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NAS Kingsville Prepares for Arrival of Rita

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050923-03
Release Date: 9/23/2005 11:12:00 AM

By Pat Fisher, Naval Air Station Kingsville Public Affairs

KINGSVILLE, Texas (NNS) -- Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas, is preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Rita, the Gulf of Mexico's third hurricane this season.

Home to Training Air Wing (TRAWING) 2, the base's approximately 70 T-45 Goshawk training jets departed the base Sept. 21 for safe haven at the Army Air Defense base at Fort Bliss in El Paso, near the Mexican border.

Although most base personnel, including Sailors, contractors and DOD employees began leaving the air station in the afternoon of Sept. 21 for higher ground at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, about 80 essential personnel remain behind making last-minute spot checks for loose gear and manning the base's Emergency Operations Center.

The air station closed its gate at noon Sept. 22 for all but essential personnel, and the base’s Commanding Officer, Capt. James A. Crabbe, expects most personnel to be able to return by the morning of Sept. 27 to resume a normal work schedule.

Although Hurricane Rita is expected to strike the Texas coast, damage to Kingsville is expected to be minimal due to the more northerly tracking of the storm. Nonetheless, all precautions are being taken to expect the worst, according to the base’s Disaster Preparedness Officer, Chief Machinist's Mate Gabriel Luna.

“We’re well prepared for Hurricane Rita even if the worst of the storm is farther east," Luna said. "We’ve been through Hurricane Emily this July, so we know what to do.”