Naval Air Station Brunswick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Naval Air Station Brunswick

IATA: NHZ - ICAO: KNHZ - FAA: NHZ
Summary
Controlled By		United States Navy
Facility Type		Naval Air Station
Location		Brunswick, Maine
Commissioned		March 15, 1951
Current Status		Active
Commanding Officer		Captain George G. Womack
Elevation AMSL		75 ft (23 m)
Coordinates		43°53′31″N, 69°56′19″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
1L/19R	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
1R/19L	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
9/27	8,000	2,438	Asphalt

Naval Air Station Brunswick (IATA: NHZ, ICAO: KNHZ, FAA LID: NHZ), also known as NAS Brunswick, is a military airport located 2 miles southeast of Brunswick, Maine; one of two in New England, the other military airport is Bangor. The base is home to a number of Navy operated Maritime Patrol Aircraft. The base is scheduled for closure in 2011, as per the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure committee decision.

1 History
- 1.1 Base Realignment and Closure, 2005
2 Current Operations
- 2.1 Transient Naval Operations
3 See also
4 References
- 4.1 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

The U. S. Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine was commissioned on April 15, 1943 to train Royal Canadian Air Force pilots for the British Naval Command. The 1,487-acre (6 km²) station was built on land that had been willed to the needy people of Brunswick for the sole purpose of picking blueberries.

The air station was deactivated in October 1946 and the land and buildings leased jointly to the University of Maine and Bowdoin College. On March 15, 1951, the dormant base was recommissioned a naval air facility to support three patrol squadrons and one fleet aircraft service squadron; it was slated to become a master jet base with dual 8,000 foot (2.4 km) runways and two outlying fields, one for gunnery and one for carrier practice landings.

[edit] Base Realignment and Closure, 2005

On August 24, 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure committee voted to close NAS Brunswick and move its aircraft operations to Jacksonville, Florida; on September 15, 2005, the final list was approved by the President. By law, the base must be closed before September 15, 2011, as the Base Realignment and Closure committee found that there would be economic benefits in closing the base and removing all forces. Likewise, they found that the Boeing MMA aircraft that were scheduled to be positioned at NAS:Brunswick could just as easily be operated out of civilian and reserve airports in the Northeast. ^[1] Relocation of the first squadron to depart (to Jacksonville) is scheduled for 2008. ^[2]

aerial view of NAS Brunswick

Several Lockheed P-3 Orion Aircraft parked on the tarmac in summer of 2005

[edit] Current Operations

There are two 8,000- by 200-foot Runways at Brunswick Naval Air Station, 19 L&R and 1 L&R (Runways 19 Left and Right and Runways 1 Left And Right.) Runway 19L-1R (same runway) is more frequently used than 19R-1L, due to 1R's High Intensity Runway Lights with a 3,000 foot lighted runway approach. Runway 19L has a 2,400 foot high-intensity approach similar to its counterpart. Both runways have a PAPI which indicates glide slope position. Runway 19R-1L only has PAPIs on both side and high intensity lighting on the runway with no Runway End Identification Lights (REIL). The airport's beacon flashes from dusk to dawn with a (White-White-Green) sequence, signifying it is a lighted military airport. ^[3]

NAS Brunswick is home to 29 tenant commands, including four active-duty patrol squadrons (VPU-1, VP-8, VP-10, and VP-26) and one reserve patrol squadron (VP-92) that fly Lockheed P-3 Orion long-range maritime patrol aircraft. These are commanded by Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Five, headquartered at the air station. The base is also home to VR-62, a reserve transport squadron that flies Lockheed C-130 Hercules airlifters. ^[4]

More than 1,600 Navy Reservists travel from throughout New England to drill at the Naval Operational Support Center Brunswick, the Seabee battalion and numerous other reserve commands.

About 20 percent of NAS Brunswick's activities, facilities and services support the AEGIS destroyer shipbuilding program at nearby Bath Iron Works. The base also houses the Navy's only cold-weather Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school; additional SERE training takes place on 12,000 acres (49 km²) near Rangeley in northwestern Maine.

[edit] Transient Naval Operations

Often, one may see a fighter jet or an aircraft other than the routine Lockheed P-3 Orion or Lockheed-Martin C-130 aircraft, the two aircraft based at the Naval Air Station. These aircraft are not based at Brunswick Naval Air Station, but are coming from other United States and NATO air bases from around the United States and Europe. Some of the common aircraft visiting Brunswick not based there are Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, and corporate jets that are property of the Navy. When visiting Maine, the President's jet, Air Force One, will often land at NAS Brunswick, as it is one of the few airports in Maine with a runway capable of hosting the large Boeing 747 jet.

[edit] See also

United States Navy Portal

[edit] References

NAS Brunswick (official site)
FAA Airport Master Record for NHZ (Form 5010 PDF)

[edit] Notes

^ Pike, John. Naval Air Station Brunswick. Global Security.org. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
^ Wright, Virginia (Septemmber 2006). "Reinventing Brunswick". Down East: The Magazine of Maine 53 (2): 59.
^ Airnav: NHZ. Airnav LLC.. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
^ Welcome to Naval Air Station Brunswick. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.