View source for Naval Air Station Brunswick

{{Short description|Former military airport in Brunswick, Maine, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name                   = Naval Air Station Brunswick
| ensign                 = 
| ensign_size            = 
| native_name            = 
| partof                 = <!-- for elements within a larger site -->
| location               = [[Brunswick, Maine|Brunswick]], [[Maine]]
| nearest_town           = <!-- used in military test site infobox -->
| country                = the United States
| image                  = File:Sm_nasb_aerial.jpg
| alt                    = 
| caption                = An aerial view of NAS Brunswick during 2008
| image2                 = [[File:Naval air station brunswick badge.gif|175px]]
| alt2                   = 
| caption2               = 
| type                   = Naval air station
| coordinates            = {{coord|43|53|32|N|069|56|19|W|type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| gridref                = 
| image_map              = 
| image_mapsize          = 
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = 
| pushpin_map            = United States
| pushpin_mapsize        = 
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location in the United States
| pushpin_relief         = 
| pushpin_image          = 
| pushpin_label          = Brunswick
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_mark           = 
| pushpin_marksize       = 
| ownership              = [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]
| operator               = [[United States Navy|US Navy]]
| controlledby           = <!-- such as RAF Bomber Command or the Eighth Air Force -->
| open_to_public         = <!-- for out of use sites/sites with museums etc -->
| site_other_label       = <!-- for renaming "Other facilities" in infobox -->
| site_other             = <!-- for other sorts of facilities – radar types etc --> 
| site_area              = <!-- area of site m2, km2 square mile etc -->
| code                   = <!--facility/installation code, applies to US -->
| built                  = {{Start date|1943}}
| used                   = 1943 – 1946 and 1951 – {{End date|2011}}
| builder                = 
| materials              = 
| height                 = <!-- height of tallest part, not above sea level -->
| length                 = <!-- for border fences or other DMZs -->
| fate                   = Transferred to civilian use to become [[Brunswick Executive Airport]] and location of new campus for [[Southern Maine Community College]]
| condition              = Closed
| battles                = 
| events                 = 
| current_commander      = <!-- current commander -->
| past_commanders        = <!-- past notable commander(s) -->
| garrison               = <!-- such as the 25th Bombardment Group -->
| occupants              = <!-- squadrons only -->
| designations           = 
| website                = {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20090523075808/https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Brunswick/index.htm|name=Official website (archived)}}
<!-- begin airfield information  -->
| IATA                 = 
| ICAO                 = KNHZ
| FAA                  = NHZ
| TC                   = 
| LID                  = 
| GPS                  = 
| WMO                  = 743920
| elevation            = {{Convert|23|m|0}}
| r1-number            = 1L/19R
| r1-length            = {{Convert|2,438|m|0}}
| r1-surface           = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]]
| r2-number            = 1R/19L
| r2-length            = {{Convert|2,438|m|0}}
| r2-surface           = Asphalt
| h1-number            = 
| h1-length            = <!-- {{Convert| |m|0}} -->
| h1-surface           = 
| airfield_other_label = <!-- for renaming "Other facilities" in infobox -->
| airfield_other       = <!-- for other sorts of airfield facilities -->
<!--  end airfield information   -->
| footnotes              = <!-- catchall in case it's needed to preserve something in infobox that doesn't work in new code -->
}}
'''Naval Air Station Brunswick''' {{airport codes|<s>NHZ</s>|KNHZ|NHZ}}, also known as '''NAS Brunswick''' or the '''Brunswick Naval Air Station''', was a military airport located {{convert|2|mi|km}} southeast of [[Brunswick, Maine]], with a number of Navy-operated [[maritime patrol aircraft]]. As of November 28, 2009, the last aircraft ([[Lockheed P-3 Orion|P-3 Orions]]) left.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Former Naval Air Station Brunswick |url=https://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/BRAC-Bases/Northeast/Former-Naval-Air-Station-Brunswick/#:~:text=Base%20Summary&text=The%20last%20squadron%20left%20the,and%20several%20remote%20component%20parcels. |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=www.bracpmo.navy.mil}}</ref> The runways were permanently closed in January 2010. The base operated while the airport operated publicly under the name [[Brunswick Executive Airport]] until the base closed on May 31, 2011, as per the 2005 [[Base Realignment and Closure]] committee decision. Since then the base is known as Brunswick Landing. The [[Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrra.us/ |title=Home |website=mrra.us}}</ref> has been managing base redevelopment with high-tech business and industrial park.<ref>[http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2010/03/17/news/doc4ba0fd443deed238663340.txt Times Record – Reuse panel announces name for base property]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 17 March 2010, timesrecord.com</ref> On April 2, 2011, the airport reopened as [[Brunswick Executive Airport]].

