| RAAF Scherger | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: YBSG | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | RAAF | ||
| Location | Weipa, Queensland | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 145 ft / 47.5 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 12/30 | 10,003 | 3,049 | Asphalt |
RAAF Base Scherger is the newest of the Royal Australian Air Force's three 'bare bases', completing a chain of bases across Australia’s ‘top end’. Located 26km East of Weipa on the western side of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, it was opened on the 5th of August, 1998 by former Prime Minister, John Howard.
As a 'bare base' Scherger's role is to provide the RAAF and other services with the necessary infrastructure to support forward deployed forces during a crisis. The base is named in honour of Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger who was the Australian Chief of the Air Staff (now known as Chief of Air Force) from March 1957 to May 1961 and the equivalent of what is now Chief of the Defence Force from 1961 to 1966.
While the base has facilities to cater for 400 personnel in fixed accommodation, 1000 personnel in tent lines and about 40 aircraft, it is normally only manned by 4 Air Force personnel who are responsible for caretaker duties. During peacetime RAAF Base Scherger hosts, on average, one major exercise per year in which the base is fully activated through the arrival of RAAF units based elsewhere in Australia.
In October 2010 The Scherger Immigration Detention Centre was opened at the Scherger RAAF Base, this facility provides accommodation for 300 single adult males.
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