Kadena Air Base

Kadena Air Base is a United States Air Force base located immediately adjacent to and SE of the town of Kadena, 1 mi S of Koza, and 12 mi NNE of Naha, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.

Units

The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB. In addition, the base hosts associate units from five other Air Force major commands, the United States Navy, and numerous other Department of Defense agencies and direct reporting units. Associate units operate more than 20 permanently assigned, forward-based or deployed aircraft from the base on a daily basis.

• 18th Wing
  Kadena Air Base is the home to the Air Force’s largest combat wing—the 18th Wing—and a variety of associate units. Together they form “Team Kadena”—a world-class combat team ready to fight and win from the Keystone of the Pacific. Kadena’s fleet of F-15C/D Eagles; KC-135R/T Stratotankers; E-3B/C Sentries; HH-60 Pave Hawks; MC-130H Combat Talon II’s; MC-130P Combat Shadows; RC- and WC- 135s; and Navy P-3 Orions project U.S. deterrence throughout the Western Pacific and South-East Asia, promoting regional peace and stability.

• 353rd Special Operations Group
  The 353rd Special Operations Group is an element of the Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida. The 750 Airmen of the group are organized into three flying squadrons, a maintenance squadron, a special tactics squadron and an operations support squadron. The flying squadrons operate three separate and uniquely different airframes: the MC-130P Combat Shadow, MC-130H Combat Talon II and, at Osan, the MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter.

• 733rd Air Mobility Squadron
  The more than 320 people of the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron manage all passengers and cargo traveling by air in and out of Kadena. This Air Mobility Command unit supports about 650 aircraft arrivals and departures every month, moving more than 12,000 passengers and nearly 3,000 tons of cargo.

• 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron
  Air Combat Command's 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron maintains aircraft; prepares combat-ready aircrews; and analyzes, processes, and disseminates intelligence data launch in support of RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, RC-135U Combat Sent and WC-135 Constant Phoenix missions flown in the Pacific Theater. Of special value to the Pacific Command and national command authorities, information obtained is used at all levels of the Department of Defense and within other government agencies. The squadron works closely with the 390th Intelligence Squadron.

• 390th Intelligence Squadron
  Air Intelligence Agency's 390th Intelligence Squadron conducts information operations by providing tailored combat intelligence and assessing the security of friendly command, control, communication and computer systems to enhance warfighting survivability, situation awareness and targeting.

• Associate units
  961st Airborne Warning & Control Squadron
  909th Air Refueling Squadron
  Tactical Support Centers (TSC)

United States Navy Use

The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa. On February 15, 1951, the US Naval Facility, Naha, was activated and later became commissioned on April 18th. Commander Fleet Activities, Ryukyus was commissioned on March 8, 1957. On May 15, 1972, upon reversion of Okinawa to Japanese administration, the two organizations were combined to form Commander Fleet Activities, Okinawa. With the relocations of Commander Fleet Activities, Okinawa to Kadena Air Base on May 7, 1975, the title then became Commander Fleet Activities, Okinawa/US Naval Air Facility, Kadena.

The mission of NAVCOMM Det Okinawa is to provide communications support for SEVENTH Fleet and supporting units, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, Defense Information Systems Agency and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. The detachment has four work centers: 1) TSCCOMM provides telecommunications support for Patrol Wing ONE Det Kadena, deployed patrol squadrons and Marine Wing Detachment; 2) CMS provides communications security (COMSEC) materials and cryptographic equipment to Patrol Squadrons and detachments, and to Commander Amphibious Group One/CTF76, located at White Beach; 3) Naval Radio Transmitter Facility (NRTF) Awase provides HF transmitter support to the fleet and area commanders and LF transmitter support for submarines operating in the Pacific and Indian Oceans; and 4) SURTASS supports command and control functions to SURTASS ships operating in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.

BRAC 2005

In November 2006, the U.S. Army's 1-1 ADA Battalion, a Patriot PAC-III unit, deployed to Kadena from Fort Bliss Texas. They are assigned to the 94th AAMDC, PACOM, they were assigned to 31st ADA Brigade at Fort Bliss. The move was part of the BRAC consolidation of U.S. Army bases and security agreements between the U.S. and Japan. The battalion's mission is to defend the base against tactical ballistic missiles from North Korea. The deployment was controversial in Okinawa. The unit was greeted by protests.

In 2006, the U.S. Air Force announced that Kadena will transition to the the F-35 Lightning II airframe from the current F-15 Eagle. The base is currently undergoing environmental testing to find the environmental footprint the F-35 would cause.

Notable Areas

• Main Street (The Tiki)
• Gate 2 Street
• Kadena Tarmac
• Kadena BX
• Schilling Community Center
• Airmans Club

• NCO Club
• Officers Club
• Kadena High School
• Kadena Middle School
• Bob Hope Primary School
• The Asian Division of University of Maryland University College (UMUC)[1]

History

World War II

Kadena Air Base history dates back to just before the April 1, 1945, US invasion of Okinawa, when a local construction firm completed a small airfield named Yara Hikojo near the island's village of Kadena. The airfield, used by Japanese warplanes, was one of the first targets of the Tenth United States Army and was captured from the Japanese by American forces early in the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.

