Eareckson Air Station (SYA/PASY)

Russia / Kamcatka / Nikolskoye /
 airport, military airbase, United States Air Force
 Upload a photo
Eareckson Air Station is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. Established in May of 1943 as a forward operating base for long-range bomber aircraft of the US Army Air Force to conduct bombing missions on Japanese positions in the Kurile Islands, the base was heavily utilized until war's end, with the present-day runway being added to the airfield to support the operations a planned squadron of B-29 Superfortresses flying missions against mainland Japan as part of Operation Downfall.

Largely idled and abandoned postwar, the airfield was given a second life by the rapidly intensifying Cold War, which made the isolated outpost a frontline location. Modernized and expanded to its current layout to serve the needs of MATS transports during the Korean War, the base was briefly operated exclusively by Northwest Airlines as a refueling station for passenger flights. Returned to USAF ownership in the late 1950's, the airfield became a major Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome and also became home to several dedicated reconnaissance RC-135 "Rivet" aircraft which SAC used to monitor Soviet missile testing taking place on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Re-designated from an Air Force Station to an Air Force Base on 21 June 1968, the 9th Air Division assumed jurisdiction of the base and the island became home to several dedicated surveillance and satellite tracking facilities operated by USAF Surveillance Squadrons. Chief among these was the 1973 addition of the massive COBRA DANE monitoring site on the islands Northwest coast, which went operational in August of 1977 and has been continuously used to gather intelligence and monitor Soviet/Russian compliance of the SALT II arms limitation agreement.

Following the end of the Cold War, the station was drawn down in size and operations before being officially being closed as an active Air Force Base on 1 July 1994. Resuming the role of an Air Force Station, the facility is operated by the USAF and maintained by the 611th Air Support Squadron out of Elmendorf AFB. The airfield sees regular use as a refueling station for military flights and is a FAA designated emergency landing site for commercial aircraft.

airnav.com/airport/PASY
flightaware.com/live/airport/PASY
www.jber.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?...
www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/shemya-homepage.htm
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eareckson_Air_Station
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   52°42'52"N   174°6'52"E

Comments

  • Eareckson Air Station (IATA: SYA, ICAO: PASY) is a military airbase located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. It was Shemya Army Air Base during WW II. The base was redesignated to Shemya Air Force Base on March 26, 1948, by Department of the Air Force General Order No. 10. In 1954 the base was named Shemya Airport. It was redesignated Shemya Air Force Station on January 1, 1959, by DAF GO 4 of January 20, 1959. The base was redesignated Shemya AFB in 1968. On May 19, 1993, it was renamed Eareckson Air Force Station to honor Col. William O. Eareckson, an exceptional Army Air Forces combat commander in the Aleutian Islands. The base was redesignated to Eareckson Air Station January 24, 1994. In July or August of 1988, at least one Aries rocket was launched, relating to the Queen Match program, for anti-ballistic missile testing.
This article was last modified 7 years ago