Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

Coordinates: 32°28′38″N 080°43′23″W / 32.47722°N 80.72306°W / 32.47722; -80.72306

MCAS Beaufort Merritt Field
MCAS Beaufort insignia
IATA: BFT – ICAO: KNBC – FAA LID: NBC
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		United States Marine Corps
Location		Beaufort, South Carolina
Built		June 15, 1943
In use		1943 - present
Commander		Colonel Brian Murtha
Occupants		Marine Aircraft Group 31
Elevation AMSL		37 ft / 11 m
Website		www.marines.mil/unit/mcasbeaufort
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 Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons plus one Navy F/A-18 strike fighter squadron.

Resident units

• Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron
• Marine Aircraft Group 31
• Marine Wing Support Squadron 273
• Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Detachment "A"
• Combat Logistics Company 23
• Strike Fighter Squadron 86

History

The watertower on the Air Station emblazoned with the base nickname "Fightertown."

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, USMC, a 1917 graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He was from 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 servicemembers.

Formerly home to USMC F-8 Crusader and F-4 Phantom II operations, MCAS Beaufort currently hosts all active duty USMC F/A-18 air operations on the East Coast, said aircraft and squadrons being assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31). The mission of MCAS Beaufort is to provide support as an operational base for MAG-31 and its associated squadrons, Marine Corps support units and tenant Navy strike fighter squadrons. 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. An additional Navy F/A-18 strike fighter squadron under the claimancy of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic at NAS Oceana, Virginia is also homeported at MCAS Beaufort. 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 in San Diego, California is the more commonly known "Fightertown", also called "Fightertown USA", the latter having acquired the nickname when it was under Navy control as NAS Miramar.

The 1979 film The Great Santini, based upon a novel written by Pat Conroy which centered on MCAS Beaufort in the early 1960s, was filmed on base and in the local area.

See also

United States Marine Corps portal

• F/A-18 Hornet
• List of United States Marine Corps installations
• List of airports in South Carolina

References

1. ^ www.marines.mil/unit/mcasbeaufort, official website, retrieved 2011-9-22
2. ^ ^{a b} FAA Airport Master Record for NBC (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
3. ^ Aviation Safety Network: IATA: BFT, ICAO: KNBC

External links

• MCAS Beaufort at GlobalSecurity.org
• USMC Air Station Beaufort Overview & PCS Information (MarineCorpsUSA.org)
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 20 October 2011
• 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