Patrol plane departs Brunswick for good

BRUNSWICK – The first patrol plane in the first squadron to depart permanently Brunswick Naval Air Station has taken off, marking the start of a yearlong aircraft exodus in advance of the closing of New England’s last active-duty military airfield.

Cmdr. Eric Wiese, the commanding officer of Patrol Squadron 8, piloted the P-3 Orion on Friday as part of his unit’s seven-month deployment in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The squadron’s six other planes are poised to leave during the coming week.

When the unit returns from overseas, it will fly to its new home at Florida’s Jacksonville Naval Air Station, rather than return to Brunswick.

Brunswick’s four remaining squadrons will leave by next December, with the 3,000-acre base due to be closed completely in 2011 in accordance with a 2005 vote by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.