cradle of naval aviation

Pensacola has been dubbed the Mother-in-Law of the Navy and the Cradle of Naval Aviation—both terms of endearment making reference to the family nature of the relationship between the coastal city and the military base that calls it home. It’s a strong relationship that brings out the best in both parties. Navy personnel consistently rank Pensacola Naval Air Station among the favored locations at which to be stationed. The beautiful beaches, mild climate and hospitable people are the reasons given for its popularity.

The economic importance of NAS to Northwest Florida cannot be overstated. The Pensacola naval complex —NAS, the Center for Information Dominance at Corry Station, Whiting Field and Saufley Field—is the third-largest employer of civilians in the Southeastern United States, with more than 20,000 employees and students, and a payroll of more than $907 million.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission recommended the relocation of Pensacola Naval Air Station’s Officer Training Command, Naval Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and Space Warfare Systems Center (SPAWARS) to other bases. Bases have until 2011 to comply with BRAC realignments.

THE 'CRADLE'

Pensacola residents may be unique in that the word “navy” conjures images of planes rather than ships. It was 1911 when the Navy purchased its first planes and a few courageous volunteers became the first naval aviators. Pensacola was chosen as the sight of the first naval aeronautical installation in 1914 because its convenient location on the Gulf of Mexico allowed ample space for ships and planes to train together. Since then, the air station has trained and qualified Navy and Marine Corps pilots. Today it is equipped to train the best naval flight officers in the world on board its 5,800-acre complex overlooking Pensacola Bay. More than 297 flight operations per day make it one of the busiest air-traffic locations in the world. Many training programs are located at NAS, including the Naval Education and Training Command, Naval Aviation Schools Command and Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT). Along with the actual training, future naval flight officers are schooled in land/sea survival, physical fitness and simulated emergency procedures.

Naval Education and Training Command (NETC)

NETC headquarters, one of the largest Navy shore commands, is located on board NAS Pensacola. The command is led by a Rear Adm. Gary Jones who is the senior ranking officer in the area. The commander of NETC is “dual hatted” as the Navy’s director of naval education and training and reports directly to the chief of naval operations. On any given day, there are 34,000 officers, enlisted, civilian and foreign students at more than 170 NETC claimancy activities stateside and abroad. NETC is responsible for the individual training and education of Navy and Marine Corps personnel worldwide. This training includes recruit training, specialized skills training, pre-commissioning training for officers, warfare specialty training, and fleet individual and team training. NETC provides education and training ranging from enlisted skills to officer flight training to students from foreign nations.

Helicopter Landing Trainer (HLT) IX-514

The primary mission of the Helicopter Landing Trainer is to provide support to the Undergraduate Helicopter Pilot Training Program of Training Air Wing FIVE and operating units of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps—all with 23 permanently assigned crew members. The HLT has distinguished itself as the Navy’s smallest training aircraft carrier, completing over 75,000 mishap-free deck-landing qualifications.

Marine Aviation Training Support Group-21 (MATSG)

The Marine Aviation Training Support Group provides administrative support to assigned personnel in addition to other tasks as directed by the commandant. This support is directed primarily toward personnel in the Naval Air Training Command and the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center with support to 10 ancillary activities. The command is principally manned by approximately 21 percent permanent personnel and 79 percent aviation students, both enlisted and officers. While the MATSG mission is administrative in nature, the command monitors the flow of students through the school houses, provides Marine Corps discipline and Marine Corps peculiar training.

Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (NAMRL)

“Excellence in research—supporting tomorrow’s fleet today” is the motto of the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. NAMRL is one of the premier research facilities for the causes and cures of disorientation sickness. The primary responsibility of the lab is to conduct research, testing and evaluation of aviation medicine and allied sciences to enhance the health, safety and readiness of Navy and Marine Corps personnel in the effective performance of their respective missions.

Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT)

The Center for Naval Aviation and Technical Training is one of the “Learning Centers” under Naval Personnel Development Command (NPDC), Norfolk, Va., which are charged with developing and maintaining the Sailor Continuum. The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training officially “stood-up” on Feb. 3, 2003, and provides single-site management for the aviation technical training community. CNATT is responsible for 27 sites, 1051 major hardware trainers, 531 electronic classrooms and more than 17,657 pieces of support equipment.

Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC)

The Navy’s second-largest training command and premier location for enlisted aeronautical technical training, NATTC comprises approximately 5,500 staff and students. Technical experts from all the U.S. Armed Services, Department of Defense civilians and foreign national students from allied countries attend courses at the modern facility. More than 25,000 graduates pass through the command annually with the largest portion attending basic “A” schools. More than 113 courses are taught on the 205- acre complex.

NAVAL AVIATION SCHOOLS COMMAND (NASC)

The future of naval aviation is determined at the Naval Aviation Schools Command, where tomorrow’s members take the first steps of their careers. Schools Command provides both aviation indoctrination and water-survival training to student officers, naval aircrewmen trainees and foreign students. NASC also provides specialized instruction for future aviation squadron commanding officers and executive officers as well as specialized training in aviation safety. NASC comprises four schools and trains about 10,000 students annually. Its four schools are Aviation Enlisted Aircrew Training, Advanced Officer Training, Aviation Safety Officer, and Aviation Training.

Officer Training Command Pensacola (OTCP)

Officer Training Command Pensacola’s mission is to develop civilians, enlisted, and newly commissioned personnel morally, mentally, and physically and imbue them with the highest ideals of honor, courage and commitment, in order to prepare graduates for service in the fleet as naval officers. There are three schools that make up OTCP: Officer Candidate School (OCS), Direct Commissioned Officer (DCO) and Limited Duty Officer/ Chief Warrant Officer (LDO/CWO).

NAVAL HOSPITAL PENSACOLA

The mission of Naval Hospital Pensacola is force health protection. It promotes and restores the health of active-duty military service members and their families, military retirees and others entrusted to its care — anytime, anywhere. Its vision is to be the provider of choice by achieving superior performance in health services and population health. Under the hospital’s command are 12 naval branch health clinics (NBHC) across four states. There are more than 200,000 beneficiaries eligible for care systemwide within the hospital command. NH Pensacola is a medical and surgical facility located on a 42-acre compound in southwestern Escambia County with local health clinics—both medical and dental—at NAS and NATTC Pensacola, Corry Station and NAS Whiting Field. It is also home to the only deployable active-duty command within the Pensacola Naval Complex: Fleet Hospital Pensacola.

Naval Operational Medicine Institute (NOMI)

Naval Operational Medicine Institute is a medical war-fighting command made up of components from all warfare areas geographically dispersed throughout the United States. Its mission is to ensure a tactically proficient, combat-credible medical force providing optimal force health protection to the joint war-fighter at any time and at any place along the full spectrum of operations. NOMI provides specialized and operational medical training and consultative services to military forces worldwide. As one of the Chief of Naval Operations Warfare Centers of Excellence, NOMI provides total force readiness by providing training, fleet support and consultation on health, physical standards and survival skills. Locally, NOMI is best known for its training programs, which led to a designation as a naval flight surgeon, aerospace physiologist, aerospace experimental psychologist, aviation medical technician, and aerospace physiology technician. Additionally, NOMI is recognized as providing the leadership role for all Navy/Marine Corps water survival training programs.

Training Air Wing SIX (TRAWING SIX)

Located at Sherman Field aboard NAS Pensacola, TRAWING SIX conducts primary, intermediate and advanced naval flight officer and U.S Air Force navigator training. Recently TRAWING SIX became a key player in astronaut primary training. Aprogram was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to utilize NAS Pensacola, Training Squadron FOUR and T-34C TurboMentor trainers for primary astronaut orientation flight training. The wing commander is overall commander of Training Squadron FOUR (VT-4), Training Squadron TEN (VT- 10), and Training Squadron EIGHTY-SIX (VT-86). TRAWING SIX’s primary purpose is to plan for, supervise support and conduct flight training of quality student naval flight officers, Air Force navigators and international military flight students. The 2nd German Air Force Training Squadron is also attached to TRAWING SIX.

U.S. Coast Guard Station, Pensacola

The Coast Guard moved to NASP in 1987, but has been part of Pensacola since 1885. The multi-mission station participates in over 350 searchand- rescue and law-enforcement cases annually. The station is home to more than 45 personnel and three Coast Guard units: Coast Guard Station Pensacola, Aids to Navigation Team, and the Coast Guard Cutter Bonito.

