21-512: Pacific Missile Range may refer to: Pacific Missile Range, a U.S. Navy controlled range from May 1958 to 1 July 1964 based at Point Mugu, California and downrange sites in the central Pacific. Transferred to the U.S.A.F. and renamed Air Force Western Test Range shortened in 1979 to Western Test Range The Western Range (USSF) , a currently active space range supporting launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base and elsewhere Western Launch and Test Range ,
42-421: A combined air/ground team . Station Operations and Headquarters Squadron supported flight operations until 30 June 1972, when Station Operations and Maintenance Squadron (SOMS) was commissioned in its place. SOMS served until it was disbanded on 30 July 1994. Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay was formed on that date and continues today to serve the operational needs of the aviation community. On 28 May 1987,
63-537: A humble beginning as a defense battalion to a major unit of the Windward Coastal Artillery Command. U.S. Navy planners began to eye the peninsula in 1939 as the home of a strategic seaplane base. They liked the isolated location, the flat plains for an airfield and the probability of flights into prevailing trade winds. In 1939, the Navy acquired 464 acres (1.88 km ) of the peninsula for use of
84-629: A maximum security Disciplinary Barracks site. Cooke Air Force Base, later Vandenberg Space Force Base , was established on 64,000 acres of the northern portion. The Secretary of Defense directed the Navy to establish the Pacific Missile Range (PMR) with headquarters at Point Mugu and instrumentation sites along the California coast and downrange in the Pacific Ocean. Agreements between the Navy and
105-545: A missile range active in the 1960s for tracking ballistic missiles Pacific Missile Range Facility , located in Hawaii Pacific Missile Test Center , the former name of the current Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division at Point Mugu, California Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Pacific Missile Range . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
126-615: A restructure of the missile ranges on 16 November 1963 with an effective date of 1 July 1964. This restructure shifted responsibility of major sections of the Navy's Pacific Missile Range to the United States Air Force. In a final transfer, on 1 February 1965, the Air Force, with headquarters at Vandenberg Air Force Base, took control of Pillar Point , California , two sites in Hawaii , Canton Island , Midway Island , and Wake Island in
147-640: Is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) Kaneohe Bay . It is located two miles (3 km ) northeast of the central business district of Kaneohe , in Honolulu County , Hawaii , United States . The airfield has one runway (4/22) with a 7,771 x 200 ft (2,369 x 61 m) asphalt surface. The United States Army acquired 322 acres (1.30 km ) of
168-770: Is the space launch range that supports the major launch head at Vandenberg Space Force Base . Managed by the Space Launch Delta 30 , the WR extends from the West Coast of the United States to 90° East longitude in the Indian Ocean where it meets the Eastern Range Operations involve military, government, and commercial interests. The WR has been operated by civilian contractors since its establishment, following
189-578: The Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay operational November 1958. The ICBM impacts required MILS monitoring between Midway Island and Wake Island and between Wake Island and Eniwetok . Two target arrays and a Broad Ocean Area (BOA) array system were installed. The ICBM range was operational in May 1959 with two target arrays. MILS shore facilities were at Kaneohe and each of the islands. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara directed
210-642: The PBY Catalina patrol seaplanes for long-range reconnaissance flights. One year later, the Navy owned all of the Mokapu Peninsula except for Fort Hase. In 1939 the Navy awarded a base construction contract to the Pacific Naval Air Base Contractors consortituim (PNABC). Most of the original contract work at Kaneohe had been completed when the Navy transferred what was undone to the Seabees of
231-493: The 56th Naval Construction Battalion on 1 April 1943. The 112th CB was tasked with adding a second runway 400' x 5,000' to the airfield. That was completed by the men of the 74th CB. 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the air station minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor . Of the 36 Catalinas stationed here, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged, along with 18 sailors who perished in
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#1732852238677252-446: The Air Force specified that nearly all launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base were under the command and control of Navy and the PMR. A Pacific Missile Impact Location System (MILS) was installed to support both Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests. IRBM impacts were northeast of Hawaii and covered by a system terminating at
273-638: The Navy had transitioned to the P-8 and the P-3C squadrons were retired at Kaneohe. Today there are almost 10,000 active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel there, directed by Marine Aircraft Group 24 . The installation was re-designated as an Air Station (vice an Air Facility) in May 2009. At the same time, the airfield was named for Major general Marion Eugene Carl , and the USMC announced that new squadrons would be stationed there. On 15 January 2016, two Marine helicopters from
294-463: The attack. The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action were shot down at Kaneohe, along with Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer John William Finn becoming one of the first Medal of Honor recipients of World War II for valor on that day. During the war, the air station was a major training base in the Pacific Theater . The Fleet Gunnery School trained thousands of Navy gunners. There
315-511: The first of the Pacific Missile Impact Location System for the Navy's Pacific Missile Range (PMR) was operational at the station to monitor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) test impacts northeast of Hawaii. In 1949, the Navy decommissioned the air station. On 15 January 1952, the U.S. Marine Corps recommissioned the idle airfield Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay , making it an ideal training site for
336-407: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Missile_Range&oldid=1051244579 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Western Range (USSF) The Western Range (WR)
357-649: The mid-Pacific as well as Eniwetok and Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands . The Air Force also took control of the six range instrumented ships Huntsville , Longview , Range Tracker , Richfield , Sunnyvale , and Watertown . The Navy retained a missile test facility at Point Mugu . In 1979, the name was shortened to simply the Western Test Range. Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay or MCAS Kaneohe Bay ( IATA : NGF , ICAO : PHNG , FAA LID : NGF )
378-513: The peninsula when President Woodrow Wilson signed executive order 2900 establishing the Kuwaaohe Military Reservation. Little is known about the operations of the fort, however, at the end of World War I , the military property was leased for ranching. In 1939, Kuwaaohe was reactivated, subjected to many name changes to include Camp Ulupa’u, and eventually named Fort Hase . Prior to and during World War II , Fort Hase grew from
399-580: The precedent of the Eastern Range. On 1 October 2003, InDyne Inc. took over the range contract from ITT Industries which had operated the range for the previous 44 years. The Navy established the Naval Missile Facility at Point Arguello (NMFPA) after the transfer from the Army of 19,800 acres from the southern portion of Camp Cooke in May 1958. Camp Cooke was a World War II training and POW facility and
420-531: The station was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark , in recognition of its role in World War II. Following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to close Naval Air Station Barbers Point , the base acquired four Navy P-3 Orion patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Seahawk anti-submarine squadron in 1999. By 2020
441-425: Was a school for celestial navigation, sonar, aircraft recognition, and turret operations. Flight instructors also trained Navy and Marine Corps aviators in flight operations prior to being sent to a forward combat area. Following the war, Fort Hase had become a skeleton outpost and the air station consisted of limited air operations, a small security detachment, and a federal communications center. In November 1958
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