Naha Air Base

Naha Air Base
PACAF 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-102 interceptors on the flight line, 1966
IATA: OKA ICAO: ROAH
Summary
Airport type	Military
Serves	Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Elevation AMSL	11 ft / 3 m
Coordinates	26°11′45″N 127°38′45″E / 26.19583°N 127.64583°E / 26.19583; 127.64583Coordinates: 26°11′45″N 127°38′45″E / 26.19583°N 127.64583°E / 26.19583; 127.64583
Map
ROAH Location in Japan
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 18/36 3,000 9,843 Asphalt
Source: Japanese AIP at AIS Japan

Naha Air Base (那覇基地, Naha Kichi^?), formally known as the Kōkū Jieitai Naha Kichi (航空自衛隊那覇基地^?), is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force formerly under control of the United States Air Force. It is located at Naha Airport on the Oroku Peninsula in Naha, Okinawa, Japan.

Naha Airfield was constructed in 1933 as Oroku Naval Air Base, an air base of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). In 1936 control of the air base was transferred to the Japanese Ministry of Communications and formally renamed Naha Airfield. In 1942 control of the air base again reverted to the IJN, which reverted the name of the installation to Oroku Naval Air Base. The facility was captured by the United States during World War II in the Battle of Okinawa on April 1, 1945.

After World War II the installation became a major United States Air Force (USAF) base under the operational control of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), and was known as Naha Air Base (Naha AB). The installation became a joint military-civilian air field in 1954 with the resumption of civilian air service between Tokyo and Okinawa. The USAF ended its use of Naha AB on 31 May 1971 and control of civil aviation was transferred to the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, which established Naha Airport on the site; control of the military air field was officially transferred to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force in 1979. As of 2015^[update], "Lt. Colonel George W. Mickey, the last US Military Base Commander at Naha AB.