Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a United States Navy air base located in two sections around Oak Harbor, Washington, USA. It was commisioned September 21, 1942, just in time to become an important west coast base during World War II. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Oak Harbor is a city located on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. ...

The main portion of the base is called Ault Field in memory of Commander William B. Ault who was listed 'missing in action' during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Ault Field is located approximately three miles north of Oak Harbor. Combatants United States, Australia Japan Commanders Frank Jack Fletcher Shigeyoshi Inoue Strength 2 large carriers, 3 cruisers 2 large carriers, 1 small carrier, 4 cruisers Casualties 1 large carrier, 1 destroyer, 1 oil tanker, 543 personnel 1 small carrier, 1 destroyer, 1,074 personnel The Battle of the Coral Sea...

The other section of the base is called the Seaplane base. Originally, it was home to the PBY Catalina flying boats which served in many places around the world during WWII. It is the primary location of the base Navy Exchange and DECA Commissary. It is also where most of the Navy housing is located. PBY Catalina was the US Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Base exchange (BX), known by the Army as a Post exchange (PX), refers to a large department store-like shop that is set up on United States military installations. ...

Currently, NASWI supports EA-6B Prowler, P-3C Orion, EP-3 AIRIES II, C-9 Skytrain and MH-60S Knighthawk aircraft. The EA-6 Prowler is the United States Navys and the United States Marine Corpss primary electronic warfare aircraft. ... The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a patrol aircraft of the United States military used primarily for anti-submarine warfare. ... The C-9 Skytrain II is the military version of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 employed in US military service. ... SH-60 Seahawk of the United States Navy, carrying a fuel tank. ...

External links

• Official site of the NAS
• Information about Whidbey Island NAS from GlobalSecurity.org

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth