Battlefield Survey Proposes Two new Historic Districts for MCAS Ewa Field

by John Bond

This includes two new proposed Ewa Field Historic Districts.

Also documented is the WW-II Oahu railway line into Ewa Field.

Ewa Field is now eligible to become a National American Battlefield and National Historic Landmark.

The NAVY Ewa Field Section 106 Battlefield Survey proposes two Ewa Field Historic Districts:

the Ewa Field Aircraft Revetment Historic District and

the Ewa Field Ware House Historic District

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The Ewa Field Aircraft Revetment Historic District

This is a recast of the original 1997 Navy survey of a proposed "MCAS Ewa Historic District", except that it is now renamed Ewa Field Aircraft Revetment Historic District.

This district includes the current Barbers Point Horse Stables as well as the DHHL aircraft revetments.

This is very important because it again confirms that revetments on the DHHL side should have the same National Register protection.

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The Ewa Field Ware House Historic District.

This new proposed district includes all of the remaining MCAS Ewa structures in the north-west corner of MCAS Ewa.

This includes all of the Quonset huts, warehouse buildings, the 1944 aircraft hanger and Building 1147, the largest still standing concrete building at MCAS Ewa.

The Quonset huts are now considered rare artifacts of the WW-II era since so few remain today.

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The Navy survey report also identified an important building of the Cold War era, which is directly across Roosevelt Avenue from the Ewa Train Museum, and adjacent to the known once top secret SOSUS buildings.

The building identified is Facility 972, headquarters for the nationwide Distant Early Warning - DEW line, and headquarters for US Navy anti-submarine Patrols during the Cold War.

The building, built in 1958, was loaded with high security features and still has a great flagpole out front (but largely unseen.)

The associated Cold War Era buildings- the Navy HQ, SOSUS (Sound Surveillance) buildings and remaining large satellite dish could become an Ewa Field Historic District as well.

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