Naval Air Facility Atsugi Japan Patch

In the heart of Japan’s Kanto Plain, nestled between Tokyo’s neon skyline and the rolling foothills of Mount Fuji, stands one of the most storied and strategically vital aviation hubs in the Pacific—Naval Air Facility Atsugi. For decades, NAF Atsugi has been the lifeblood of U.S. naval aviation in the region, a launch point for crisis response, deterrence, and partnership across one of the most contested theaters on earth.

Its history stretches back to the ashes of World War II. Originally built by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the airfield became one of the first major facilities seized by American forces at the end of the war. General Douglas MacArthur himself landed at Atsugi in 1945, marking the symbolic beginning of Japan’s postwar reconstruction. From that moment on, Atsugi became a permanent fixture in the bond between the United States and Japan—a forward post of stability in a region marked by change.

During the Korean War, jets roared off Atsugi’s runways around the clock, rushing to the fight just across the Sea of Japan. When the Cold War set in, the air station became a frontline sentinel. Reconnaissance aircraft launched from Atsugi to track Soviet naval movements, monitor regional flashpoints, and deliver intelligence vital to American and allied security. For decades, the base stood as an unblinking guardian—eyes and ears in a world tilted toward uncertainty.

But Atsugi is best known as the long-time home of Carrier Air Wing FIVE (CVW-5), the Navy’s forward-deployed air wing. Their aircraft—from F-4 Phantoms and A-6 Intruders to F/A-18 Hornets and now the F-35—have filled the skies above Japan, training with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and standing ready for missions across the Western Pacific. When a carrier strike group sails from Yokosuka, its air wing is born from the ramps and taxiways of Atsugi. When typhoons ravage coastlines or tensions rise in the South China Sea, Atsugi is often the staging ground for the first aircraft to respond.

For sailors, Marines, and aviators who have served there, Atsugi is more than a duty station—it is a crucible of readiness and a home away from home. It’s the hum of engines at dawn, the glow of afterburners against the night sky, the camaraderie built in a place where American and Japanese forces work side by side with seamless precision.

The Naval Air Facility Atsugi patch honors that legacy—decades of vigilance, partnership, and the unmistakable roar of naval power in the Pacific. To wear it is to remember the aviators who launched missions from its runways, the maintainers who kept those aircraft alive, and the alliance strengthened every day on its storied grounds.