Atsugi, Kanagawa

Atsugi (厚木市, Atsugi-shi) is a city located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 224,462 and a population density of 2,390 persons per km². The total area is 93.83 km².

While the name “Atsugi” is often associated with the United States Navy base at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, the base is actually not in Atsugi, but straddles the border between the nearby cities of Ayase and Yamato.

Geography

Atsugi is located in the hilly center of Kanagawa Prefecture. Parts of the western portion of the city are within the Tanzawa-Ōyama Quasi-National Park and include Mount Ōyama

Surrounding municipalities

History

Naval Air Facility Atsugi

Naval Air Facility Atsugi (厚木海軍飛行場, Atsugi Kaigun-hikōjō) (IATA: NJA, ICAO: RJTA) is a naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy air base in the Pacific Ocean and houses the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 5, which deploys with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). Service members stationed at Atsugi also work in conjunction with the Kamiseya Naval Radio Receiving Facility.

CVW-5 shares the base with the Headquarters Fleet Air Force and Fleet Air Wing 4, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. NAF Atsugi is also home to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 51 (HSM-51), which provides detachments of SH-60B LAMPS Mk III helicopters and MH-60R helicopters to forward deployed U.S. Navy guided missile cruisers, guided missile destroyers and frigates homeported at nearby Naval Base Yokosuka.

Despite its name, the base is 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) east northeast from the city of Atsugi, and is not adjacent to the city.

Naval air station

A naval air station is a military airbase, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are populated by squadrons and their support commands.

The term "Naval Air Station" is used by many countries' navies, such as the United States Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the British Royal Navy, and the Indian Navy.

Argentine Navy

The Argentine Naval Aviation operates four Base Aeronaval (BAN): from BAN Punta Indio (BAPI) in Buenos Aires Province through BAN Comandante Espora (BACE) and BAN Almirante Zar (BAAZ) in Patagonia to BAN Almirante Quijada (BARD) at Tierra del Fuego. Runways also serve domestic airlines at almost all Argentine military airbases. The Navy operates Estacion Aeronaval (EAN) (stations) which have smaller crews and are not normally assigned aircraft. These include Ezeiza, Rio Gallegos and Ushuaia.

The Argentine Naval Prefecture, serving as a Coast Guard, also operates air stations at Posadas, Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata and Comodoro Rivadavia. Aircraft operating out of these bases are heavily involved in sea rescues.