U.S. Restores WWII-Era Pacific Air Base After Decades

20 February, 2025 North Field Air Base on Tinian Island. Source: TWZ. The United States is restoring North Field Air Base on Tinian Island, which has not been used since World War II.

This is reported by The War Zone. Previously, this airfield was a base for B-29 long-range bombers that carried out air raids on Imperial Japan, including dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During World War II, North Field had four runways, parking spaces for more than 500 aircraft, and other infrastructure to support about 40,000 military personnel.

The base on Tinian Island.

Source: Google Earth.

The restoration of the base is a joint effort of the U.S. Navy and Air Force. A series of satellite images by Planet Labs, taken between December 3, 2023 and January 29, 2025, demonstrates the extent of the reconstruction.

The images show the clearing of runways, taxiways and other infrastructure. Tinian is one of the 14 islands that make up the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which is under US jurisdiction.

North Field Air Base on Tinian Island during WWII. Source: U.S.

Air Force.

The island is located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 120 miles northeast of Guam. In the 2000s and 2010s, the US military had already partially restored North Field to expand its use in training missions. In particular, one section of the base was used for forward deployment exercises.

As a reminder, in late October 2024, the United States Army, together with its allies, conducted exercises in the Pacific Ocean to rapidly deploy troops to the islands.