Operations
Currently the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Tachikawa occupies the western portion of the airfield. The main unit there is the GSDF Eastern Army Aviation Group. It operates helicopters, and also commands the anti-tank helicopter units at Camp Kisarazu. Equipment at Tachikawa includes the UH-1H/J Iroquois.
The Tachikawa Disaster-Preparedness Base sits on 115 ha (280 acres) of land. In addition to the airfield, it includes emergency medical-treatment facilities and stores of emergency supplies. Agencies with a presence at Tachikawa include the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan Coast Guard, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Police and Fire departments, National Hospital Organization (an Independent Administrative Institution), and Red Cross.
Also in Tachikawa are Camp Higashi-Tachikawa of the Ground Self-Defense Force and the Tachikawa Depot of the Air Self-Defense Force.
The alternate center for Japan's national government is located on a portion of what used to be Tachikawa Air Base. The center includes billeting, offices, communications and control centers,hospital and a full cafeteria. The center is for the national government to use if forced to relocate or as a command center to direct a response to a significant national disaster or emergency.
Japan's National Emergency Response Center is located in a complex of underground bunkers and tunnels that were developed for the Japanese military for use during World War II to hide and protect airplanes from the US bombings. These tunnels were taken over by the US Military and used for storage while the base was in operation from 1945 to 1977, when the base was given back to the Japanese Government as well as the disposition of the bunker complex. The underground complex is located under what was the Tachikawa Air Base housing section, this area is still restricted to the Japanese public for any kind of business/building or farming as of 2009. From November 1977 to present day the tunnel and bunker system have been enlarged to accommodate up to 5,000 people and to sustain them for a period of one year if necessary.
Read more about this topic: Tachikawa Airfield
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)