==History==

The Brunswick airport was originally built in 1935 by the New Deal agency the Maine Emergency Relief Administration, a state division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration after a survey of airports in the state by Capt. Harry M. Jones with the intention of building a chain of airports in coastal towns, inland towns, and lake resorts. It built 1 NW - SE 1800 x 50 gravel runway and 1 E - W 1800x100 graded runway.<ref>Reviewing the ERA in Maine by Hildreth Hawes</ref>

===World War II===
Naval Air Station Brunswick was developed and occupied in March 1943, and was first commissioned on April 15, 1943, to train and form-up [[Royal Navy]] [[Fleet Air Arm]] squadrons with [[Vought F4U Corsair|Vought Corsair]]s, [[Grumman TBF Avenger|Grumman Avenger]]s and [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|Grumman Hellcat]]s. The 1,487-acre (6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) station was built in part on land that was donated by the town of Brunswick. By the early 1940s the town was using most of this land to operate a small municipal airport, which would become the core of the air station.
 
Operating under the motto, "Built For Business", the first U.S. squadron to arrive at NAS Brunswick was a heavier-than-air Scouting Squadron (VS1D1). During World War II, pilots from NAS Brunswick as well as those of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm used the station as a base from which they carried out anti-submarine warfare missions with around-the-clock efficiency. The air station had a contingent from the Fleet Air Arm, but the squadrons also practiced at other Naval Auxiliary Air Facilities (NAAF) in Maine before eventual transport to Britain. The station was supporting the [[Casco Bay]] NAAF [[seaplane]] base on [[Long Island, Maine|Long Island]] from May 14, 1943 to December 15, 1946 and auxiliary landing fields [[Lewiston NAAF]] until December 1, 1945, [[Sanford NAAF]] until February 1, 1946, [[Rockland NAAF]] until March 15, 1946, and [[Bar Harbor NAAF]] from September 1, 1943 until November 15, 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Appen6.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030427055545/http://history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Appen6.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2003|title=Patrol Squadron Shore Establishments|publisher=United States Navy|access-date=March 7, 2012}}</ref> On August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered to Allied forces, ending the war. As a result, NAS Brunswick was scheduled for deactivation.

===Cold War===
The air station was deactivated in October 1946, the land was reverted to caretaker status, and the land and buildings leased jointly to the [[University of Maine]] and [[Bowdoin College]]. When the station’s facilities were no longer required, the University of Maine and Bowdoin College terminated their leases and in 1949, operations at NAS Brunswick were taken over by the Brunswick Flying Service. This commercial deviation was short-lived however, when the Navy selected the station as a potential center for development of "Services to the Fleet". Plans were soon placed on the drawing boards to make this a thriving operational air station.

On March 15, 1951, the National Ensign was hoisted, re-commissioning the station as a Naval Air Facility. The station soon became a beehive of activity, as it was slated to become a [[Master Jet Base]]. New construction around the base was begun which included dual 8,000-foot runways, and new facilities to replace the temporary structures of World War II, including a modern operations tower capable of handling all the complex flights of a full-scale Naval Air Station. Two outlying fields were also planned to be built, one for gunnery and one for carrier practice landings.
 
On June 15, 1950, [[North Korea]] on Chinese authorization crossed the [[38th parallel north|38th parallel]] and invaded their neighbors in [[South Korea]]. Acting quickly and on little notice, the American military reversed the post-World War II trend of reduction-in-forces and several subordinate commands stationed at NAS Brunswick were re-commissioned. While not directly involved in combat operations in Korea, its squadrons contributed to the war effort by assuming the many responsibilities of commands who had been deployed to the Pacific.
 
In 1959, NAS Brunswick’s primary mission was support of [[Patrol Wing|Fleet Air Wing Three]] which was composed of Patrol Squadrons Seven, Ten, Eleven, Twenty One, Twenty Three, and Twenty Six. Flying the [[P2V Neptune]] and [[PB4Y-2 Privateer]], the squadrons played a major part in the defense of the North Atlantic area, tracking Soviet submarines around the clock throughout the [[Cold War]].
 
In 1962, NAS Brunswick and [[Patrol Wing|Fleet Air Wing Five]] began the transition to the [[P-3A Orion]] marking the beginning of a new era in Naval Patrol Aviation. During the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in October 1962 and more encompassing, during the entirety of the Cold War between American and Soviet forces, both the P2V and P-3A became nationally well-known due to their surveillance of Soviet ships in the Atlantic Ocean, leading to a safe resolution.
 
Fleet Air Wing Five aircraft also played an important part in America’s early crewed space programs in 1965 and 1966, helping to locate Mercury and Gemini capsules after splashdowns.
 
