Yokota Air Base

is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo.

It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa.

The base houses about 14,000 personnel. It occupies a total area of and has a runway.

It features the JASDF Air Defense Command Headquarters (ADC headquarters) since 26 March 2012. The headquarters of United States Forces Japan is also located there. Other base facilities are the broadcast center for the American Forces Network Tokyo radio service and a detachment of Pacific Air Forces' Band of the Pacific.

History Tama Airfield The facility that houses Yokota Air Base was built during World War II by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in 1940. It became the center of Japanese Army Air Forces flight test activities. The base was also the site of the first meeting between Japanese officials and their Italian wartime allies.

Tama was first spotted by the United States Army Air Forces in November 1944 by a 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron F-13 Superfortress photo-reconnaissance aircraft, flying from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. USAAF intelligence connected it with the aircraft manufacturing plant of Nakajima Aircraft Company in the nearby town of Musashino. Along with Tachikawa Air Base to the east and the factory of Showa Aircraft Industry to the south, it was compared to the USAAF's own aircraft-development complex at Wright-Patterson Field in Ohio. The two bases conducted all IJA flight testing. In spring 1945, XXI Bomber Command launched eight missions against the base and the aircraft manufacturing plant, but each time heavy clouds forced the bombers to attack secondary targets. The Nakajima plant was finally attacked in April 1945, but the Tama airfield never was bombed.

Postwar years Two days after the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, a detachment of the United States Army 1st Cavalry Division arrived at the base. The airfield's buildings were largely intact, and some 280 of the IJA's most modern aircraft were discovered in hangars.

The 1st Cavalry named the facility Fussa Army Airfield, then at the end of September renamed it Yokota Army Airfield after a nearby village (now incorporated in Musashimurayama) that appeared on a 1944 US map.

The name was to have been changed to Wilkins Army Air Base (WAAB) after Medal of Honor recipient Raymond "Ray" Wilkins, but orders for this never arrived. Still, some metal manhole covers stamped "WAAB" remained in use around the base in 2017.

The USAAF initially used the base for airlift operations. The 2d Combat Cargo Group arrived with four C-47 Skytrain squadrons. The runway deteriorated under heavy use and was repaired. Yokota supported operations of the A-26 Invader-equipped 3d Bombardment Group by August 1946.

When the USAAF became the USAF in 1947, it was renamed Yokota Air Base. More construction during the 1940s and 1950s brought the base to its current size around 1960.

On the occasion of extension, the course of Hachiko Line and National Route 16 was changed, and Itsukaichi Kaidō was divided.

During the postwar occupation years, Yokota hosted these USAAF/USAF units:

20th Combat Mapping Group (October 1945 – April 1946) (F-7 Liberator) 8th Reconnaissance Group (June 1946 – October 1947) (F-7) 71st Reconnaissance Group (February 1947 – April 1949) (RB-17, RB-29, RF-51, RF-61 and RF-80)

These units performed photographic reconnaissance and mapping of Japan and South Korea.

6th Night Fighter Squadron (1946–47) (P-61A/B)Inactivated and personnel, mission and equipment transferred to 339th Fighter Squadron (347th Fighter Group) with F-82F/G Twin Mustangs at Nagoya Air Base. 82nd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (1947–48) (FP-80) 3d Emergency Rescue Squadron (July 1947 – April 1950) (SB-17G)Flew modified B-17G bombers equipped to carry a 27-foot A-1 lifeboat under their bellies; the boat could be dropped by parachute with enough food, water, and clothing to enable 12 survivors to last for about 20 days in the ocean.

Korean War During the Korean War, Yokota was used for combat missions over North and South Korea. Known units based there were:

Fighter units 27th Fighter-Escort Wing (November – December 1950)Flew F-84E Thunderjets on armed reconnaissance, interdiction, fighter escort, and close air support missions. 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (April - August 1950)Flew F-80Cs on air defense missions. 339th Fighter Squadron (April – August 1950)Attached to 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing and flew F-82F/G Twin Mustang missions over South Korea during the first few months of hostilities. Bombardment units 92d Bombardment Group (325th, 326th and 327th Bombardment Squadrons) (July – October 1950)Deployed squadrons from Spokane Army Airfield, Washington. Flew B-29 Bombing missions over North Korea. 98th Bombardment Wing (343d, 344th and 345th Bomb Squadrons) (August 1950 – July 1954)Group, then Wing deployed from Spokane Army Airfield. Flew B-29 Bombing missions over North Korea. Two days after arriving at Yokota, the squadrons conducted a bomb mission against marshalling yards at Pyongyang, North Korea. The 98th BG engaged primarily in interdiction of enemy communications centers but also supported UN ground forces. Interdiction targets included marshalling yards, oil centers, rail facilities, bridges, roads, troop concentrations, airfields, and military installations. Reconnaissance units 31st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron Photographic (July–August 1950)Flew combat missions to provide FEAF (Far East Air Forces) Bomber Command with target and bomb-damage assessment photography. 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium, Photographic (December 1950 – December 1954)Assigned to 407th Strategic Fighter Wing (1953–54)Absorbed the personnel and resources of the 31st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron in Japan. Using RB-29, RB-45, RB-50 and RB-36 aircraft, it performed target and bomb-damage assessment photo and visual reconnaissance for FEAF Bomber Command, flew other special photographic missions, and conducted electronic "ferret" reconnaissance to determine frequency, location, and other characteristics of enemy ground radar. The squadron also performed shipping surveillance over the Sea of Japan near the Siberian coast and leaflet drops over North Korea. Beginning in late 1952, rotating aircrews of the Philippine-based 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing augmented the 91st SRS in flying leaflet missions. 512th Bombardment Squadron (January – August 1950)Operated the B/RB/WB-29 aircraft and flew weather reconnaissance missions. 56th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (September 1951 – July 1972)Replaced the 512th Bomb Squadron in their weather reconnaissance mission. They operated WB-29, WB-50, WC-135B and RB-57 aircraft used to sample airborne nuclear debris as well as weather patterns in the Pacific.

