Atsugi: CVW-5 leaving for the boat

After Nyutabaru Air Base, NAF Atsugi is probably the best known airbase in Japan. Many people think that the base is owned by the US Navy, but it's in fact a Japanese base that is shared with the Americans. The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) operates from this base with P-3's, US-1's, SH-60's and YS-11's, while the Americans have Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5) stationed here. This wing is equipped with F/A-18's, EA-6B's, SH-60's, E-2's and C-2's.

Due to a big mistake on our side we missed our pre-arranged base visit. This was big a disappointment, but we learned that CVW-5 would be departing for the carrier (USS Kitty Hawk) on the day of our visit. So we found a nice position somewhere outside the base on a hill with a lot of Japanese aviation photographers. According to them, the departure of CVW-5 would be split over a period of three days. We saw around 25 aircraft departing for the boat and together with the visiting and locally based flying aircraft not a bad day at all!