Plane makes 1st landing at North Field since 1947

In yet another milestone, Tinian marks today the first military plane landing at its historic North Field since the U.S. military left the island in 1947 after World War II.

The landing of a C-130 at North Field is considered one of the highlights in the ongoing Exercise Geiger Fury 2012 on Tinian, with 150 to 175 personnel from Marine Aircraft Group-12 out of Iwakuni, Japan participating.

“It will be historic,” Lt. Col. Michael Taylor, commanding officer of Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, told Saipan Tribune.

Taylor said Marines pushed back a lot of vegetation that has grown up over the flight line and did some repairs to some of the asphalt on Baker Runway at North Field.

At the height of the war, North Field was the busiest airfield in the world, with military planes taking off or landing every 90 seconds.

Tinian’s North Field was also the launching pad for the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hastening the end of the war.

“The C-130 is a very rugged aircraft. We’re expecting it to come in here and land on that runway that we brought back to service,” he added.

He said there is only one C-130 expected to land and take off from Baker Runway.

“This is the first exercise. We don’t want to extend ourselves too far; we want to make sure everything goes well so we’ll land one here,” Taylor added.

Today’s scheduled landing of a C-130 on North Field comes six days after the first F/A-18D Hornets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121-MAG 12 landed for the first time on Tinian’s West Field on May 23. Their landing established the effectiveness of the coral setup of the arresting gear. The goal was 10 arrestments in under an hour but they were able to do 12 in less than an hour.

Lt. Cdr. Aisha Bakkar, public affairs officer of the Marine Forces Pacific Guam and CNMI, said yesterday that Engineers Operations Company, MWSS-171, repaired 4,100 feet of the Baker Runway, making it capable of landing C-130 aircraft.

\“It is a significant highlight for Marine Aircraft Group-12 as a mission essential task has been successfully accomplished. During Exercise Geiger Fury 2012, Marine Wing Support Squadron-171 (MWSS-171) has accomplished its mission by establishing an expeditionary airfield in an austere environment,” she said.

Bakkar said no aircraft has landed on North Field since the U.S. military abandoned it after 1947. Over the past 65 years, Tinian jungle has reclaimed the airfields.

“Used as a base from which the 509th Composite Group flew the two atomic bomb missions against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, North Field is probably the most historically significant airfield,” Bakkar said.

The four 8,500-foot runways at North Field on Tinian comprised the largest single airport in world in mid-summer 1945.

As of early last night, the C-130 from Guam was scheduled to land between 10am and 11am today.

Tinian Mayor Ramon Dela Cruz said he’s glad that the ongoing training has been progressing well, and thanked the Marines for their community services, including free medical and dental missions.

Two-thirds of Tinian lands are leased by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Exercise Geiger Fury 2012 is intended to allow Marine Aircraft Group-12 out of Japan “to improve aviation combat readiness and simulate operations in a deployed austere environment.”

Training on Tinian’s North Field includes clearing, stripping, and repairing the landing surface on Able and Baker runways and the installation of matting for vertical take-off and landing of rotary and fixed-wing operations.

Training on Tinian’s West Field includes emplacement of arresting gear and fuel storage/distribution for purposes of extending aviation training throughout the Mariana Island Range Complex.