Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, home of the Marine Corps'
Atlantic Coast fixed-wing, fighter-attack aircraft assets, is
located in the heart of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Marine
Corps Air Station Beaufort is among the United States military's
most important and most historically colorful installations.
Consisting of some 6,900 acres 70 miles southwest of Charleston,
South Carolina on Highway 21, the installation is home to seven
Marine Corps F/A- 18 squadrons. Two additional Navy F/A-18
squadrons joined the Fightertown community in March 2000,
strengthening the installation's economic contribution to the local
area. Three versions of the F/A-18 Hornet are found aboard MCAS
Beaufort, the F/A-18 Hornet A/Cs and the F/A-18 D.
A Proud Tradition
The acreage occupied by the Air Station was formerly the site of
several prominent Lowcountry plantations, including the Clarendon
and Edgerly, Bull and Deveaux plantations. In 1779, during the
Revolutionary War, British troops landed at what is now the Laurel
Bay Housing area and battled American revolutionary troops at
Gray's Hill. The Beaufort area was also a staging area for both
Confederate and Union troops during the civil war and elaborate
plantation homes still line Bay Street, overlooking the Beaufort
River.
By June 15, 1943, the Civil Aeronautics Authority established Naval
Air Station Beaufort as an auxiliary air station which supported
advanced training of anti-submarine patrol squadrons which ensured
the security of shipping along the Eastern seaboard.
Today
Currently, the Fightertown family consists of more than 700
Marines and Sailors along with 600 civilian personnel who ensure
approximately 3,400 personnel of Marine Air Group 31 and its
component squadrons and tenant units are readily deployable.
Fightertown's Hornet squadrons rotate overseas regularly, either
for deployments to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, for six month
Western Pacific deployments or aboard Navy aircraft carriers. At
any given time up to half the squadrons may be found at various
points around the globe, and are routinely called into action when
the Commander in Chief requires airborne strikes or support for
ground forces.
On the home front, the installation has weathered installation
closures in the post-cold War, and with the recognition of the
growing role of air power in conflicts in the developing world.
For more information about MCAS Beaufort please visit
https://www.beaufort.usmc.mil/
