Kadena Air Base , ( IATA : DNA , ICAO : RODN ) is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa , in Okinawa Prefecture , Japan . Kadena Air Base is the hub of U . S . airpower in the Pacific , and home to the USAF ' s 18th Wing and a variety of associate units . Units . The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB . In addition , the base hosts associate units from five other Air Force major commands , the United States Navy , and other Department of Defense agencies and direct reporting units . Associate units operate more than 20 permanently assigned , forward - based or deployed aircraft from the base on a daily basis . Associate units : Other units : United States Navy use . The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa . On 15 February 1951 , the US Naval Facility , Naha , was activated and later became commissioned on 18 April . Commander Fleet Activities , Ryukyus was commissioned on 8 March 1957 . On 15 May 1972 , upon reversion of Okinawa to Japanese administration , the two organizations were combined to form Commander Fleet Activities , Okinawa . With the relocations of Commander Fleet Activities , Okinawa to Kadena Air Base on 7 May 1975 , the title then became Commander Fleet Activities , Okinawa / US Naval Air Facility , Kadena . The mission of NAVCOMM Det Okinawa is to provide communications support for SEVENTH Fleet and supporting units , U . S . Naval Forces Japan , U . S . Naval Forces Korea , Defense Information Systems Agency and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force . The detachment has four work centers : History . Kadena Air Base ' s history dates back to just before the 1 April 1945 , Battle of Okinawa , when a local construction firm completed a small airfield named Yara Hikojo near the island ' s village of Kadena . The airfield , used by Imperial Japanese warplanes , was one of the first targets of the Tenth United States Army 7th Infantry Division . The United States seized it from the Japanese . World War II . What the Americans captured was a strip of badly - damaged coral runway . Army engineers from the 13th Combat Engineer Battalion , 7th U . S . Infantry Division quickly made repairs and , by nightfall the same day , the runway could accept emergency landings . Eight days later , and after some of coral were added , the airfield was declared operational and put into immediate service by artillery spotting aircraft when the runway became serviceable on 6 April . Additional construction was performed by the 807th Engineering Aviation Battalion to improve the airfield for USAAF fighter and bomber use with fuel tank farms , a new bituminous runway , and a runway for bomber aircraft by August . Kadena airfield was initially under the control of Seventh Air Force , however on 16 July 1945 , Headquarters Eighth Air Force was transferred , without personnel , equipment , or combat elements to the town of Sakugawa , near Kadena from RAF High Wycombe England . Upon reassignment , its headquarters element absorbed the command staff of the inactivated XX Bomber Command . Kadena was used by the headquarters staff for administrative flying requirements . Upon its reassignment to the Pacific Theater , Eighth Air Force was assigned to the U . S . Army Strategic Air Forces with a mission to train new B - 29 Superfortress bomber groups arriving from the United States for combat missions against Japan . In the planned invasion of Japan , the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct strategic bombing raids from Okinawa . However , the atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater . The surrender of Japanese forces in the Ryukyu Islands came on 7 September . General Joseph Stilwell accepted the surrender in an area that would later become Kadena ' s Stearley Heights housing area . Known World War II units assigned to Kadena were : On 7 June 1946 , Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF , Florida . It was replaced by the 1st Air Division which directed fighter reconnaissance , and bomber organizations and provided air defense for the Ryukyu Islands until December 1948 . Twentieth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena on 16 May 1949 . Postwar years and the Korean War . Twentieth Air Force was inactivated in March 1955 . Fifth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena . Known major postwar USAAF / USAF units assigned to Kadena have been : At the end of the Eisenhower presidency , around 1 , 700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific , 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base . 18th Wing . Since November 1954 , the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena . Over the past 50 years , the 18th has maintained assigned aircraft , crews , and supporting personnel in a high state of readiness for tactical air requirements of Fifth Air Force and the Pacific Air Forces . The 18th Fighter - Bomber Wing was reassigned to Kadena from Osan - ni AB ( K - 55 ) , South Korea on 1 November 1954 , flying three squadrons ( 12th , 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons ) of North American F - 86 Sabres . Initially the wing supported tactical fighter operations in Okinawa , as well as in South Korea , Japan , Formosa , and the Philippines with frequent deployments . In 1957 , the wing upgraded to the North American Aviation F - 100 Super Sabre and the designation was changed to the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing . In 1960 , a tactical reconnaissance mission was added to the wing with the arrival of the McDonnell RF - 101 Voodoo and the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron . On 30 June 1959 an F - 100 from the wing crashed on Okinawa during a training flight after suffering an engine fire . The pilot successfully ejected and suffered no harm , but the aircraft crashed into a local elementary school , killing 11 students plus six residents of the nearby neighborhood . Beginning in 1961 , the 18th was sending its tactical squadrons frequently to South Vietnam and Thailand , initially with its RF - 101 reconnaissance forces , and beginning in 1964 with its tactical fighter forces supporting USAF combat missions in the Vietnam War . In 1963 , the Republic F - 105 Thunderchief replaced the Super Sabres . During the TDY deployments to Southeast Asia , the 12th TFS lost four aircraft , the 44th TFS lost one F - 105D , and the 67th TFS lost nine aircraft , including three on the first day of the Rolling Thunder operations . Aircraft markings on natural metal / silver F - 105D / F aircraft included a PACAF badge on both sides of the vertical fin , and a coloured band around the nose directly behind the radome . The deployments to Southeast Asia continued until the end of United States involvement in the conflict . The McDonnell Douglas RF - 4C Phantom II replaced the RF - 101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967 . An electronic warfare capability was added to the wing in late 1968 with the attachment of the 19th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron from Shaw AFB South Carolina flying the Douglas EB - 66 Destroyer . The B - 66s remained until 1970 , flying daily over the skies of Southeast Asia . During the 1968 Pueblo crisis , the 18th deployed between January and June to Osan Air Base , South Korea following the North Korean seizure of the vessel . Frequent deployments to South Korea have been performed ever since to maintain the air defense alert mission there . The McDonnell Douglas F / RF - 4C Phantom II replaced the F - 105s in 1971 , and a further upgrade to the McDonnell Douglas F - 15 Eagle was made in 1979 . In 1972 , the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned , bringing their specialized Lockheed C / MC - 130 Hercules aircraft to the wing . The squadron was reassigned in 1978 . The reconnaissance mission ended in 1989 with the retirement of the RF - 4Cs , and the inactivation of the 15th TRS . The designation of the wing changed on 1 October 1991 to the 18th Wing with the implementation of the Objective Wing concept . With the objective wing , the mission of the 18th expanded to the Composite Air Wing concept of multiple different wing missions with different aircraft . The mission of the 18th was expanded to include aerial refueling with Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker tanker aircraft ; and surveillance , warning , command and control Boeing E - 3 Sentry , and communications . Added airlift mission in June 1992 with the Beech C - 12 Huron , transporting mission critical personnel , high - priority cargo and distinguished visitors . In February 1993 , the 18th Wing gained responsibility for coordinating rescue operations in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean . BRAC 2005 . In November 2006 , the U . S . Army ' s 1 - 1 ADA Battalion , a Patriot PAC - III unit , deployed to Kadena from Fort Bliss Texas . They are assigned to the 94th AAMDC , USPACOM , they were assigned to 31st ADA Brigade at Fort Bliss . The move was part of the BRAC consolidation of U . S . Army bases and security agreements between the U . S . and Japan . The battalion ' s mission is to defend the base against tactical ballistic missiles from North Korea . The deployment was controversial in Okinawa . The unit was greeted by protests . Other units . Other major units assigned to Kadena since 1954 have been :