JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (八戸航空基地, Hachinohe Kōkūkichi) (ICAO: RJSH) is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). It is located 3.0 NM (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) northwest[1] of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture, in northern Honshū, Japan.

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base

八戸航空基地

Hachinohe Koku-kichi
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
Operator Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
LocationHachinohe, Japan
Elevation AMSL152 ft / 46 m
Coordinates40°33′07″N 141°28′02″E
Map
RJSH
Location in Japan
RJSH
RJSH (Aomori Prefecture)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 2,250 7,382 Concrete
Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan[1]

Operations

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is currently the headquarters of Fleet Air Wing 2's Air Patrol Squadron 2. which is equipped with Kawasaki-Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, and which is responsible for patrols of the seaward approaches to northern Japan. Aircraft are regularly dispatched to forward airfields in Hokkaidō, and in wintertime, conduct patrols of drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk.

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is adjacent to JGSDF Camp Hachinohe, and is also in close geographic proximity to Misawa Air Base housing Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force units. JMSDF Hachinohe is also the home base for the JMSDF Mobile Construction Group, the Japanese Self-Defense Force's equivalent to the American Seabees.

History
Air Patrol Squadron 2 Lockheed P-3C Orion

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base was initially founded as a training field for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in 1941. On the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, the air field was occupied by the United States Army. Between 1945 and 1950, it continued in operation by the United States Army under the name Camp Haugen.[2][3]

With the start of the Korean War in 1950, the base was turned over to the Japanese Coastal Safety Force, the immediate predecessor to the JMSDF. With the final withdrawal of American forces from Hachinohe in 1956, the base was officially designated JGSDF Camp Hachinohe.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) established a presence from 1957, and the JMSDF Hachinohe Air Wing was renamed Fleet Air Wing Two in 1961. The wing was initially equipped with Lockheed P-2 Neptune, later transitioning to Kawasaki P-2J Neptune aircraft.

In 1963, American authorities banned civilian air traffic to Misawa Air Base, citing safety and security reasons, and commercial air operations were transferred to Hachinohe. In 1963, Air Patrol Squadron 2 was established and reequipped with P-2J Neptune aircraft in 1971. The squadron transitioned to the P-3C Orion in 1985. With the re-opening of Misawa Airport in 1975, commercial operations were transferred back to Misawa. In an administrative reorganization in 2008, UH-60J helicopter operations were transferred to JMSDF Ōminato Air Station.

References
  1. AIS Japan Archived 2016-05-17 at the Portuguese Web Archive
  2. Camp Haugen, Honshu Japan. 517th R.C.T. Reunion November 21, 1948
  3. Col. Orin D. "Hard Rock" Haugen
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