In 1966, Wing Five began deployments in the Western Pacific. Based at [[Naval Station Sangley Point]] in the Philippines, squadrons flew patrol and combat missions in support of [[Seventh Fleet]] operations in [[South East Asia]] throughout the years of U.S. involvement in [[Vietnam]].
 
On August 2 of 1990, [[Iraq]]i President [[Saddam Hussein]] launched an invasion on the neighboring country of [[Kuwait]]. In response, the United States launched a wholly defensive mission to the Middle East named [[Gulf War#Operation Desert Shield|Operation Desert Shield]]. [[VP-23|Patrol Squadron Twenty Three]] was the first East Coast maritime patrol squadron in-theater for [[Gulf War#Operation Desert Shield|Operation Desert Shield]], providing maritime surveillance throughout the [[Red Sea]]. [[VP-8|Patrol Squadron EIGHT]] participated in joint operations during Desert Storm, flying combat sorties in the effort to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces.

===Post Cold War===
At the end of the [[Cold War]] in 1991, many maritime patrol squadrons were reduced or relocated. [[Combat Wing Five]] disestablished [[VP-44|Patrol Squadron 44]] in May 1991, [[VP-23|Patrol Squadron 23]] in December 1994, and [[VP-11|Patrol Squadron 11]] in August 1997.
 
During the mid-1990s with the breakup and subsequent conflict in the former [[Republic of Yugoslavia]], Patrol Squadrons 8, 10, 11, 26 from NAS Brunswick were called upon to fly countless sorties in the [[Adriatic Sea]] in support of [[Operation Sharp Guard]]. Of specific note, [[VP-10|Patrol Squadron 10]] was the first VP squadron to conduct offensive missile attacks since [[Vietnam]] in the 1970s. In 1994, 10,138 enlisted, officers, civilian employees, and family members called NAS Brunswick home.
 
In the early years of the new millennium, squadrons home ported at NAS Brunswick continued to fulfill their missions by flying intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and maritime patrol sorties in [[Operation Joint Guardian]] in Kosovo and [[Operation Deliberate Forge]] in [[Bosnia]] in support of U.S. and [[NATO]] forces. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the U.S., those same squadrons began flying missions in support of [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] (OEF) in the Middle East.

NAS Brunswick-based crews flew homeland defense maritime patrols off the Atlantic coast as part of Operation Noble Eagle and additional assets were surged in support of OEF operations. Fleet Air Wing Five squadrons were present during the commencement of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]] in 2003, and continue to fly in support of ongoing operations.

On October 21, 2008, a [[P-3 Orion]] from Patrol Wing Five overshot the runway at [[Bagram Air Base]] while landing. The aircraft caught fire and was destroyed but the only injury to the crew was one broken ankle. The aircraft was assigned to CTF-57 in Afghanistan.{{fact|date=February 2024}}

===Closure===
{{outdated section|date=August 2015}}
After being listed on the [[Base Realignment and Closure Commission#2005 Commission|2005 Base Realignment and Closure]] list, NAS Brunswick began preparing itself for shut down with a mandated September 2011 closure date. In May 2008, Captain Will Fitzgerald relieved Captain George Womack, becoming NAS Brunswick’s 36th and final Commanding Officer, and was tasked with the responsibility of closing the base.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} In September 2008, NAS Brunswick hosted the 33rd [[Great State of Maine Air Show]] for the last time, which boasted an attendance of more than 150,000 people from the local area and out of state. The air show will be held again in August 2017, without the support of a military base. In November 2008, the Patrol Squadron 8 Tigers were the first Fleet Air Wing Five squadron to permanently leave NAS Brunswick on deployment, scheduled to return to their new home port of [[NAS Jacksonville]], Florida.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} May 2009 saw the last squadron Changes of Command held on base when the reins of the [[VP-26|Patrol Squadron 26]] Tridents and the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 Nor’Easters (having since been renamed the Nomads) were handed over to new Commanding Officers.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} In June 2009, the "Red Lancers" Patrol Squadron 10 departed Brunswick for their new home port of [[NAS Jacksonville]], followed by Special Projects Patrol Squadron 1 and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 in July. The last squadron to leave NAS Brunswick was [[VP-26|Patrol Squadron 26]], which made their final departures late November 2009. Prior to its closure, there were approximately 1681 officers, sailors, and civilian employees actively working on base.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

