Coordinates: 30°14′09″N 081°40′50″W / 30.23583°N 81.68056°W / 30.23583; -81.68056

NAS Jacksonville Towers Field
IATA: NIP – ICAO: KNIP – FAA LID: NIP
Summary
Airport type		Military: Naval Air Station
Operator		United States Navy
Location		Jacksonville, Florida
Built		October 15, 1940
Commander		Capt. John C. Scorby
Elevation AMSL		22 ft / 7 m
Website		www.nasjax.navy.mil
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
9/27	8,000	2,438	Asphalt
14/32	5,980	1,823	Asphalt
Sources: official site and FAA

Naval Air Station Jacksonville or NAS Jacksonville (IATA: NIP, ICAO: KNIP, FAA LID: NIP) is a military airport located four miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville. It is one of two naval bases (the other being Mayport Naval Station) located in Duval County, Florida, United States.

History

During World War I, the area now occupied by NAS Jax was named Camp Joseph E. Johnston, and was commissioned on October 15, 1917. The United States Army trained quartermasters and the center included more than 600 buildings. The second largest rifle range in the U.S. was constructed there, but the camp was decommissioned on May 16, 1919. The Florida National Guard began using the site in 1928 and it was renamed Camp J. Clifford R. Foster.

The first detail of Marines arrived from Parris Island, South Carolina on June 4, 1940 to secure the 3,250-acre (13 km) area. They set up a barracks in a former residence on Allegheny Rd. On October 15, 1940, Naval Air Station Jacksonville was officially commissioned, and became the first part of the Jacksonville Navy complex that would also include NAS Cecil Field and Naval Station Mayport. Captain Charles P. Mason raised his pennant as the station's first commanding officer.

Prior to the commissioning, on September 7, Commander Jimmy Grant became the first pilot to land on the still unfinished runway in his N3N-3 biplane. More than 10,000 pilots and 11,000 aircrewmen followed their lead to earn the wings of gold at the station during World War II.

Increased training and construction characterized Jacksonville’s response to America’s entry into World War II. Three runways over 6,000 feet long were operating, as were seaplane ramps. Overhaul and Repair facilities (what is the Naval Aviation Depot today) were built to rework the station's planes.

FAA Airport Diagram

More than 700 buildings sprung to life on the base before V-J (Victory over Japan) Day, including an 80 acre hospital and a prisoner-of-war compound which housed more than 1,500 German prisoners of war. Archbishop (later Cardinal) Francis J. Spellman dedicated the Catholic Chapel (St. Edward’s) at its Birmingham Avenue location on January 17, 1943. The chapel and other buildings constructed during the war years, intended for a life of only 20 years, are still in use.

During the late 1940’s the jet age was dawning and in 1948 the Navy’s first jet carrier air groups and squadrons came to Jacksonville. By April 1949, Jacksonville was the East Coast's plane capitol with more aircraft stationed here than at any other base from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean –60 percent of the fleet air striking force in the Atlantic area from pole to pole.

NAS Jacksonville was growing. Fleet Air Wing Eleven had just made its move to the base, bringing with it VP-3 from Coco Solo, Panama and VP-5 from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The now famous Blue Angels, who had called NAS Jacksonville home but moved to NAS Corpus Christi in the late 1940’s, performed a last air show at the station on April 29, 1950, before forming a nucleus of an operational squadron (Satan’s Kittens) which was assigned to combat in Korea. The "Blues" would not return to the station for more than two years. The Naval Air Technical Training Center was reactivated and included nine different schools.

Aerial view of NAS Jacksonville in the mid-1940s

In the mid-fifties, an air traffic control center for joint use by the Navy, Air Force, and Civil Aeronautics Administration was approved and completed at a cost of $325,000. Major changes also occurred as parking ramps were added to the land plane hangars and a 1,231-foot (375 m)-long taxiway was built.

By the mid-1950s, with the station's continuing growth, the Navy was having a tremendous impact on the economic growth in the Jacksonville area. The station had over 11,000 military assigned, along with 5,000 civilians, and a payroll of more than $35 million.

In 1973, with the assignment of Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One, the station’s primary mission became antisubmarine warfare. Accompanying the wing were five helicopter squadrons which are still based here today. With the new wings and squadrons, opportunities grew for sea and shore assignment to NAS Jacksonville. The station's popularity grew and it became the most requested duty station for Sailors throughout the Navy.

A piece of history and Navy tradition was lost in 1986 when the last unit of Marines left the base. Marine Barracks Jacksonville had been one of the first groups to arrive at the base in 1940, but left due to mission realignments and a reduction in Marines authorized for Marine Corps Security Force duties at U.S. Naval installations.

