Naval Air Station Brunswick

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NAS Brunswick
Symbol of Brunswick NAS
IATA: NHZ – ICAO: KNHZ – FAA: NHZ
Summary
Airport type		Military: Naval Air Station
Operator		United States Navy
Location		Brunswick, Maine
Built		1943
In use		1943-1946, 1951 - present
Commander		Capt. George G. Womack
Occupants		2,317 Navy 61 Civilian[1]
Elevation AMSL		75 ft / 23 m
Coordinates		43°53′32″N 069°56′19″W / 43.89222, -69.93861
Website		www.cnic.navy.mil/Brunswick/index.htm
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
1L/19R	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
1R/19L	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
9/27 (Closed)	6,000	1,829	Asphalt
Sources: FAA[2], official site[3]

Naval Air Station Brunswick (IATA: NHZ, ICAO: KNHZ, FAA LID: NHZ), also known as NAS Brunswick, is a military airport located 2 miles North East 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 2 Current Operations 2.1 Transient Naval Operations 3 Post-Navy Usage 4 See also 5 References 6 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. The base will be closed around the year 2011.

[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 P-8 Poseidon 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. ^[4] Relocation of the first squadron to depart (to Jacksonville) is scheduled for 2008. ^[5]

[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. ^[6]

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. ^[7]

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] Post-Navy Usage

The Navy is scheduled to leave in 2011 and as a result, there have been multiple ideas about redeveloping the base. These include everything from the traditional golf course to aviation re-use as a commercial airport. There is already a golf course though at the base but it is only 9 holes.

[edit] See also

• South Weymouth Naval Air Station
• VP-10
• VP-92

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NAS Brunswick Home Page
• NAS Brunswick at GlobalSecurity.org
• Aerial photo at WikiMapia
• Resources for this U.S. military airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KNHZ
  • ASN accident history for NHZ
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KNHZ
• http://www.brunswickme.org/parkrec/programs/flyers/Brunswick%20NAS%20Assessment%20Study.pdf