(later redesignated EC-121K) aircraft performing airborne early warning barrier combat air patrol (BARCAP) missions. During the mid-1960s, NAF Midway became an important stop for transport aircraft moving to and from Vietnam, and the base was redesignated as a Naval Air Station. In 1968, a shore terminal, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed by means of the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR), for the Undersea Surveillance System (SOSUS) was installed and commissioned. NAVFAC Midway's mission remained secret until its decommissioning after data from its arrays had been remoted first to Naval Facility Barbers Point, Hawaii in 1981 and then directly to the Naval Ocean Processing Facility (NOPF) Ford Island, Hawaii. In 1970, Eastern Island was once again vacated, this time being designated as a wildlife sanctuary. After the Vietnam War, NAS Midway mainly served as a refueling stop and a base for occasional Navy patrol planes. In October 1978, it was again downgraded to naval air facility status and all military dependents were sent home to Hawaii while military personnel cycled through on either unaccompanied remote or short duration assignments. At the end of the Cold War, operations dwindled even more. NAF Midway was disestablished pursuant to BRAC on 1 October 1993. After its closure as a naval installation, the airfield reopened as civilian airport under the name Henderson Field. References 1941 establishments in Oceania 1941 establishments in the United States 1993 disestablishments in Oceania 1993 disestablishments in the United States Military installations closed in 1993 Midway Atoll Midway Island Closed installations of the United States Navy