A private US Navy decommissioning ceremony is set for this morning. An incorrect date appeared in an article yesterday.

After 54 years of handling flights to and from Bermuda, the United States military turns the Airport over to Bermudian control this morning.

Two Bermuda Cabinet Ministers will join US Naval Air Station Commander Capt.

Tim Bryan in signing a commemorative scroll that is to be displayed for posterity in the Civil Air Terminal.

The Ministers, Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons and Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess, flew to New York yesterday so they could land in Bermuda this morning aboard USAir Flight 599 -- the first flight to land under Bermudian control of air operations.

Yesterday, Capt. Bryan said the ceremony would be a "poignant'' one, after American involvement in the safe landings and departures of "hundreds of thousands'' of Bermuda flights.

"I feel very confident and comfortable that there will be an uninterrupted transfer of efficient and safe air operations,'' he said. "The Government and its contractor and the Navy have all worked very hard and very efficiently to make sure that happens.'' But, "it's a poignant moment to bring anything to a close -- something that you've put so much of your effort toward for so many years, not to mention the historical capping of such a long relationship.'' The US Navy is pulling out of Bermuda as of September 1. About 1,000 military personnel and dependents remain, but that number will dwindle rapidly after tomorrow, Capt. Bryan said.

A low-key decommissioning ceremony is planned at the Base on Tuesday, to be attended by the Premier, Governor Lord Waddington, and US Consul General Mr.

Bob Farmer.

Capt. Bryan said he wanted to hold the flag-lowering ceremony while Navy people were still on the Base to witness it.