• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Naval Air Station Jacksonville Celebrating 70 Years Of Aviation Excellence

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS091104-07
Release Date: 11/4/2009 3:30:00 PM

By Clark Pierce, Naval Air Station Jacksonville Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Dozens of historically savvy Sailors and civilians gathered at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville's Heritage Park Oct. 30 to be some of the first to receive posters commemorating the 70th anniversary of NAS Jacksonville.

The posters were unveiled by NAS Jacksonville's Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. and Executive Officer Capt. Jeffrey Maclay.

"The first poster artfully displays the contrasts in people and aircraft over the past 70 years," said Scorby. "The second poster displays 114 emblems of squadrons, other commands and community organizations that have played roles in our station's rich history."

The event kicked off a year-long celebration to culminate in October 2010, when the station turns 70.

Scorby engaged the audience with some historic facts about the base:

-NAS Jacksonville was commissioned Oct. 15, 1940, with Capt. Charles Mason as the first commanding officer.

-Walt Disney designed NAS Jacksonville's first official logo – one of Donald Duck's nephews breaking out of an eggshell and learning how to fly.

-As a primary flight training base (flying Stearman biplanes), NAS Jacksonville saw 4,363 trainees earn their pilot wings through Feb. 26, 1943.

-The station trained more than 30,000 aerial gunners from 1941 to 1945.

-After World War II, the Navy Flight Demonstration Team, know today as the Blue Angels, was formed at the station in 1946.

-Oct. 21, 1948, saw Ensign Jesse Brown become the first African-American to receive his naval aviator wings at the Naval Air Advanced Training Command.

-VP-5 "Mad Foxes" arrive at NAS Jacksonville in December 1949. They remain the oldest squadron continuously based here.

-With the BRAC closure of NAS Cecil Field in 1999, Sea Control Wing Atlantic and its S-3 Viking squadrons transferred to NAS Jacksonville.

As the S-3 Viking squadrons disestablished and the current SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter squadrons are being re-designated as helicopter sea combat and moving to Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., new helicopter squadron maritime units are taking their place and moving to the station. Five new P-3 Orion squadrons from NAS Brunswick, Maine, also find NAS Jacksonville as their new homeport.

A new $127 million P-3 hangar became operational at NAS Jacksonville in May 2009, and a new $77 million helicopter hangar opened its hangar bays in July 2009.

This air and industrial base will be homeport to 16 Navy operational, training and reserve squadrons by early 2011. Additional major tenants include Commander, Navy Region Southeast; Fleet Readiness Center Southeast; Navy Medicine Support Command; Naval Hospital Jacksonville; Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast; and Fleet Industrial Supply Center Jacksonville. Some 100 other tenant activities also call the station home.

"These are just a few of the countless stories that make the history of our base so interesting," said Scorby. "Many of the aircraft that helped write naval aviation history are on display right here in Heritage Park. I look forward to celebrating our past throughout 2010. I hope you'll join with me to take pride in our history as we write the next chapter of accomplishments at NAS Jacksonville."