Current operations

Naval Air Reserve Training Unit hangar 113 in 1958

Today, 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel are employed on the base. The installation is considered to be one of the hubs for naval activity in the U.S. South. Other U.S. Navy Bases in the area include Naval Station Mayport, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia, Naval Outlying Landing Field Whitehouse, and the now closed Naval Air Station Cecil Field.

In addition to the many operational squadrons aboard, NAS Jacksonville is home to Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), the Navy's largest aviation squadron and the only P-3C "Orion" Fleet Replacement Squadron that prepares and trains U.S. and NATO/Allied pilots, air crew and maintenance personnel for further operational assignments. NAS Jacksonville is also an Aviation Maintenance training facility for several aviation rates, facilitated by Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville.

Support facilities include an airfield for pilot training, a maintenance depot employing more than 150 different trade skills capable of performing maintenance as basic as changing a tire to intricate micro-electronics or total engine disassembly, a Naval Hospital, a Fleet Industrial Supply Center, a Navy Family Service Center, and recreational facilities for the single sailor or the entire family.

Tenant Commands

A P-3C Orion from VP-5.

Aviation Units

• Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11
  • Patrol Squadron 5
  • Patrol Squadron 16
  • [Patrol Squadron 8]
  • [Patrol Squadron 10]
  • Patrol Squadron 30
  • Patrol Squadron 45
  • Patrol Squadron 62
• Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Detachment Jacksonville
  • Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 3
  • Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 5
  • Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 7
  • Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 11
  • Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 15

Shore Commands

• Commander, Naval Region Southeast
• Commander, Naval Reserve Readiness Command Region Eight

*Fleet Area Control & Surveillance Facility Jacksonville

• Fleet Readiness Center Southeast
• Transient Personnel Unit
• Fleet & Industrial Supply Center Jacksonville
• Naval Air Reserve / Navy Operational Support Center
• Naval Aviation Forecast Component Jacksonville
• Naval Computer & Telecommunications Station
• Naval Mobile Construction Battallion 14
• Naval Supply Center Jacksonville
• Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville
• NAVFAC Southeast Headquarters

Runway Information

Runway 09/27

Runway 14/32

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

• JASU: 1(NCPP-105) 2(NC-8)
• FUEL: J5
• FLUID: SP LHOX LOX- REQ 48 HR PPR. AVBL 1045-0100Z++ MON-FRI; 1400-2100Z++ SAT AND SUN; NOT AVBL HOL, CTC TRANS ALERT DSN 942-3843, C904-542-2843 FOR PPR.
• TRAN ALERT: LTD TRAN MAINT AND SVC AVBL DUR NML WORKING HR, EXP 2 HR FUEL DELAY.
• RSTD: OPR 24 HRS EXC HOL. CTC BASE OPS DSN 942-2511, C904-542-2511 FOR HOL CLOSURE. TRAN JET ACFT VFR TOUCH AND GO NA. ALL ACFT, CTC BASEOPS 310.2, 134.775 15 MIN PRIOR TO LNDG. RY 09-27 CLSD 0900-1300Z++ TUE FOR CNTRLN LGT MAINT. RY 14 AVBL FOR ARR F/W CAT A AND R/W ACFT.
• CAUTION: COPTER LDG SPOTS ON TWY THROATS BTN RWY 9-27/PARL TWY. MAT AREAS BTN RWY TWY UNSAFE FOR ACFT USE. EXER EXTREME VIGILANCE DUR IFR APCH RWY 09 IN VMC DUE TO GENERAL AVIATION ACFT VICINITY CECIL FLD.
• CAUTION: BIRD HAZ. GLIDER OPR TO 6000' DUR DAYLT HR VCNTY HERLONG ARPT 7 NM NW. UNSHIELDED LGT AT BALLFIELD NIP 216/2.4 NM ON RWY 09 APCH.
• RSTD: AFLD CLSD 2ND WED OF EV MONTH FOR FOD WALKDOWN FR 1130-1245Z++. 48 HR PPR NTC REQ EXC AIREVAC, JOSAC, NALO, AND LIFEFLTS, CTC BASEOPS DSN 942-5211, C904-542-2511. BOQ DSN 942-3138/3427/3139.
• NS ABTMT: FINAL LDG ONLY DUE TO NS ABTMT 0300-1200Z++ AND 1300-1700Z++ SUN.
• CSTMS/AG/IMG: ACFT RQR INSPECTION PLAN ARR BTN 1200-2100Z++ MON-FRI. NO INSPECTION OUTSIDE PUBL HR.
• MISC: VIP ACFT CTC BASE OPS PRIOR LDG.

Jacksonville Naval Air Station /towers Field/ Airport  

Address: Duval County, FL

Tel:

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http://www.airport-data.com/airport/NIP/

We thank them for the data!

General Info
Country	United States
State	FLORIDA
FAA ID	NIP
Latitude	30-14-04.864N
Longitude	081-40-35.341W
Elevation	22 feet
Near City	JACKSONVILLE

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