAO: PHNG, FAA LID: NGF) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) Kaneohe Bay.[3] It is located two miles (3 km) northeast of the central business district of Kaneohe, in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. The airfield has one runway (4/22) with a 7,771 x 200 ft (2,369 x 61 m) asphalt surface.[4]

History[]

Fort Hase and NAS Kaneohe Bay[]

The United States Army acquired 322 acres (1.30 km2) of the peninsula when President Woodrow Wilson signed executive order 2900 establishing the Kuwaaohe Military Reservation. Little is known about the operations of the fort, however, at the end of World War I, the military property was leased for ranching. In 1939, Kuwaaohe was reactivated, subjected to many name changes to include Camp Ulupa’u, and eventually named Fort Hase.

Prior to and during World War II, Fort Hase grew from a humble beginning as a defense battalion to a major unit of the Windward Coastal Artillery Command. Navy planners began to eye the peninsula in 1939 as the home of a strategic seaplane base. They liked the isolated location, the flat plains for an airfield and the probability of flights into prevailing trade winds. In 1939, the Navy acquired 464 acres (1.88 km2) of the peninsula for use of the PBY Catalina patrol seaplanes for long-range reconnaissance flights. One year later, the Navy owned all of the Mokapu Peninsula except for Fort Hase. In 1939 the Navy awarded a base construction contract to the Pacific Naval Air Base Contractors consortituim (PNABC).[5] Most of the original contract work at Kaneohe had been completed when the Navy transferred what was undone to the Seabees of the 56th Naval Construction Battalion on 1 April 1943.[5] The 112th CB was tasked with adding a second runway 400' x 5,000' to the airfield. That was completed by the men of the 74th CB.[5]

During the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, portions of Hangar 1 were destroyed. In 1987, the hangar and five sea plane ramps were designated a National Historic Landmark.

December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the air station minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Of the 36 Catalinas stationed here, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged, along with 18 sailors who perished in the attack. The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action were shot down at Kaneohe, along with Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer John William Finn becoming one of the first Medal of Honor recipients of World War II for valor on that day.

During the war, the air station was a major training base in the Pacific Theater. The Fleet Gunnery School trained thousands of Navy gunners. There was a school for celestial navigation, sonar, aircraft recognition, and turret operations. Flight instructors also trained Navy and Marine Corps aviators in flight operations prior to being sent to a forward combat area. Following the war, Fort Hase had become a skeleton outpost and the air station consisted of limited air operations, a small security detachment, and a federal communications center.

In November 1958 the first of the Pacific Missile Impact Location System for the Navy's Pacific Missile Range (PMR) was operational at the station to monitor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) test impacts northeast of Hawaii.[6][7]

Marine Operations[]

President Richard Nixon shaking hands with Senator Hiram Fong prior to departing for Guam from Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Base on February 20, 1972

In 1949, the Navy decommissioned the air station. On January 15, 1952 the Marine Corps recommissioned the idle airfield Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, making it an ideal training site for a combined air/ground team.[8] Station Operations and Headquarters Squadron supported flight operations until June 30, 1972, when Station Operations and Maintenance Squadron was commissioned in its place. SOMS served until it was disbanded on July 30, 1994. Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay was formed on that date and continues today to serve the operational needs of the aviation community.

On May 28, 1987, the station was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark, in recognition of its role in World War II.[9][10][11]

Following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to close Naval Air Station Barbers Point, the base acquired 4 Navy P-3 Orion patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Seahawk Anti-Submarine squadron in 1999. Today there are almost 10,000 active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel there, directed by Marine Aircraft Group 24 and Navy Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2.

The installation was re-designated as an Air Station (vice an Air Facility) in May 2009.[12] At the same time, the airfield was named for MajGen Marion Eugene Carl, and the Corps announced that new squadrons would be stationed there.

On January 15, 2016, two Marine helicopters from the air station collided over the North Shore of Oahu, leaving 12 US Marines missing and feared dead.[13]

Based units[]

Flying and notable non-flying units based at MCAS Kaneohe Bay.[14]

United States Marine Corps[]

Marine Corps Installations – Pacific

1st Marine Aircraft Wing

United States Navy[]

Insignia[]

  • Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay insignia
  • Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay patch

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "PHNG Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station (Marion E Carl Field)". Airnav.com. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Hawaii NHL Kaneohe Naval Air Station". National Archives Catalog.
  3. ^ MCAS Kaneohe Bay Archived 2010-12-21 at the Wayback Machine, official website, retrieved 2011-4-11
  4. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for NGF PDF, effective 2007-10-25
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Building the Navys Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Civil Engineering Corps, 1940-46, Chapter XXII, Pearl Harbor, part 1, Oahu, p.[1]
  6. ^ Subcommittee on Military Construction (March–April) (April 29, 1959). Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings. pp. 169–170. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  7. ^ Subcommittee on Military Construction (May) (May 20, 1959). Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings. pp. 818, 824. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Air Station Salutes". Hawaii Marine. 11 (2). Marine Corps Base Hawaii. January 13, 1982. p. 4. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "Kaneohe Naval Air Station". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  10. ^ "NPS Form 10-900: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. June 17, 1986. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  11. ^ "NPS Form 10-900; attached photos". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. June 17, 1986. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  12. ^ "K-Bay gets new name, status". Honolulu Advertiser. Marine Corps Times. 2009-05-25. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  13. ^ "12 feared dead in military helicopter crash in Hawaii". United Press International. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  14. ^ Kaminski, Tom (2019). "Aircraft of the US Marine Corps". US Navy & Marine Corps Air Power Yearbook 2019. Key Publishing. pp. 78–99.

External links[]

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