North Auxiliary Airfield is located 3 miles east of North, South Carolina, 65 miles northwest of Joint Base Charleston, and 45 miles southeast of the state capital of Columbia. The land area of the base is 2,400 acres of which 1150 acres of this area are undeveloped. The land for the base was bought between 1942 and 1945. The original dirt runway was constructed in 1943 and used by Hughes Aircraft Company for testing. Since the bases' inception, it has been under the receivership of Fort Jackson, Shaw AFB, the Dept. of Energy, and currently Joint Base Charleston. The base now has a 12,000 ft runway and a 3,000 ft assault runway.
The 628th Civil Engineer Squadron operates the base. The base directly supports the 437th and 315th Airlift Wing's C-17 Globemaster III aircrew training and proficiency training.
The only permanently assigned personnel at North Auxiliary Airfield are roughly one dozen firefighters and one civilian grounds keeper. Adding in rotational firefighters from Joint Base Charleston, you will find 22 firefighters on duty, rotating among 24-hour shifts. The fire department operates two P-23 aircraft rescue firefighting vehicles, one P-10 rescue truck, one P-26 water tanker, a P-15 fire truck-the largest fire truck in the world-and an assortment of other support vehicles. Along with their firefighting, they manage the site. There are two other units who provide support to the base. Both of these units provide support through rotating TDY's. Combat Control Teams from Pope AFB, N.C., provide air traffic control for aircraft landings and air drops, and aerial delivery personnel from Joint Base Charleston provide recovery of the air dropped pallets.
North Auxiliary Airfield can be reached through the fire department at (803)247-2241 or faxed at (803)247-2105.