Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort is a United States Marine Corps air base located three miles northwest of the central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. About 4,700 personnel serve at the station, and it is home to six Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons.Beaufort is served by the Beaufort County Airport, located southeast of MCAS Beaufort.Resident units Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marine Aircraft Group 31 Marine Wing Support Squadron 273 Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Detachment "A" Combat Logistics Company 23HistoryNaval Air Station Beaufort was commissioned on June 15, 1943, for advanced training operations of anti-submarine patrols during World War II. It was then deactivated in 1946 and reactivated in 1956. On March 1, 1960, it was re-designated Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. On September 19, 1975, the airfield was named Merritt Field in honor of Major General Lewie G. Merritt, USMC, a 1917 graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He was from Ridge Spring, South Carolina.
