North Air Force Auxiliary Airfield is a military

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

located east of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

, a town in

Orangeburg County Orangeburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,501. Its county seat is Orangeburg. The county was created in 1769. Orangeburg County comprises the Orangeburg, SC Microp ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.North Auxiliary Airfield
at Charleston AFB website, effective 2007-12-20 It is owned by the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and is used primarily for

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...

training by the 437th Airlift Wing (437 AW) and its Air Force Reserve "Associate" unit, the

315th Airlift Wing The 315th Airlift Wing (315 AW) is a wing of the United States Air Force Reserve. It is stationed at Joint Base Charleston, in the city of North Charleston, South Carolina, and operates the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. If mobilized, the u ...

(315 AW), at

Joint Base Charleston Joint Base Charleston is a United States military facility located partly in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina and partly in the City of Goose Creek, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Forc ...

. Other units can utilize North with prior coordination with the

628th Air Base Wing The United States Air Force's 628th Air Base Wing is an administrative unit located at Joint Base Charleston, in North Charleston, South Carolina. The 628 ABW was activated on 8 January 2010 as Charleston Air Force Base was merged with Naval Weap ...

(628 ABW). The 628th Civil Engineering Squadron (628 CES) of the 628 ABWW at Charleston AFB maintains a detachment to maintain and operate the airfield.

Facilities

North Auxiliary Airfield covers an area of , of which are undeveloped. It contains two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

paved

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: the main runway (6/24) measuring 10,000 x 150 ft (3,048 x 46 m) and an asphalt runway (5/23) measuring 3,500 x 90 ft (1,067 x 27 m).

History

North Auxiliary Airfield - South Carolina

The land for North Army Airfield was bought between 1942 and 1945. The airfield was built by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

The original dirt runway was constructed in April 1943 and used by

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other produ ...

for testing, as well as being a satellite airfield of

Columbia Army Air Base Columbia Army Air Base was a World War II United States Army Air Forces base. It was primarily used for advanced combat training of B-25 Mitchell medium bomber units and replacement pilots. It was used as a training base in early 1942 for Doo ...

, supporting

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

medium bomber training for

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...

III Air Support Command The III Tactical Air Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. It was disbanded on 24 October 1945. The command was established in 1941 as the 3rd ...

. Training was accomplished by 74th Station Complement Squadron which also maintained the facility. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a 10,000 ft runway and a 3,000 ft assault runway were built. North Airfield (later North Auxiliary Airfield, Northfield Air Base), has been under the jurisdiction of Fort Jackson, the former

363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing The 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing (363 ISRW) is a United States Air Force unit. The group is assigned to the United States Air Force Sixteenth Air Force, stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. The mission ...

Shaw AFB Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...

, and the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

(DOE). On 1 October 1979, the 437th Airlift Wing at

Charleston AFB Charleston Air Force Base is a United States military facility located in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force's 628th Air Base Wing (628 ABW), a subordinate element ...

assumed real property jurisdiction, control, and accountability over North Field. With the transition of the 437th Airlift Wing and

512th Airlift Wing The 512th Airlift Wing, an associate Air Force Reserve Command unit is located at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The wing helps maintain, repair and fly the same aircraft as its active-duty counterparts. Members of the 512th work side-by-side w ...

(Associate) to the

, an air traffic control tower and permanent aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) station was constructed at North Auxiliary Airfield, establishing it as a controlled versus uncontrolled airport.

References

External links

North Auxiliary Airfield
from Joint Base Charleston website *

{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II Installations of the United States Air Force in South Carolina 1942 establishments in South Carolina Airports established in 1942 Airports in South Carolina Orangeburg County, South Carolina Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in South Carolina Buildings and structures in Orangeburg County, South Carolina

Facilities

History

See also

References

External links