Closure
After being listed on the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list, NAS Brunswick began preparing itself for shut down with a mandated September 2011 closure date. As a result, many “last” events have taken place since the announcement.
In May 2008, Captain Will Fitzgerald relieved Captain George Womack, becoming NAS Brunswick’s 36th and final Commanding Officer, and was tasked with the responsibility of closing the base.
In September 2008, NAS Brunswick hosted the 33rd Great State of Maine Air Show for the last time, which boasted an attendance of more than 150,000 people from the local area and out of state. There are possibilities of another Air Show taking place some time in the future, but they will not be supported by a U.S. military base.
Two months later in November 2008, the Patrol Squadron 8 Tigers were the first Fleet Air Wing Five squadron to permanently leave NAS Brunswick on deployment, scheduled to return to their new home port of NAS Jacksonville, Florida.
May 2009 saw the last squadron Changes of Command held on base when the reigns of the Patrol Squadron 26 Tridents and the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 Nor’Easters (having since been renamed the Nomads) were handed over to new Commanding Officers.
In June 2009, the Patrol Squadron 10 Red Lancers departed Brunswick for their new home port of NAS Jacksonville, followed by Special Projects Patrol Squadron Unit 1 and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 in July. The last squadron to leave NAS Brunswick was Patrol Squadron 26, which made their final departures late November 2009. After that, no other aircraft were based at NAS Brunswick.
December 23, 2009 marked the last day of Navy Reserve activity at NAS Brunswick when the Navy Operational Support Center lowered the National Ensign and closed its doors for the last time. Captain Scott F. Walton, the NOSC Commanding Officer, had previously been the last C.O. of Patrol Squadron VP-92 Minutemen, a Navy Reserve squadron made up of many local Maine citizens. VP-92 operated out of NAS Brunswick from 1996 to 2007.
The closure of the NAS Brunswick air field was scheduled for just after the departure of VP-26, which leads directly to the disestablishment of Fleet Air Wing Five in March of the same year.
NAS Brunswick no longer supports any home based squadrons. There are still approximately 1681 officers, sailors, and civilian employees actively working on base.
At an onsite ceremony, held on May 31, 2011; the base was officially decommissioned. The few dozen Navy officials left handed over the remaining property to the Mid-Coast Redevelopment Authority. Property redevelopment has already begun, including the opening of the Brunswick Executive Airport. Southern Maine Community College is also building a new campus on the site.
I (Richard Watson) went back to the (former) NAS Brunswick in November 2012 (where I had been stationed from 1986 to 1988 as a US Navy Storekeeper) and was advised (by an employee of the Maine Technology Institute located in the former Family Service Center) that plans are underway to convert the (former) Base Chapel into a Museum. Please contact www.MRRA.us for additional information on these plans and to find out how to make a donation to the Museum.
Read more about this topic: Naval Air Station Brunswick, History