Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) (IATA: NKX, ICAO: KNKX, FAA LID: NKX), formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, San Diego, California, about 14 miles (23 km) north of Downtown San Diego.
| Marine Corps Air Station Miramar | |||||||||||||||
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Mitscher Field | |||||||||||||||
| San Diego, California in the United States | |||||||||||||||
An aerial view of MCAS Miramar during 2008 | |||||||||||||||
MCAS Miramar Location in the United States | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°52′04″N 117°08′30″W | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Marine Corps Air Station | ||||||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | US Marine Corps | ||||||||||||||
| Controlled by | 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing | ||||||||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||||||
| Built | 1917 (as Camp Kearny) | ||||||||||||||
| In use | 1917 – 1920 1929 – present | ||||||||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||||||||
| Current commander | Colonel Thomas M. Bedell | ||||||||||||||
| Garrison | |||||||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: NKX, ICAO: KNKX, FAA LID: NKX, WMO: 722930 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 145.3 metres (477 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||||||
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| Source: Federal Aviation Administration | |||||||||||||||
The airfield has been named Mitscher Field since 1955, after Admiral M.A. Mitscher, who was the commander of Task Force 58 during World War II. The air station is the former location of Pacific Fleet fighter and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, E-2 Hawkeye) and is best known as the former location of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), its TOPGUN training program and the movie of the same name. In 1996, NFWS was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in western Nevada, 60 miles east of Reno, and merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC). During the heyday of TOPGUN at NAS Miramar, the station was nicknamed " Fightertown USA".