Naval Air Station Brunswick Naval Air Station Brunswick , also known as NAS Brunswick , was a military airport located northeast of Brunswick , Maine . The base was home to a number of Navy - operated Maritime patrol aircraft . Before closing , the base continued to operate as part of its closing procedures while the airport was operating publicly under the name Brunswick Executive Airport . The base closed on May 31 , 2011 , as per the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure committee decision . As of November 28 , 2009 , the last aircraft ( P - 3 Orions ) left . The runways were permanently closed in January 2010 . The base is now known as Brunswick Landing . The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is managing base redevelopment and has reopened the former Navy airfield as a civilian airport and high - tech business and industrial park . On April 2 , 2011 , the airport reopened as Brunswick Executive Airport . History . World War II . Naval Air Station Brunswick , Maine , was originally constructed and occupied in March 1943 , and was first commissioned on April 15 , 1943 , to train and form - up Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots to fly squadrons of the Chance Vought F4U Corsair , and of the Grumman TBF Avenger and F6F Hellcat , for the British Naval Command . The 1 , 487 - acre ( 6 km² ) station was built in part on land that was donated by the town of Brunswick . By the early 1940s the town was using most of this land to operate a small municipal airport , which would become the core of the air station . Operating under the motto , “ Built For Business ” , the first U . S . squadron to arrive at NAS Brunswick was a heavier - than - air Scouting Squadron ( VS1D1 ) . During World War II , pilots from NAS Brunswick as well as those of the Royal Navy / Fleet Air Arms used the station as a base from which they carried out anti - submarine warfare missions with around - the - clock efficiency . The air station had a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm , but the squadrons also practiced at other Naval Auxiliary Air Facilities ( NAAF ) in Maine before eventual transport to Britain . The station was supporting the Casco Bay NAAF seaplane base on Long Island from May 14 , 1943 to December 15 , 1946 and auxiliary landing fields Lewiston NAAF until December 1 , 1945 , Sanford NAAF until February 1 , 1946 , Rockland NAAF until March 15 , 1946 , and Bar Harbor NAAF from September 1 , 1943 until November 15 , 1945 . On August 15 , 1945 Japan surrendered to Allied forces , ending the war . As a result , NAS Brunswick was scheduled for deactivation . Cold War . The air station was deactivated in October 1946 , the land was reverted to caretaker status , and the land and buildings leased jointly to the University of Maine and Bowdoin College . When the station ’ s facilities were no longer required , the University of Maine and Bowdoin College terminated their leases and in 1949 , operations at NAS Brunswick were taken over by the Brunswick Flying Service . This commercial deviation was short - lived however , when the Navy selected the station as a potential center for development of “ Services to the Fleet ” . Plans were soon placed on the drawing boards to make this a thriving operational air station . On March 15 , 1951 , the National Ensign was hoisted , re - commissioning the station as a Naval Air Facility . The station soon became a beehive of activity , as it was slated to become a Master Jet Base . New construction around the base was begun which included dual 8 , 000 - foot runways , and new facilities to replace the temporary structures of WWII , including a modern operations tower capable of handling all the complex flights of a full - scale Naval Air Station . Two outlying fields were also planned to be built , one for gunnery and one for carrier practice landings . On June 15 , 1950 , North Korea on Chinese authorization crossed the 38th parallel and invaded their neighbors in South Korea . Acting quickly and on little notice , the American military reversed the post - WWII trend of reduction - in - forces and several subordinate commands stationed at NAS Brunswick were re - commissioned . While not directly involved in combat operations in Korea , its squadrons contributed to the war effort by assuming the many responsibilities of commands who had been deployed to the Pacific . In 1959 , NAS Brunswick ’ s primary mission was support of Fleet Air Wing Three which was composed of Patrol Squadrons Seven , Ten , Eleven , Twenty One , Twenty Three , and Twenty Six . Flying the P2V Neptune and PB4Y - 2 Privateer , the squadrons played a major part in the defense of the North Atlantic area , tracking Soviet submarines around the clock throughout the Cold War . In 1962 , NAS Brunswick and Fleet Air Wing Five began the transition to the P - 3A Orion marking the beginning of a new era in Naval Patrol Aviation . During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 and more encompassing , during the entirety of the Cold War between American and Soviet forces , both the P2V and P - 3A became nationally well - known due to their surveillance of Soviet ships in the Atlantic Ocean , leading to a safe resolution . Fleet Air Wing Five aircraft also played an important part in America ’ s early manned space programs in 1965 and 1966 , helping to locate Mercury and Gemini capsules after splashdowns . In 1966 , Wing Five began deployments in the Western Pacific . Based at Naval Station Sangley Point in the Philippines , squadrons flew