The Naval Air Depot Cherry Point provides maintenance, engineering and logistics support to military aircraft. Though primarily focused on vertical-takeoff aircraft flown by the Navy and Marine Corps, NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point also supports Army and Air Force aircraft, as well as those of other federal agencies and some foreign governments.

NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point opened in 1943 as the Assembly and Repair Depot for Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, supporting the aircraft and aviators serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Still occupying some 150 acres aboard the air station, NADEP has grown into the finest facility of its kind and a crucial part of the military’s readiness.


The highly skilled engineers, mechanics, technicians and artisans at NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point provide major airframe repair and modifications to many different types of rotor-wing and fixed-wing aircraft in the US military arsenal, but they specialize in vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as:

• The AV-8B Harrier is the tactical attack jet flown in close combat support by Marines.

• The H-46 Sea Knight helicopter is the medium-lift transport vehicle flown by the Navy and Marine Corps.

• The H-53D Sea Stallion and H-53E Super Stallion helicopters are the heavier duty transport vehicles flown by the Navy and Marine Corps.

• The MH-53J is the Air Force version of the Stallion helicopter.

NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point is designated to be the logistics and maintenance support depot for the V-22 Osprey, when that aircraft is deployed as a replacement vehicle for the H-46s.

Over 4,000 civilians and military personnel make up the workforce at NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point, making NAVAIR North Carolina’s largest civilian employer east of Interstate-95. These highly skilled workers earn an average salary approaching $50,000, well above the regional average. NAVAIR spends $270 Million in wages every year. Together, MCAS Cherry Point and NADEP represents a $1.1 Billion annual impact to North Carolina economy.

NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point is commanded by Colonel John D. Gumbel, and is the only one of three NAVAIR depots in the Naval Air Systems Command to be led by a Marine Corps officer.

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