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Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
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Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown San Diego, California.
The airfield is named Mitscher Field after Admiral M.A. Mitscher who was the commander of Task Force 58 during World War II. The air station is the former location Pacific Fleet fighter and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, E-2 Hawkeye) and is best known as the former location of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), its TOPGUN training program and the movie of the same name.
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Encyclopedia
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown San Diego, California.
The airfield is named Mitscher Field after Admiral M.A. Mitscher who was the commander of Task Force 58 during World War II. The air station is the former location Pacific Fleet fighter and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, E-2 Hawkeye) and is best known as the former location of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), its TOPGUN training program and the movie of the same name. In 1996, NFWS was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada and merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC). During the heyday of TOPGUN at NAS Miramar, the station was nicknamed "Fightertown USA".
Tenant commands
Geography
The base contains . It is bisected by Kearny Villa Road and Interstate 15. The area east of Kearny Villa Road, called "East Miramar", is undeveloped and is used for military training.
History
Native Americans were the first inhabitants in the vicinity of the base. Spain claimed the area in the 1500s. The crown issued a land grant to Don Santiago Arguello. After the American Civil War, the land was divided and sold to people such as Edward Scripps, a newspaper publisher from eastern United States. The land was predominately used for grazing and farming into the early 1900s.
1918 - 1941
During World War I, the city of San Diego offered to lease 8,000 acres (32 km²) to the United States Army for a small fee. Camp Kearny was opened on January 18 1917 and was named after Stephen W. Kearny who was commander of the Army of the West during the Mexican-American War. During WWI an airstrip was never built on the property although Army and Navy aircraft from Naval Air Station North Island did land on the parade deck. Following the Armistice, the base was used to demobilize servicemen and was closed on October 20 1920. More than 1,200 buildings were demolished when the camp closed.
Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane was built in nearby San Diego. Lindbergh used the abandoned Camp Kearny parade field to practice landings and take-offs before making his historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
During the 1930s, the Navy briefly used the air base for helium dirigibles. In 1932 a mooring mast and hangar were built at the camp for the dirigibles, but when the program was abandoned, the base was quiet again.
World War II
By the time World War II began, Miramar was already undergoing a “precautionary” renovation. Camp Holcomb (later renamed Camp Elliott) was built on part of old Camp Kearny, to be used for Marine artillery and machine gun training. Camp Elliott became home to Fleet Marine Force Training Center, West Coast and the 2nd Marine Division, charged with defending the California coast. Runways were constructed in 1940, and the 1st Marine Air Wing arrived on December 21 of that year. The Navy commissioned Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Camp Kearny in February 1943, specifically to train crews for the Consolidated PB4Y Catalina, which was built less than away in San Diego. A month later, the Marines established Marine Corps Air Depot Camp Kearny, later renamed Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar, to avoid confusion with the Navy facility.
The big Catalinas proved too heavy for the asphalt concrete runway the Army had installed in 1936 and the longer runways built in 1940, so the Navy added two concrete runways in 1943.
During the 1940s, both the Navy and the Marine Corps occupied Miramar. East Miramar (Camp Elliott) was used to train Marine artillery and armored personnel, while Navy and Marine Corps pilots trained on the western side. The bases were combined and designated Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in 1945.
Naval Air Station
In 1947, the Marines moved to MCAS El Toro in Orange County, California, and Miramar was redesignated as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station. In 1954, the Navy offered NAAS Miramar to San Diego for $1 and the city considered using the base to relocate its airport. But it was deemed at the time to be too far away from most residents and the offer was declined.
Only the western half of Miramar’s facilities were put to use, and the old station literally began to deteriorate, with many buildings sold as scrap. Miramar found new life as a Navy Master Jet Station in the 1950s, but really came into its own during the Vietnam War. The Navy needed a school to train pilots in dog-fighting and in fleet air defense. In 1969 the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School was established.
In October 1972, Miramar welcomed the F-14 Tomcat and fighter squadron VF-124, a former Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) was tasked with the mission to train new Tomcat crews. The first two operational Tomcat squadrons, VF-1 known as the "Wolfpack" and VF-2 known as the "Bounty Hunters," trained here before deploying aboard in 1974.
Marines return
In 1993, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and Marine Corps Air Station Tustin be closed down and that NAS Miramar be transferred to the Marine Corps. BRAC action also mandated that all Navy Pacific Fleet F-14 aircraft and squadrons (with the exception of those assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 in Japan) and Pacific Fleet F-14 training be consolidated with the Atlantic Fleet and be relocated to NAS Oceana, Virginia. Additional BRAC action mandated that Pacific Fleet E-2C training be consolidated with Atlantic Fleet E-2C training at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, that all Pacific Fleet E-2C aircraft and squadrons (with the exception of those assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 in Japan) be relocated to NAS Point Mugu, California and that the Naval Fighter Weapons School ("TOP GUN") and Navy Reserve adversary squadron VFC-13 be relocated to NAS Fallon, Nevada.
Both MCAS El Toro and MCAS Tustin were closed and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing returned to Miramar in October 1997, when it officially became Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. On October 1 1997, Colonel Thomas A. Caughlan became the first Marine commanding officer of MCAS Miramar since World War II. Caughlan was also the last commanding officer of MCAS Tustin. The BRAC Commission also recommended moving some instructor pilots and support personnel from Miramar to Eglin AFB in Florida, sufficient to stand up the Marine Corps' portion of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program (JSF) Training Site.
In 2006, the San Diego County Proposition A proposed obtaining 3000 acres (12 km²) at MCAS Miramar to develop a commercial airport. The proposition was defeated 62 percent opposed to 38 percent in favor. The public decided that they did not want the military to leave and that the proposed joint use arrangement would increase noise levels to an intolerable level and would interfere with the needs of the military.
Noise
To lessen the noise impact to the community, MCAS Miramar has made adjustments to their operations over the years, including the use of hush-houses, limitations on engine run-ups, and modification to flight plans. Residents are able to file noise complaints via the Air Station's Noise Complaint hotline.
Crashes
Miramar has been host to several crashes.
- On December 4, 1959, an F3H Demon with Navy pilot ENS Albert Joe Hickman crashed into the adjoining community of Clairemont Mesa. The pilot stayed with the aircraft to avoid hitting a school. The city named an elementary school in Mira Mesa after him.
- On December 22, 1969, an F-8 Crusader crashed into a hangar at NAS Miramar. 14 died and 30 were injured.
- On March 27, 1978, an F-14 Tomcat crashed into I-15 just short of the runway, and ran into a pickup truck, resulting in one fatality.
- On November 7, 1978, a A-4 Skyhawk used by the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels crashed and the pilot was killed.
- On November 30, 1989, a A-4 Skyhawk crashed into a parking lot of a nearby industrial park. The pilot ejected safely.
- In November 2006, an F/A-18C Hornet crashed on the eastern perimeter of the base, with the pilot ejecting safely.
- On December 8, 2008, four people were killed, two homes were destroyed and three homes were damaged when an F/A-18D Hornet crashed about from the base. The plane was returning from training exercises with the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was off the coast of San Diego. The pilot was attempting to steer the aircraft to an unpopulated area when he lost all engine, electrical and hydraulic power. He ejected safely.
Attractions
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External references
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