Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times

K-Bay gets new name, status

Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe has a new name and is in line to receive new aircraft.

Commandant Gen. James Conway approved a request to redesignate the facility Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay and to name the airfield in honor of retired Maj. Gen. Marion E. Carl, the Corps’ first air ace and a recipient of two Navy Crosses.

Carl was killed in 1998 during a robbery at his home in Oregon. He wife was shot during the incident but recovered.

The name changes come as the base plans to expand to accommodate additional squadrons, officials said. Among those changes are plans for at least one squadron of Huey troop-and-cargo carrying helicopters and Cobra gun ships within the next five years. Neither is based in Hawaii now.

An environmental impact statement said the aircraft mix at Kaneohe Bay eventually will include 36 MV-22B Ospreys that will replace older CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters.

One squadron of newer CH-53Es will replace a squadron of CH-53Ds.

Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay has conducted more than 70,000 flights hours annually since 1999 — a use comparable to air stations elsewhere, officials said.

The new “air station” title is meant to denote greater activity than “air facility.”

Between 2007 and 2008, the airfield transported roughly 6 million pounds of cargo, transported 9,000 passengers and provided services for 1,075 transient aircraft, the Corps said. About 4,000 Marines and sailors work at the airfield.

“The redesignation of our Marine Corps Air Facility as a Marine Corps Air Station is a well-deserved and overdue change that accurately reflects the significant amount of operations and air traffic the airfield supports on a daily basis,” said Lt. Col. Glen Butler, deputy commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The facility becomes the Corps’ ninth air station.

DISCUSS: The changes