Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort
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Coordinates: 32°28′38″N 080°43′23″W / 32.47722°N 80.72306°W
| MCAS Beaufort Merritt Field |
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| IATA: BFT – ICAO: KNBC – FAA: NBC | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | United States Marine Corps | ||
| Location | Beaufort, South Carolina | ||
| Built | June 15, 1943 | ||
| In use | 1943 - present | ||
| Commander | Colonel John R. Snider | ||
| Occupants | Marine Aircraft Group 31 | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 37 ft / 11 m | ||
| Website | |||
| 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 | Asphalt |
| Sources: Official website[1] and FAA[2] | |||
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort (IATA: BFT[3], ICAO: KNBC, FAA LID: NBC) is a United States Marine Corps air base located three miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States.[2] About 4200 personnel serve at the station and it is home to six F/A-18 Hornet squadrons including one Navy F/A-18 squadron.
Contents |
[edit] Resident units
- Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron
- Marine Aircraft Group 31
- Marine Wing Support Squadron 273
- Marine Control Squadron 2 Detachment "A"
- Combat Logistics Company 23.
- Strike Fighter Squadron 86
[edit] History
Naval Air Station Beaufort was commissioned on June 15, 1943 for advanced training operations of anti-submarine patrols during World War II. It was then deactivated in 1946 and reactivated in 1956. On March 1, 1960, it was re-designated Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. On September 19, 1975, the airfield was named Merritt Field in honor of Major General Lewie G. Merritt, USMCR of Ridge Spring, South Carolina.
The air station encompasses 6,900 acres (28 km²). It is also associated with a large air-to-air combat area off the 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 the base is the housing complex of Laurel Bay, just 3 miles (5 km) from the station, that provides family housing for area servicepeople.
MCAS Beaufort hosts all active duty USMC F/A-18 air operations on the East Coast, assigned to MAG-31. The mission of the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort is to provide support as an operational base for MAG-31, and the support units. The mission of the 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 other air operations as may be directed. The population of the on-base "city" includes nearly 4,000 active-duty servicemembers and more than 700 civilian workers.
As is the case with many air bases, MCAS Beaufort hosts a bi-annual air show open to the public, which in April 2007, was the site of a fatal crash involving an aircraft from the Blue Angels demonstration team.
MCAS-Beaufort's nickname is "Fightertown East"; MCAS Miramar is the more commonly known "Fightertown", also called "Fightertown USA".
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort |
[edit] References
- ^ MCAS Beaufort, official website, retrieved 2007-11-12
- ^ a b FAA Airport Master Record for NBC (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
- ^ Aviation Safety Network: IATA: BFT, ICAO: KNBC
[edit] External links
- MCAS Beaufort at GlobalSecurity.org
- FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 2 July 2009
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KNBC
- ASN accident history for BFT
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KNBC
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