December 23, 2009 marked the last day of [[United States Navy Reserve|Navy Reserve]] activity at NAS Brunswick when the Navy Operational Support Center lowered the National Ensign and closed its doors for the last time. Captain Scott F. Walton, the NOSC Commanding Officer, had previously been the last C.O. of Patrol Squadron [[VP-92]] Minutemen, a Navy Reserve squadron made up of many local Maine citizens. VP-92 operated out of NAS Brunswick from 1996 to 2007.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120805063443/http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=79531 NOSC Brunswick flag lowered for last time]</ref>
 
At an onsite ceremony on May 31, 2011 the base was officially decommissioned. Navy officials handed over the remaining property to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrra.us/ |title=Home |website=mrra.us}}</ref> Property is being redeveloped for civilian use as Brunswick Landing. This started with the opening of the [[Brunswick Executive Airport]]. [[Southern Maine Community College]] has built a new campus on the site.<ref>[[Associated Press]], "[http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/06/ap-brunswick-naval-air-base-closes-after-68-years-060111/ Brunswick naval air base closes after 68 years]", ''[[Military Times]]'', June 1, 2011.</ref>

==Environmental problems==
The [[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] declared the base a [[Superfund Site]] in 1987 for chemical contamination after open-air detonation of ordnance. From 2007 until 2015, the Navy assessed and removed ordnance from the area, spending $3–4 million on site clean-up. In July 2015, EPA declared the area safe with so called "land use controls", such as signs and fencing.<ref name=bdn>{{cite news|title=Navy: Former Brunswick explosives site safe to use|url=https://bangordailynews.com/2015/07/16/news/midcoast/navy-former-brunswick-explosives-site-safe-to-use/|access-date=20 July 2015|work=Bangor Daily News|publisher=Walter Wuthmann|date=16 July 2015}}</ref>

In September 2015, it became known that the Navy’s closure draft report mentioned contamination with [[perflourinated compounds|perfluorinated chemicals]] (PFCs). They had been "recorded at levels above the EPA’s provisional health advisory", a number derived from lab tests on animals, at several places, many of which were associated with past use of PFC-containing [[fire-fighting foam]], such as areas around the airplane runway and between hangars. [[Groundwater contamination|Groundwater is contaminated]] at the former fire department building and the foam storage building. [[Restoration Advisory Board]] members criticized the land use control plan as insufficient, after PFCs found in well water at [[Pease Air Force Base]] in neighboring New Hampshire had exposed people including children as blood monitoring has shown.<ref name=bdn915>{{cite news|author1=Walter Wuthmann|title=Chemicals linked to N.H. contamination found in Brunswick|url=https://bangordailynews.com/2015/09/17/news/midcoast/chemicals-linked-to-n-h-contamination-found-in-brunswick/|access-date=19 September 2015|work=Bangor Daily News (ME)|date=17 September 2015}}</ref>
The Air Force had been testing 82 former and active installations nationwide for PFCs.<ref name=lin>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Grissom officials: Well tests show no chemical pollution|url=http://wishtv.com/2015/09/17/grissom-officials-well-tests-show-no-chemical-pollution/|access-date=19 September 2015|work=LIN Television Corporation|date=19 September 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Brunswick Executive Airport]]
*[[South Weymouth Naval Air Station]], closed in 1996
*[[VP-8]]
*[[VP-10]]
*[[VP-26]]
*[[VR-62]]
*[[VP-92]]
*[[VP-11]]
*[[VP-21 (1943-69)|VP-21]]
*[[VP-23]]
*[[VP-44]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090523075808/https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Brunswick/index.htm NAS Brunswick Home Page]
*[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/brunswick.htm NAS Brunswick] at GlobalSecurity.org
*https://web.archive.org/web/20080513124508/http://www.brunswickme.org/parkrec/programs/flyers/Brunswick%20NAS%20Assessment%20Study.pdf
*[http://www.hms-vengeance.co.uk/abrief.htm No. 1849 Royal Navy Squadron (includes photos taken at the air station as well as two other airports in Maine)]
*[http://www.vpnavy.com/vpmau.html VP-MAU]
*[http://www.vpnavy.com/vpu1.html VPU-1]
{{US-airport-mil|NHZ}}

{{Navboxes
|list =
{{US Navy navbox}}
{{Cumberland County, Maine}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunswick, Naval Air Station}}
[[Category:Military installations in Maine]]
[[Category:United States Naval Air Stations]]
[[Category:Defunct airports in Maine]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Brunswick, Maine]]
[[Category:Military Superfund sites]]
[[Category:Military airbases closed in 2011|Naval Air Station Brunswick]]
[[Category:Superfund sites in Maine]]
[[Category:1943 establishments in Maine]]
[[Category:2011 disestablishments in Maine]]
[[Category:Closed installations of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Transportation in Brunswick, Maine]]
[[Category:Military airbases established in 1943]]