Today this airfield is home to the San Jose Police helicopter, the California Air National Guard, visiting jets for sports event fly-overs, fund-raisers for vintage aircraft and NASA experimental flights. It is also home to the
Moffett Field Museum,
Airship Ventures, who operate a sight-seeing
dirigible and the
Silicon Valley campus of Carnegie-Mellon University.
Excerpted from the California State Military Museum website:
As a result of the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission's decision, NAS Moffett closed on June 1, 1994, becoming the Moffett Federal Airfield. Moffett's P-3 active duty assets moved to Whidbey Island. The remaining Navy command is now the Naval Air Reserve - Santa Clara. The reserve P-3 squadron, VP-91; Fleet Logistics Reserve Squadron 55 with KC-130Ts; and non-flying reserve units were present until1999.
Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA), formerly Naval Air Station (NAS) Moffett Field, is currently operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA has continued the tenant program begun by the Navy, hosting several other organizations at MFA including the Naval Reserve, the California Air National Guard, and Onizuka Air Force Base. Control of on-base and off-base housing was transferred to Onizuka Air Force Base. Currently, NASA is continuing to operate MFA as a restricted federal airfield, but is also considering various other uses of the property that will support its mission.
Located in Santa Clara County, California, near the southern tip of San Francisco Bay, MFA encompasses approximately 2,200 acres. It is bordered on the north by salt evaporation ponds which are adjacent to San Francisco Bay, on the west by Stevens Creek and NASA's Ames Research Facility, on the south by Highway 101, and on the east by the Lockheed Aerospace Center. MFA is surrounded by a security fence, and access is limited to personnel, residents, and authorized visitors. Although the NASA-Ames property is distinct from the Moffett Federal Airfield property, NASA-Ames is located within the Moffett Field perimeter security fence.)
MFA is divided in half by the runway system which extends almost the length of the property. Most of the aircraft and flight training operations take place on the east side of the runway and administrative activities and base housing are located on the west side. The 2,263-acre site has two parallel runways separated by 625 feet and fully instrumented. One is 9,200 feet long and 200 feet wide; the other is 8,124 feet long (7,517 feet with displaced threshold) and 200 feet wide. There are four aircraft maintenance hangars and 472,300 square yards of aircraft parking apron.
At Moffett Federal Airfield, the 129th Rescue Group (RQG) provides manpower for the airfields crash, fire and rescue, air traffic control, and security police services, and pays a portion of the total associated costs. The ANG also pays a share of other base operating support costs. These costs to the ANG have risen significantly since NAS Moffett realigned to Moffett Federal Airfield, and can be avoided if the unit is moved to an active duty airfield.