Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
San Diego, California in the United States
	An aerial view of MCAS Miramar during 2008
Site information
Type	Marine Corps Air Station
Owner	Department of Defense
Operator	US Marine Corps
Controlled by	3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Condition	Operational
Website	www.miramar.marines.mil
Location
	MCAS Miramar Location in the United States
Coordinates	32°52′04″N 117°08′30″W / 32.86778°N 117.14167°W
Site history
Built	1917 (as Camp Kearny)
In use	1917 – 1920; 1929 – present
Garrison information
Current; commander	Colonel R. Erik Herrmann
Garrison	Marine Aircraft Group 11; Marine Aircraft Group 16; Marine Air Control Group 38;
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: NKX, ICAO: KNKX, FAA LID: NKX, WMO: 722930
Elevation	145.3 metres (477 ft) AMSL
Runways
6L/24R	3,657.6 metres (12,000 ft) concrete
6R/24L	2,438.7 metres (8,001 ft) porous European mix
Helicopter strip (LHD)	304.8 metres (1,000 ft)
Helipads
1	30 metres (98 ft)
2	30 metres (98 ft)
3	30 metres (98 ft)
4	38 metres (125 ft)
5	38 metres (125 ft)
	Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) (IATA: NKX, ICAO: KNKX, FAA LID: NKX) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a community of San Diego, California, about 14 miles (23 km) north of downtown San Diego.

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".