Metabaru Air Field (目達原飛行場 (Metabaru Hikōjō))
Summary
| Operating Country | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Location | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | ◉ Active |
| Usage | Military only |
| Year built | 1943 |
| Operating Organization | Japan Ground Self-Defense Force |
| Units |
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Description
Metabaru Air Field is a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) aerodrome located at JGSDF Camp Metabaru in Yoshinogari, Saga Prefecture. The facility was established in 1943 as a branch of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service Tachiarai Training School, where it functioned as a training site for pilots assigned to Special Attack Units. Following the establishment of the JGSDF, the location became a supply depot in 1954. The 4th Air Corps relocated to the base from Ozuki Garrison in 1956 and was subsequently redesignated as the 4th Squadron, a subordinate unit of the Western Air Corps, in 1962.
Current operations at the installation are conducted by the Western Helicopter Squadron, established in 1968, and the 3rd Anti-Tank Helicopter Squadron, established in 1990. The 3rd Anti-Tank Helicopter Squadron operates AH-64D Apache helicopters, which were introduced to the unit in 2010.
In February 2018, an AH-64D Apache based at Metabaru crashed in a residential area of Kanzaki, Saga. The incident resulted in the fatalities of both crew members, an injury to a civilian, and the destruction of a residential structure.