NAF Atsugi

NAF Atsugi is a joint Japan-United States naval air base located in Yamato and Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy constructed the facility in 1938 to house the 302nd Kokutai. On August 30, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur arrived at the airfield to accept Japan’s surrender. Following the war, the base housed United States Army Air Forces units until 1946. United States Navy Seabees refurbished the facility in 1950 for the Korean War, after which it was commissioned as Naval Air Station Atsugi. The base supported operations during the Vietnam War and became a shared facility with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in 1972.

The base is operated by the JMSDF Fleet Air Force and U.S. Navy Region Japan. JMSDF units include Headquarters Fleet Air Force, Fleet Air Wing 4, Air Patrol Squadron 3, and Air Transport Squadron 61. United States Navy tenant commands include Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 51 (HSM-51), which provides MH-60R detachments for vessels at Yokosuka Naval Base. The base also hosts helicopter squadrons from Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), including HSM-77 and HSC-12, as well as Fleet Readiness Center Western Pacific and a Fleet Logistics Support Wing detachment.

Infrastructure at the base supports various fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. JMSDF inventory includes P-1 and P-3C Orion patrol aircraft, C-130R Hercules transports, and LC-90 aircraft. United States Navy aircraft stationed at the facility include MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawks and C-40 transports. The base also hosts JMSDF Air Development Squadron 51, which operates multiple variants of the P-1, P-3, and SH-60 platforms.

Between 2017 and 2018, the fixed-wing squadrons of CVW-5—comprising F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, and C-2A Greyhounds—relocated to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. This move left only the wing’s helicopter squadrons at Atsugi. In 2011, base personnel supported relief efforts for Operation Tomodachi following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In late 2017, a detachment of V-22 Osprey aircraft deployed to the base to provide logistical support for the USS Ronald Reagan. Local litigation regarding aircraft noise has occurred periodically since 1976, resulting in several court-ordered compensation payments to residents of surrounding cities.