Kadena Air Base, Military air base in Kadena, Japan
Kadena Air Base is a military air base in Okinawa Prefecture operated by the United States Air Force, covering parts of three municipalities with runways and support buildings. The installation includes residential neighborhoods, administrative offices, and maintenance hangars that serve as home and workplace for military members stationed in the western Pacific.
The site began as a wartime airfield when American forces arrived on Okinawa in the closing months of World War II in 1945. Over the following decades, the military expanded the facility into one of the largest permanent air installations in the Pacific theater.
More than 20,000 American service members and their families share the community with 4,000 Japanese employees, creating a mixed military-civilian environment.
Access is restricted to authorized personnel and invited guests, so visitors without military connections cannot enter the grounds. Those with clearance will find a self-contained community with shopping, medical services, and leisure facilities on site.
The installation hosts the 18th Wing, recognized as the largest combat wing in the U.S. Air Force, flying F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft. This unit carries primary responsibility for air operations across the western Pacific and maintains constant readiness.
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