Cold War With the Korean War reaching an armistice in July 1953, Yokota Air Base returned to a peacetime Cold War status. Two major wings were stationed at the base during the 1950s, the 67th Reconnaissance Wing (1956–60) flying RF-80s, RF-84s and lastly RF-101s. The 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (1954–57) flew F-86 Sabres from the base. A Tactical Air Command (TAC) air refueling unit, the 421st Air Refueling Squadron flew KB-29s, and later KB-50Js from Yokota from 1953 to 1965. All of these units were under the command of the 41st Air Division.

The 35th TFW was reassigned in 1957 and the 67th TRW in 1960. Defense budget restrictions in the late 1950s caused several PACAF wings based in Japan to be reassigned or inactivated. These tactical fighter units were replaced by the B-57 equipped 3rd Bombardment Wing where it trained in bombardment, reconnaissance and aerial refueling operations. The Air Defense Command 40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (December 1961 – May 1962) equipped with the F-102 Delta Dagger performing an air defense mission.

The 6102d Air Base Wing assumed host unit status for the base, being replaced by the 441st Combat Support Group in 1964.

The Vietnam War resulted in an increased combat and airlift aircraft presence at the base. Yokota was used for ferrying B-52 Stratofortresses to Southeast Asia along with being a base for US-based deployed F-105 Thunderchief 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The 610th Military Airlift Support Squadron (1966–78) was created by Military Airlift Command (MAC) to service the large increase in transiting airlift. The 65th Military Airlift Support Group (1969–71) was a headquarters organization for MAC airlift support squadrons in the Pacific and Far East.

The F-105 squadrons deployed frequently to USAF-operated bases in Thailand to fly combat missions over North and South Vietnam, and to South Korea for alert missions. Initially the fighter squadrons were under the command of the 41st Air Division, but was reassigned shortly after to the 6441st Tactical Fighter Wing, activated in April 1965 to control the F-105 squadrons after their parent organization, the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, relocated to George Air Force Base, California to become an F-4 Phantom II unit. With the reassignment of the 347th Fighter Wing to Yokota in 1968, the 347th assumed responsibility for all tactical fighters until its reassignment to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea in March 1971.

In 1971, all combat squadrons were transferred to Kadena and Misawa Air Base and Yokota became a Host station as the 475th Air Base Wing. The 475th had no numbered flying squadrons, but operated a three T-39A Saberliners and two UH-1N helicopters (operating as The Orient Express), along with supporting transient MAC cargo and passenger aircraft. Assigned flying squadrons returned to Yokota in 1975 when the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron was assigned with its C-130Es.

Headquarters, Fifth Air Force was transferred to Yokota on 11 November 1974 from Fuchū Air Base, Japan.

Post-Cold War In 2005, the Japanese government announced that the headquarters of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Air Defense Command would be moved to Yokota.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has advocated opening Yokota to civilian flights as a method of relieving traffic at Haneda and Narita Airport. Governor Shintaro Ishihara raised the joint-use proposal during the 2003 gubernatorial election, and Governor Naoki Inose made comments in 2013 that suggested joint use as a possible solution to cope with visitor demand during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. A broad agreement on civil-military use of the base was agreed on in 2005.

In November 2009, the base was attacked by Kakurōkyō members using improvised mortar barrages.Japanese police raid operational bases of anti-U.S. military group – Japan – Stripes

In April 2010 Colonel Frank Eppich, the USAF commander of base, banned screenings of the film The Cove at the base theater. A base spokesman said that The Cove was banned because using a base venue to display the film could be seen as an endorsement of the film. The spokesman added, "We have a lot of issues with Japan... and anything done on an American base would be seen as an approval of that event."Harnell, Boyd, "Yokota base bans 'Cove' to be neutral", Japan Times, 13 April 2010, p. 1.

Personnel and aircraft from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents. The base also served as an important hub for airlifted assistance during the disaster recovery efforts. During the crisis, around 600 American family members voluntarily departed the base for locations outside Japan.Reed, Charlie, "Military wraps up first round of departures from Japan ", Stars and Stripes, 25 March 2011, retrieved 28 March 2011.

On 21 March 2012 JASDF units completed moving from Fuchū Air Base (Tokyo). On 26 March, JASDF Yokota Air Base started operations.