Ieshima Central Airfield

Military Conversion

The site of the former Japanese airfields, including the area specified by the coordinates, is now the Ie Shima Auxiliary Airfield (ICAO: RODE). It is an active training facility operated by the United States Marine Corps. The facility is used for a variety of training exercises, most notably featuring a simulated LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) flight deck painted on the runway. This allows Marine and Navy pilots to practice carrier takeoffs and landings without deploying a full naval vessel. The coordinates 26.72199, 127.77654 fall directly within this active U.S. military installation.

The facility known as Ieshima Central Airfield was one of several airfields on Ie Shima (Ie Island) built by the Japanese military during World War II. In April 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, the island was captured by the U.S. 77th Infantry Division. U.S. Army engineers rapidly repaired and expanded the airfields, transforming the island into one of the largest airbases in the Pacific theater. It housed fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft and was a critical staging area for the planned but ultimately unnecessary invasion of mainland Japan (Operation Downfall). The airfield holds significant historical importance as the site where a Japanese delegation, flying in two white-painted 'Betty' bombers, landed on August 19, 1945. They were there to receive instructions before flying to Manila to meet with General Douglas MacArthur and finalize the terms of Japan's surrender. The island is also where famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by enemy fire on April 18, 1945.

None. The airfield is an active and essential U.S. military training facility and is not slated for closure or conversion to civilian use. The island is served by a separate public airport, Ie Jima Airport (IATA: IEJ, ICAO: RORE), which handles civilian air traffic.