Naval Air Facility Washington or NAF Washington is a

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sel ...

installation located near Camp Springs,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

in the

United States of America 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 territo ...

. The facility was established at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Bas ...

in 1958. As part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) programme, it merged with

in 2009, to create Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington.

History

Establishment

In 1958 when airspace around

Naval Air Station Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is na ...

in Washington, D.C became too crowded and Anacostia's runways were deemed too short, the naval air activities were moved to

to facilitate jet operations with a detachment of T-2V SeaStar jet trainers. An

A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed ...

became the last jet aircraft to fly out of NAS Anacostia on 25 January 1962 with the transfer to Andrews AFB being complete in December 1961. Captain Frank D. Heyer transferred his command from Anacostia to Andrews, concurrent with the commissioning of the new Naval Air Facility (NAF), Washington D.C.

Cold War

Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Navy and Marine Reservists flew the AD-5 Skyraider, FJ-4B Fury, F-8U Crusader, RF-8G Photo Crusader,

C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

and

C-118 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...

cargo aircraft, SP-2 Neptune aircraft and a variety of others. Tenant squadrons to the NAF at that time included VR-661/662, VF-661/662, VP-661/662/663, and VS-661/662. Prior to 1970, NAF Washington was custodian to all aircraft at the facility. This 'aircraft custodian' practice, common throughout the Naval Air Reserve, required tenant squadrons to "rent" the aircraft from the NAF on their respective drill weekends. Maintenance and flying responsibilities of NAF aircraft were shared by all Reserve squadrons (including Marine units). In April 1972, the Naval Air Reserve was reorganized into two tactical carrier wings ( CVW-20 and CVW-30) with supporting transport and patrol squadrons. With this reorganization, squadrons became custodians of their own aircraft and the NAF was assigned aircraft for utility and training purposes with their primary mission of training Selected Reservists. NAF became home to

VFP-206 VFP-206 was a Light Photographic Squadron of the United States Navy Reserve established on 1 June 1970. The squadron was disestablished on 29 March 1987. Operational history 1970's to Disestablishment VFP-206 would be the last US Navy unit to ...

VFP-306 VFP-306 was a Light Photographic Squadron of the United States Navy Reserve established on 1 June 1970. The squadron was disestablished on 30 September 1984. Operational history . Home port assignments NAF Washington Aircraft assignment * RF-8 ...

, VR-52,

VP-68 VP-68 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy Reserve. The squadron was established on 1 November 1970 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Its home port moved to Naval Air Facility Washington in 1985. The squadron was disestablished on 16 January 199 ...

and 20 other tactical and non-tactical units. From 1976, the logistics support mission of NAF Washington included administrative transport flight operations and transient service support of arriving aircraft. On 1 May 1978, NAF Washington was transferred to Commander, Navy Reserve Force. It accepted its first UC-12B on 25 July 25 1981. In 1989, the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

signed a new 25 year permit granting NAF Washington continued use of land on Andrews AFB. In 1991, for the first time since the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, NAF Reservists were recalled to active duty in support of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

Post-Cold War

At the start of 1993, NAF Washington D.C. Air Reservists continued to support naval activities with VMFA-321 flying the

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now pa ...

flying the

P-3C Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.Military installations in Maryland Aviation in Maryland Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...