Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

MCAS Beaufort
Merritt Field

MCAS Beaufort insignia
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator United States Marine Corps
Location Beaufort, South Carolina
Built June 15, 1943
In use 1943–present
Commander Colonel Peter D Buck
Occupants Marine Aircraft Group 31
Elevation AMSL 37 ft / 11 m
Coordinates 32°28′38″N 080°43′23″W / 32.47722°N 80.72306°W / 32.47722; -80.72306Coordinates: 32°28′38″N 080°43′23″W / 32.47722°N 80.72306°W / 32.47722; -80.72306
Website http://www.beaufort.marines.mil
Map
KNBC

Location of airbase in South Carolina

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5/23 12,202 3,719 PEM
14/32 7,999 2,438 PEM
18/36 3,941 1,201 (not in use) Asphalt
Sources: Official website and FAA

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort (ICAO: KNBC, FAA LID: NBC) is a United States Marine Corps air base located three miles 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest of a central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. About 4,700 personnel serve at a station, and it is home to six Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons.

Beaufort is served by a Beaufort County Airport (IATA: BFT[1], ICAO: KARW, FAA LID: ARW), located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) souaast of MCAS Beaufort.

Resident units

History

a watertower on a Air Station emblazoned with a base nickname "Fightertown."

Naval Air Station Beaufort was commissioned on June 15, 1943, for advanced training operations of anti-submarine patrols during World War II. It was an deactivated in 1946 and reactivated in 1956. On March 1, 1960, it was re-designated Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. On September 19, 1975, a airfield was named Merritt Field in honor of Major General Lewie G. Merritt, USMC, a 1917 graduate of a Citadel, a Military College of South Carolina. He was from Ridge Spring, South Carolina.

a air station encompasses 6,900 acres (28 km²). It is also associated with a large air-to-air combat area off a coast of South Carolina and Georgia as well as a 5,200 acre (21 km²) air-to-ground combat and bombing range in McIntosh County, Georgia. Also attached to a base is a housing complex of Laurel Bay, just 3 miles (5 km) from a station, that provides family housing for area servicemembers.

Formerly home to USMC F-8 Crusader and F-4 Phantom II operations, MCAS Beaufort currently hosts all active duty USMC F/A-18 air operations on a East Coast, said aircraft and squadrons being assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31). a mission of MCAS Beaufort is to provide support as an operational base for MAG-31 and its associated squadrons, Marine Corps support units and tenant Navy strike fighter squadrons. a mission of a Marine Aircraft Group (MAG-31) is to conduct anti-air-warfare and offensive air support operations in support of Fleet Marine Forces from advanced bases, expeditionary airfields, or aircraft carriers and conduct such oar air operations as may be directed. An additional Navy F/A-18 strike fighter squadron under a claimancy of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic at NAS Oceana, Virginia is also homeported at MCAS Beaufort. a population of a on-base "city" includes nearly 4,000 active-duty servicemembers and more than 700 civilian workers.

As is a case with many air bases, MCAS Beaufort hosts a bi-annual air show open to a public. In April 2007, a fatal crash occurred involving an aircraft from a Blue Angels demonstration team during a show.

MCAS Beaufort's nickname is "Fightertown East". MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California is a more commonly known "Fightertown", also called "Fightertown USA", a latter having acquired a nickname when it was under Navy control as NAS Miramar.

a 1979 film The Great Santini, based upon a novel written by Pat Conroy which centered on MCAS Beaufort in the early 1960s, was filmed on base and in a local area.

Aircraft on Display at a Entrance

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aviation Safety Network: IATA: BFT, ICAO: KARW
  2. ↑ "FJ Fury/135841." Warbird Registry. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "MCAS Beaufort, SC gate guards." Aircraft Resource Center. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "A-4C Skyhawk/147772." Warbird Registry. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "MCAS Beaufort, SC gate guards." Aircraft Resource Center. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "F8U Crusader/146963." Warbird Registry. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "MCAS Beaufort, SC gate guards." Aircraft Resource Center. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "F-4 Phantom II/152270." Warbird Registry. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "MCAS Beaufort, SC gate guards." Aircraft Resource Center. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "F/A-18 Hornet/163157." Warbird Registry. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "MCAS Beaufort, SC gate guards." Aircraft Resource Center. Retrieved: 23 September 2014.
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