Naval air station

A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation).

The Navy operates Estacion Aeronaval (EAN) (stations) which have smaller crews and are not normally assigned aircraft.

[1][2] In Australia, there is one Naval air station, HMAS Albatross in Nowra, and the formal Naval Aircraft Repair Yard and apprentice training establishment at HMAS Nirimba in Nirimba Fields, Sydney.

HMAS Nirimba, operational from 1953 to 1994, played a crucial role in technical training for naval apprentices and aircraft maintenance.

RNAS Culdrose serves a variety of helicopter and fixed-wing squadrons, such as the Sea King and the Jetstream respectively.

[clarification needed] This includes the former NAS Norfolk, Virginia (now part of NAVSTA Norfolk), the former NAF Mayport, Florida (now part of NAVSTA Mayport), the former NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (now part of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base); and the former NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey (redesignated as Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst).

In the case of NAS Memphis, Tennessee (redesignated as Naval Support Activity Mid-South), the airfield and flight line was turned over to local civilian authorities, while the Navy retained the remainder of the installation.

This includes NAVSTA Rota, Spain; the recently closed NAVSTA Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; the still active Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake, California; and the recently closed Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, Pennsylvania.

As a result, the Marine Corps' auxiliary fields support operational Fleet Marine Force (FMF) units for readiness purposes, such as field carrier landing practice (FCLP) for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft embarking on aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ships.