United States Navy Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels)

NAS Pensacola is home to the world-famous Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team. Flying blue and gold F/A-18 Hornet aircrafts, the Blue Angels perform at approximately 70 air shows annually at 40 locations throughout the United States and abroad. The “Blues” have performed precision flight demonstrations for more than 350 million spectators since their organization in 1946. As ambassadors of goodwill, the mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance the Navy recruiting effort by attracting talented and qualified youths to join them in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

Center for Information Dominance Corry Station (CID)

The Center for Information Dominance Corry Station was established in January 2005 as a result of the merger of the Center for Cryptology Corry Station and the Center for Information Technology. The creation of CID integrated training responsibilities for the four key disciplines of information dominance — exploit, attack, defend, and operate — under one Learning Center. CID is responsible for training students of the U.S. military and allied forces in the fields of cryptology, information technology and information operations. CID’s mission is to deliver the right training at the right time in the right place, using technology, innovation, and science of learning to provide the fleet with optimally trained sea warriors who will create a tactical advantage for mission success in the information domain. CID oversees training for 16,000 students annually at 17 learning sites staffed by 700 military and civilian employees throughout the U.S. and in Japan.

NETPDTC Saufley Field

Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center’s mission is to analyze, design, develop and evaluate prototype instructional processes, products, services and the application of instructional technologies that enhance the teaching-learning process. The Enlisted Advancement Center is a major component of NETPDTC, and its products and services include the development and distribution of rating examinations, bibliographies, advancement handbooks, personnel qualification standards and non-resident training courses. It also provides information-systems support, manages the Navy’s volunteer education program, the program for afloat college education and the academic skills program, and designs and delivers training programs for the Chaplain’s Corps.

Saufley Field, which opened as an auxiliary airfield for NAS Pensacola in 1940, became a hub for naval aviation training before, during and following World War II. Saufley became an outlying field in 1976 and was reactivated in 1979. Saufley has tenant commands: the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support, Naval Reserve Center, and Federal Prison Camp.

Federal Prison Camp (FPC)

The Federal Prison Camp was established in April 1988 to provide inmate manpower to various components for the Pensacola Naval Complex. The agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and the Navy is similar to existing ones with the U.S. Air Force in the establishment of Federal Prison Camps at Maxwell and Eglin Air Force Bases.

Saufley Field’s prison camp has a fluctuating population but can house up to 600 inmates, with more than half always dedicated to providing manpower to the Navy. Inmate labor is primarily used statutorily for ground maintenance and for other Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs. The prison camp has a staff of about 85 people.

Naval Reserve Center (NRC)

The Naval Reserve Center serves approximately 120 officer and 550 enlisted Reservists who reside in the West Florida and Alabama area. With an active-duty staff of two officers and 16 enlisted personnel, they coordinate activities of 12 inactive Naval Reserve units. The primary mission is to train reservists and to ensure they are ready for immediate mobilization.

NAVAL AIR STATION (NAS) WHITING FIELD: THE BUSIEST AIR STATION IN THE WORLD

NAS Whiting Field is located 7 miles north of the city of Milton in Santa Rosa County. NAS Whiting Field was opened in July 1943 to fulfill the pilot training demands of World War II. Throughout its existence, NAS Whiting Field’s primary mission has been to support pilot training. NAS Whiting Field has two main airfields (North and South) supporting the training requirements of Training Air Wing FIVE (TRAWING FIVE). The management and operation of 14 Navy outlying landing fields support both TRAWING FIVE at NAS Whiting Field and TRAWING SIX, which is based at NAS Pensacola. Additionally, the Navy’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle training school will soon call NAS Whiting Field home.

• Training Air Wing FIVE consists of the commander, his staff, five training squadrons and a reserve squadron. The Wing’s mission is to coordinate the flight training conducted at NAS Whiting Field. This wing conducts approximately 45 percent of Chief of Naval Air Training Command’s (CNATRA) total flight time and more than 10 percent of the Navy and Marine Corps total flight time.

• Training Squadrons TWO (VT-2), THREE (VT-3) and SIX (VT-6) conduct approximately 60 percent of the Navy’s primary and intermediate fixed-wing training in the T-34C. The Wing’s three primary squadrons graduate approximately 600 primary and 450 intermediate Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and international students each year. The annual flight hours flown by the 3 squadrons exceeds 75,000 hours annually.

• Helicopter Training Squadrons EIGHT (HT-8) and EIGHTEEN (HT- 18) provide all primary and advanced helicopter training for Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and allied student aviators. The two squadrons “wing” approximately 540 aviators each year while conducting more than 60,000 flight hours. A third squadron, Helicopter Training Squadron TWENTY EIGHT (28), was established this year (2007) to meet the growing demand for Navy and Marine Corps helicopter pilots while also training Coast Guard and international pilots.