Metabaru Air Field

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.