What the Americans captured was nothing more than a 4,600 foot strip of badly-damaged coral runway. Army engineers from the 13th Combat Batallion, 7th U.S. Infantry Division quickly made repairs and, by nightfall the same day, the runway could accept emergency landings. Eight days later, and after some six inches of coral were added, the airfield was declared operational and put into immediate service by artillery spotting aircraft when the runway became serviceable on 6 April. Additional construction was performed by the 807th Engineering Aviation Batallion to improve the airfield for USAAF fighter and bomber use with fuel tank farms, a new 6,500-ft bituminous runway, and a 7,500-ft runway for bomber aircraft by August.

Kadena airfield was initially under the control of Seventh Air Force, however on 16 July 1945, Headquarters Eighth Air Force was transferred, without personnel, equipment, or combat elements to Kadena from RAF High Wycombe England. Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces to train new bomber groups for combat missions against Japan. In the planned invasion of Japan, the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct B-29 Superfortress raids from Okinawa. However, the atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater.

The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September. General Joseph Stilwell accepted the surrender in an area that would later become Kadena's Stearley Heights housing area.

Postwar Use

Known major USAAF/USAF units assigned to Kadena were:

• 319th Bombardment Group (Light) (July - November 1945)
• 317th Troop Carrier Group (August - September 1945)
• 333d Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) (August 1945 - May 1946)
• 346th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) (August 1945 - June 1946)
• 413th Fighter Group (November 1945 - January 1946)
• 6th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) (June 1947 - October 1948)
• 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (August 1948 - October 1948)
• 32d Composite Wing (August 1948 - April 1949)
• 6332d Air Base Group (April 1949 - January 1950)
  6332d Air Base Wing (January 1950 - May 1955)
• 19th Bombardment Group (Medium) (July 1950 - June 1953)
• 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing (November 1954 - Present)
• 313th Air Division (March 1955 - October 1991)
  Assumed responsibility for air defense of the Ryukyu Islands and tactical operations in the Far East, maintaining assigned forces at the highest possible degree of combat readiness. In addition, it supported Fifth Air Force in the development, planning, and coordination of requirements for future Air Force operations in the Ryukyu Islands. The division also supported numerous exercises such as Cope Thunder, Cope Diamond, Team Spirit, and Cope North.

• 6313th Air Base Wing (October 1957 - December 1964)
• 4252nd Strategic Wing (SAC) (January 1965 - April 1970)
• 376th Strategic Wing (SAC) (April 1970 - August 1973)

The 19th Bombardment Group arrived from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to fight in the Korean War. In August 1950, the 307th Bombardment Group arrived at Kadena from MacDill Air Force Base , Florida, adding to the base's growing bomber force.

When the Korean War ended, the B-29s departed and, by 1954, had been replaced with F-86 fighters. In March 1955, the 313th Air Division was activated at Kadena replacing 20th Air Force as the senior US Air Force organization in the Ryukyus. The Air Division was incorporated into the 18th Composite Wing in 1992.

During the Vietnam War Kadena acted as a host base for B-52s conducting Operation Arc Light and Operation Linebacker bombing missions in Southeast Asia, for A-12 and SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft, and for the KC-135 tankers which provided aerial refueling support for them. The deployment of the SR-71 was notable among local Okinawans, who coined it the Habu based on the similar color and profile of the aircraft to the local snake species. The nickname continues to remain popular among the SR-71 community.

Air traffic control

CLR	123.300	235.000
GND	118.500	275.800
TWR	126.200	236.600	315.800
APP/DEP(North)	119.100	335.800
APP/DEP(South）	126.500	258.300
18 WG COMD POST	311.000	355.200
AIRLIFT　COMD POST	128.000	349.400
PTD	131.400	266.000
BASE OPS	266.000
MET	344.600
ATIS	124.200	280.500

The U.S. air force (the 5th air force) takes charge of control.

In addition, the airspace control of Okinawa Island and the circumference of it are not under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but under the OKINAWA approach control (the common name is Kadena Rapcon(嘉手納ラプコン,Kadena rapukon)Radar APproach CONtrol) of U.S. air force in the Kadena base.

The management of control charge is due to be transferred to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the near future, and the air traffic controllers belonging to the ministry are training it towards change of jurisdiction as of December, 2006.

Beacon

Name	type	Call sign	Frequency	Operating time
Kadena	VOR	KAD	112.000	24hour
	TACAN	-	1018.000

The U.S. air force takes charge of maintenance.

See also

• United States Pacific Air Forces

References

This article incorporates information from the 18th Wing Public Affairs Office's and 18th Wing secure socketed Wing Staff page. Web site. [2]

External links and references

• Kadena's official site
• globalsecurity.org on Kadena
• 498th Tactical Missile Group at Kadena