Naval Air Station Kingsville
Encyclopedia
Naval Air Station Kingsville or NAS Kingsville is a military airport located 3 miles east of Kingsville, Texas
.
Under the current US Navy organization known as Commander, Naval Installations (CNI), NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville are part of Navy Region Southeast headquartered at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. Both facilities were previously under the since-disestablished Navy Region South, where the rear admiral
serving as Region Commander and as Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) were the same individual.
NAS Kingsville’s operation is the natural complement of NAS Corpus Christi. NAS Kingsville operates higher performance single engine aircraft, generally over land. Distance, rather than safety or capacity concerns, limits NAS Kingsville use of overwater areas.
NAS Kingsville also organizes and hosts the annual Wings Over South Texas Air Show.
’s primary mission is to train Student Naval Aviator
s for the United States Navy
and United States Marine Corps
and tactical jet pilots for other select NATO and Allied countries. To accomplish its mission, NAS Kingsville is home to Training Air Wing TWO and several tenant commands, military as well as civilian, with a total complement of approximately 300 officers, 200 enlisted, 350 civilian personnel, and 625 contract maintenance personnel. The wing was the first in the Navy to operate the Boeing T-45 Goshawk
aircraft, providing a single carrier-capable aircraft to replace the North American Rockwell T-2 Buckeye
and the McDonnell Douglas TA-4 Skyhawk II in the Navy's strike pilot training pipeline. Originally equipped with the T-45A model of the Goshawk, the wing began accepting new production T-45C model aircraft in 2005, which replaces the earlier T-45A aircraft's analog cockpit with a digital or "glass" cockpit similar to what students will find when they transition to operational fleet combat aircraft. All T-45A aircraft at NAS Kingsville are slated to be retrofitted and upgraded to a T-45C configuration under the T-45 Required Avionics Modernization Program (T-45 RAMP), with a select number of RAMP modified aircraft slated for transfer to Training Air Wing SIX at NAS Pensacola, Florida in support of Student Naval Flight Officer
training under the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer (UMFO) program.
The NAS Kingsville Operations Department operates the airfield and provides services to support operations of activity, tenant, and transiting aircraft; provides firefighting functions, both structural and fire and rescue; provides air traffic control; operates air terminal; schedules administrative and proficiency flights; repairs and maintains station ground electronics equipment; stores, maintains, and issues assigned ordnance and munitions; operates firing ranges; operates aerial targets, bombing ranges, and auxiliary landing fields.
NAS Kingsville also has both Military and Civilian security which man the entry control points and conduct vehicle inspections and patrols.
Kingsville, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,575 people, 8,943 households, and 6,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,848.8 people per square mile . There were 10,427 housing units at an average density of 753.8 per square mile...
.
Under the current US Navy organization known as Commander, Naval Installations (CNI), NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville are part of Navy Region Southeast headquartered at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. Both facilities were previously under the since-disestablished Navy Region South, where the rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
serving as Region Commander and as Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) were the same individual.
NAS Kingsville’s operation is the natural complement of NAS Corpus Christi. NAS Kingsville operates higher performance single engine aircraft, generally over land. Distance, rather than safety or capacity concerns, limits NAS Kingsville use of overwater areas.
NAS Kingsville also organizes and hosts the annual Wings Over South Texas Air Show.
Current operations
Naval Air Station Kingsville is one of the U.S. Navy’s premier locations for jet aviation training. The naval air stationNaval Air Station
A Naval Air Station is a military airbase, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of their Navy...
’s primary mission is to train Student Naval Aviator
Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...
s for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and tactical jet pilots for other select NATO and Allied countries. To accomplish its mission, NAS Kingsville is home to Training Air Wing TWO and several tenant commands, military as well as civilian, with a total complement of approximately 300 officers, 200 enlisted, 350 civilian personnel, and 625 contract maintenance personnel. The wing was the first in the Navy to operate the Boeing T-45 Goshawk
T-45 Goshawk
|-Avionics:Data from naval-technology.com *Smiths Industries, Ltd. AN/USN-2 Standard Attitude Heading and Reference System . Later replaced by the BAE/Marconi AN/ASN-180 Navigation Guidance System ....
aircraft, providing a single carrier-capable aircraft to replace the North American Rockwell T-2 Buckeye
T-2 Buckeye
|-See also:-External links:*****...
and the McDonnell Douglas TA-4 Skyhawk II in the Navy's strike pilot training pipeline. Originally equipped with the T-45A model of the Goshawk, the wing began accepting new production T-45C model aircraft in 2005, which replaces the earlier T-45A aircraft's analog cockpit with a digital or "glass" cockpit similar to what students will find when they transition to operational fleet combat aircraft. All T-45A aircraft at NAS Kingsville are slated to be retrofitted and upgraded to a T-45C configuration under the T-45 Required Avionics Modernization Program (T-45 RAMP), with a select number of RAMP modified aircraft slated for transfer to Training Air Wing SIX at NAS Pensacola, Florida in support of Student Naval Flight Officer
Naval Flight Officer
A Naval Flight Officer is an aeronautically designated commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps that specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots per se, but they may perform many "co-pilot" functions, depending on the type of aircraft...
training under the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer (UMFO) program.
The NAS Kingsville Operations Department operates the airfield and provides services to support operations of activity, tenant, and transiting aircraft; provides firefighting functions, both structural and fire and rescue; provides air traffic control; operates air terminal; schedules administrative and proficiency flights; repairs and maintains station ground electronics equipment; stores, maintains, and issues assigned ordnance and munitions; operates firing ranges; operates aerial targets, bombing ranges, and auxiliary landing fields.
NAS Kingsville also has both Military and Civilian security which man the entry control points and conduct vehicle inspections and patrols.
Tenant Units
- Training Squadron Twenty-One (VT-21) "Redhawks"
- Training Squadron Twenty-Two (VT-22) "Golden Eagles"
- Naval Branch Clinic Kingsville
- NAVAIR Orlando Training Systems Division In-Service Engineering Office (ISEO) Detachment
- Training Air Wing Two
External links
- Training Air Wing Two (official site)