Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
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 / 32.86778°N 117.14167°W / 32.86778; -117.14167
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.miramar.marines.mil
Site history
Built	1917 (1917) (as Camp Kearny)
In use	1917 – 1920 1929 – present
Garrison information
Current commander	Colonel Thomas M. Bedell
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 Direction Length and surface 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 Number Length and surface 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[1]

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.

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.^[2] 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".^[3][4]