JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM
Headquarters of the Pacific Fleet — the strategic anchor of the Indo-Pacific.
OVERVIEW
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) is the strategic naval and aerospace hub of the Indo-Pacific, formed in 2010 by the merger of Naval Station Pearl Harbor and the adjacent Hickam Air Force Base on the south shore of O'ahu, Hawaii. The combined installation supports approximately 70,000 service members, family members, and civilian employees and serves as the headquarters of U.S. Pacific Fleet, the largest fleet command in the United States Navy.
The Navy side of the base — anchored by the historic Pearl Harbor lochs — provides homeporting for Pacific Fleet attack submarines, surface combatants, and supporting auxiliaries, and hosts Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the Makalapa headquarters complex. The Air Force side, operated by the 15th Wing and the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing, supports tanker, airlift, and fighter operations across the world's largest combatant command area of responsibility.
JBPHH also encompasses the most significant collection of U.S. naval war memorials in the country. The USS Arizona, USS Utah, and USS Oklahoma memorials — together with the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum on adjacent Ford Island — draw more than 1.8 million visitors annually and anchor the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
KEY FACTS
- CreatedActivated October 2010 by merging Naval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base
- Pacific Fleet HeadquartersHosts the U.S. Pacific Fleet command at Makalapa
- USS Arizona MemorialOn-base sites include the USS Arizona, USS Utah, and USS Oklahoma memorials
- Strategic RoleWesternmost continental U.S. naval and air hub for the Indo-Pacific
- RegionO'ahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu
HISTORY
The U.S. Navy established a coaling station at Pearl Harbor in 1899, shortly after the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. Successive dredging projects deepened the entrance channel and the surrounding lochs, and by 1908 the Navy had begun construction of a true forward operating base capable of supporting the growing Pacific squadron. The first permanent dry dock, completed in 1919 after years of delay, established Pearl Harbor as the central repair facility for U.S. naval forces in the Pacific. Hickam Field, the adjacent Army Air Corps base, was activated in 1938 as part of a broader buildup of military aviation on O'ahu.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, a Japanese carrier strike force attacked the harbor, sinking or damaging eight American battleships and destroying or damaging more than 300 aircraft on the ground at Hickam, Wheeler, and Ewa Field. The attack killed 2,403 American service members and civilians, including 1,177 Sailors and Marines lost aboard the battleship USS Arizona, whose wreck remains on the harbor floor. The next day, Congress declared war on Japan and the United States entered the Second World War.
Throughout the war, Pearl Harbor served as the principal forward base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The shipyard repaired and returned to service most of the battleships damaged in the December 7 attack, and the harbor's piers, fueling depots, and submarine base became the launching point for the campaigns that would carry American forces to the Japanese home islands. Hickam Field served as the trans-Pacific airlift hub, dispatching B-17, B-24, and later B-29 bombers across the ocean.
The Cold War cemented Pearl Harbor's role as the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the homeport of a growing nuclear-powered submarine force. The USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated in 1962 above the sunken battleship, becoming a touchstone of national remembrance. In 2010, Base Realignment and Closure consolidation merged Naval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, creating the unified Navy-Air Force installation that exists today and that continues to project American power across the Indo-Pacific.
MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS
- U.S. Pacific Fleet (Headquarters)
- Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC)
- Pacific Air Forces (Hickam side)
- 15th Wing, U.S. Air Force
- Hawaii Air National Guard, 154th Wing
- Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY
NOTABLE EVENTS
- 1941Attack on Pearl HarborJapanese aerial attack on December 7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II.
- 1962USS Arizona MemorialMemorial dedicated above the wreck of USS Arizona, lost with 1,177 of her crew.
- 2010Joint BasingNaval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base merged to form JBPHH on 1 October 2010.