Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity

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Open to the public
  
No

In use
  
1942–1946 1958–present

Year built
  
1942

Condition
  
Fully operational

Phone
  
+1 252-426-5221

Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity

Address
  
2835 Harvey Point Rd, Hertford, NC 27944, USA

Owner
  
United States Department of Defense

Occupants
  
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Similar
  
USCG Aviation Logistics, Elizabeth City Coast Guard, Hertford City Clerk, Albemarle Commissi, Elizabeth City Regional

The Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity facility, owned by the Department of Defense, is located on a peninsula in Perquimans County, North Carolina, along the Albemarle Sound, near the city of Hertford, NC. It was established in World War II as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Harvey Point, an operating base for sea planes conducting anti-submarine surveillance off the Atlantic coast. A close-by naval facility, Naval Air Station Weeksville, served as a blimp base during and after World War II.

Contents

To comply with various procurement regulations, the Department of the Navy holds the title to and budgetary responsibility for the facility. Agencies such as the ATF, CIA, and FBI have used the facility for complex training relating to overseas counterterrorism and asset-protection training.

Its sister facility is Camp Peary.

History

The point was originally occupied during the 1670s by the Harvey family, including North Carolina's first native-born governor, Thomas Harvey -- hence the name "Harvey Point."

World War II

Courthouse records indicate that in November 1942 the United States Navy purchased the point, roughly 1,200 acres (5 km2), for $41,751. The Navy then constructed an air station on the property for use during World War II, and commissioned it as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Harvey Point. During World War II, NAAS Harvey Point was used as a PBM Mariner seaplane base.

After the war, the NAAS Harvey Point was decommissioned in 1946, and deactivated until 1958 when the Navy announced Harvey Point would serve as the testing grounds for the new Martin P6M Seamaster, an experimental jet-powered long-range seaplane bomber. The project was cancelled in August 1959 when the Navy determined the aircraft wasn't successful enough for it to continue providing support for the program. Then, in 1961, the Navy returned to the property, and announced that the property was closed to the public; it has remained that way ever since.

Current use

Specialty military air operations are located at this facility, as the installation has two usable landing fields, and plans for a third. The FAA Charlotte Sectional Aeronautical Chart identifies this area as Special Use Airspace R-5301, which is continuously restricted from general aviation traffic from the surface to an altitude of 14,000 feet above Mean Sea Level. Areas of Albermarle Sound adjacent to the facility are also under restricted airspace R-5302 (A-D), which is under the operational authority of GIANT KILLER, or whichever ATC has controlling authority over the airspace at that time. Harvey Point is also used for CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) paramilitary and counter-terrorism courses that involve high explosives and ballistics. The explosives are used to simulate terrorist bombs, and can be heard for miles in the surrounding communities. It was also used by DEVGRU (a.k.a. "Seal Team Six") to train for the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, in a scale mockup of his secret compound.

References

Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity Wikipedia