Area Served[]
Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico or MCAF Quantico, formerly Brown Field and MCAS Quantico, is a United States Marine Corps airfield located within Marine Corps Base Quantico near the community of Triangle and the town of Quantico, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was commissioned in 1919 and is currently home to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), "The Nighthawks," responsible for the rapid transportation of the president (designated "Marine One" when onboard) and vice president (designated "Marine Two" when onboard) of the United States, heads of state, Department of Defense (DOD) officials, and other VIPs as directed by the Marine Corps and White House Military Office. The airfield at MCAF Quantico is known as Turner Field, named in honor of Colonel Thomas Caldwell Turner (March 29, 1882 – October 28, 1931), a veteran Marine aviator, aviation pioneer, and the second director of Marine Corps Aviation, who lost his life after being struck in the side of the head by one of the propellers of the Sikorsky RS twin-engine amphibious flying boat he flew to Marine Headquarters in Haiti.
Department Profile[]
Aircraft rescue and firefighting at MCAF Quantico is provided by USMC enlisted personnel assigned to the MCAF Quantico Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Division.
History[]
Aviation first arrived at Quantico on May 6, 1896 when Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834–1906), Astronomer and third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, launched his successful Aerodrome #5, a steam engine powered, unpiloted aircraft from a houseboat in the shadow of Chopawamsic Island adjacent to the present-day approach end of Runway 20 at Quantico Marine Corps Air Facility. In 1919, a flying field was laid out and the land leased to accommodate a squadron returning from World War I combat in Europe. The facility was later named Brown Field, in memory of 2nd Lieutenant Walter Vernon Brown, who lost his life nearby in an aviation accident on June 9, 1921. The present MCAF Quantico site was selected in 1931, when larger and faster planes brought recognition of the limitations and hazards of Brown Field—its single, crosswind runway, bound by trees, hills, swamp, a high tension line and a railroad. The new airfield was constructed by changing the course and flow of Chopawamsic Creek and reclamation of the marshland from that area and named Turner Field. On December 1, 1941, the field was named Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, and placed under operational control of the Commanding General, Marine Barracks Washington. Effective November 15, 1976, MCAS Quantico was re-designated as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF), Quantico, Virginia. On August 12, 2010, a new Quantico air facility to accommodate maintenance and storage of HMX-1 helicopters was dedicated in honor of Marine One founding commander Colonel Virgil D. Olson (1919–2012).
Apparatus Roster[]
All pump/tank measurements are in US gallons.
ARFF Fire Station - 5172 Cunningham Road / Turner Field Flightline[]
- Rescue 4 - International walk-around
- Rescue 31 (MC678584) - 2019 Oshkosh P-19R 6x6 crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. Halotron)
- Rescue 33 - Oshkosh P-19R 6x6 crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. Halotron)
- Rescue 35 - Oshkosh P-19R 6x6 crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. Halotron)
- Tanker - 2007 International WorkStar 7400 SBA 6x4 /Pierce dryside (SN#18504)
Retired Apparatus[]
- (MC283291) - 1994 International S2674 / West-Mark P-26 tanker
- (MC277015) - Oshkosh P-19A 4x4 crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. DC) (Ex-Crash 5, ex-Rescue 5)
- (MC270435) - 1986 Oshkosh P-19A 4x4 / 2000 CRES rebuilt crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. DC) (Ex-Crash 7, ex-Rescue 7)
- (MC201730) - Oshkosh P-19A 4x4 crash tender (1000/1000/130F/500 lbs. DC) (Ex-Crash 6, ex-Rescue 6)