patrol and combat missions in support of Seventh Fleet operations in South East Asia throughout the years of U . S . involvement in Vietnam . On August 2 of 1990 , Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launched an invasion on the neighboring country of Kuwait . In response , the United States launched a wholly defensive mission to the Middle East named Operation Desert Shield . Patrol Squadron Twenty Three was the first East Coast maritime patrol squadron in - theater for Operation Desert Shield , providing maritime surveillance throughout the Red Sea . Patrol Squadron EIGHT participated in joint operations during Desert Storm , flying combat sorties in the effort to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces . Post Cold War . At the end of the Cold War in 1991 , many maritime patrol squadrons were reduced or relocated . Combat Wing Five disestablished Patrol Squadron 44 in May 1991 , Patrol Squadron 23 in December 1994 , and Patrol Squadron 11 in August 1997 . During the mid - 1990s with the breakup and subsequent conflict in the former Republic of Yugoslavia , Patrol Squadrons 8 , 10 , 11 , 26 from NAS Brunswick were called upon to fly countless sorties in the Adriatic Sea in support of Operation Sharp Guard . Of specific note , Patrol Squadron 10 was the first VP squadron to conduct offensive missile attacks since Vietnam in the 1970s . In 1994 , 10 , 138 enlisted , officers , civilian employees , and family members called NAS Brunswick home . In the early years of the new millennium , squadrons home ported at NAS Brunswick continued to fulfill their missions by flying intelligence , surveillance , reconnaissance and maritime patrol sorties in Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo and Operation Deliberate Forge in Bosnia in support of U . S . and NATO forces . Following the September 11 , 2001 terrorist attacks against the U . S . , those same squadrons began flying missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom ( OEF ) in the Middle East . NAS Brunswick - based crews flew homeland defense maritime patrols off the Atlantic coast as part of Operation Noble Eagle and additional assets were surged in support of OEF operations . Fleet Air Wing Five squadrons were present during the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 , and continue to fly in support of ongoing operations . On October 21 , 2008 , P - 3 Orion from Patrol Wing Five overshot the runway at Bagram Air Base while landing . The aircraft caught fire and was destroyed but the only injury to the crew was one broken ankle . The aircraft was assigned to CTF - 57 in Afghanistan . [ 57 ] Closure . After being listed on the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list , NAS Brunswick began preparing itself for shut down with a mandated September 2011 closure date . As a result , many “ last ” events have taken place since the announcement . In May 2008 , Captain Will Fitzgerald relieved Captain George Womack , becoming NAS Brunswick ’ s 36th and final Commanding Officer , and was tasked with the responsibility of closing the base . In September 2008 , NAS Brunswick hosted the 33rd Great State of Maine Air Show for the last time , which boasted an attendance of more than 150 , 000 people from the local area and out of state . There are possibilities of another Air Show taking place some time in the future , but they will not be supported by a U . S . military base . Two months later in November 2008 , the Patrol Squadron 8 Tigers were the first Fleet Air Wing Five squadron to permanently leave NAS Brunswick on deployment , scheduled to return to their new home port of NAS Jacksonville , Florida . May 2009 saw the last squadron Changes of Command held on base when the reigns of the Patrol Squadron 26 Tridents and the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 Nor ’ Easters ( having since been renamed the Nomads ) were handed over to new Commanding Officers . In June 2009 , the Patrol Squadron 10 Red Lancers departed Brunswick for their new home port of NAS Jacksonville , followed by Special Projects Patrol Squadron Unit 1 and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 62 in July . The last squadron to leave NAS Brunswick was Patrol Squadron 26 , which made their final departures late November 2009 . After that , no other aircraft were based at NAS Brunswick . December 23 , 2009 marked the last day of Navy Reserve activity at NAS Brunswick when the Navy Operational Support Center lowered the National Ensign and closed its doors for the last time . Captain Scott F . Walton , the NOSC Commanding Officer , had previously been the last C . O . of Patrol Squadron VP - 92 Minutemen , a Navy Reserve squadron made up of many local Maine citizens . VP - 92 operated out of NAS Brunswick from 1996 to 2007 . The closure of the NAS Brunswick air field was scheduled for just after the departure of VP - 26 , which leads directly to the disestablishment of Fleet Air Wing Five in March of the same year . NAS Brunswick no longer supports any home based squadrons . There are still approximately 1681 officers , sailors , and civilian employees actively working on base . At an onsite ceremony , held on May 31 , 2011 ; the base was officially decommissioned . The few dozen Navy officials left handed over the remaining property to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority . Property redevelopment has already begun , including the opening of the Brunswick Executive Airport . Southern Maine Community College is also building a new campus on the site .