Gosport - January 17, 2014

Page 1

Vol. 78, No. 2

Richardson documented naval aviation’s beginnings From NASP PAO

Walter Leroy Richardson, the man known as the “Father of Naval Photography,” was born in Princeton Depot, Mass., Aug. 21, 1889. His love for photography developed while still in high school with the purchase of a mail order camera kit. After enlisting in the Navy Nov. 1, 1911, Richardson was assigned to the USS Mississippi (BB 23) as a ship’s cook fourth class. The 25-year-old amateur photographer was snapping pictures as the battleship steamed into the debris-littered Pensacola Bay Jan. 20, 1914. The Mississippi’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Henry C. Mustin, was tasked with delivering the naval aviation unit (from Annapolis, Md.) that would convert the old shipyard into the Navy’s first Naval Aeronautic Station and Flying School. Richardson’s love of photography and tinkering with machinery brought him to the attention of Lt. j.g. John Towers, the officer in charge of the historic naval air detachment. Convinced that Richardson’s skills were of great value to the naval air service, Towers requested that Richardson be permanently assigned as the official station photographer. Mustin agreed, and Richardson’s rating was changed to aviation mechanic because no photographic rating existed at the time. With the official blessings of Mustin and Towers, Richardson set up a crude photo lab in a storage room and set out to formally document all aspects of the early stages of naval aviation. Each time Richardson turned in a photograph, Towers became a little more impressed with the former cook’s photographic talents and value. By early 1915, Richardson’s photographic tasking increased tremendously as he made photographic

See WLR on page 2

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January 17, 2014

NAS Pensacola names HQ for first Navy photographer Event starts yearlong celebration for the base’s 100th anniversary By Mike O’Connor Gosport Associate Editor

N

Park Service. The barracks would take several years to construct, as funding and materials were appropriated. Bricks, for example, were in heavy demand at the Navy Yard, due to massive construction following the Mexican War. Concrete, masonry and wood as well as brickwork were used in the barracks. tlement in Pensacola – “Noble live oak trees and only the second sucin the vicinity” were precessful permanent settleserved “for ornament and ment in Florida – it’s a shade,” according to the logical and deeply historireport. Since “excellent cal site for the naval air stawater” was found at a depth tion’s command headquarters. of 18 feet, wells were substiBldg. 1500 was built in 1939, tuted for cisterns in March 1849. nearby the site of the “first Toward the end of 1850, four dibuilding” – the barracks of Fort visions of the barracks were Lt. Walter Leroy Barrancas, which ground was “completed in all their parts, exRichardson broken for in June 1847, accept the substitution of two sets cording to a historic structure report prepared of iron stair cases,” and the building was ready for U.S. Department of the Interior, National for occupation by enlisted men of four companies in November 1850. Work continued on the barracks until August 1851, when funds were exhausted. Civil War era and later photos show the barracks as a large, three-story masonry building. Painted white and immediately dubbed “the white house,” it was similar in some aspects to today’s Bldg. 1500. The barracks building burned and was demolished, making way for the current structure in 1939. History is literally underfoot at the headquarters building. Bldg. 1500 is a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)-eligible

aval Air Station Pensacola will kick off its centennial celebration with the dedication of the NASP command headquarters, Bldg. 1500, today, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m. The ceremony will take place on the south side of the building. Guest speakers for the event will be U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller and Rear Adm. Donald Quinn, Commander, Naval Education and Training Command. Capt.Keith Hoskins, Commanding Officer NAS Pensacola will provide opening remarks. The event is open to the public. Bldg. 1500 is a historic legacy, located just east of the historic site of the Spanish presidio (a presidio is a garrison or fortress) “Santa Maria de Galve,” (1698-1719). Since Santa Maria de Galve was the first permanent set-

In a photo dated July 1979, Bldg. 1500 is identified as the “U.S. Naval Schools of Photography.” Photo courtesy NavFac SE

See Bldg. 1500 on page 2

NHP residency program to share information Story, photo by Jason Bortz NHP PAO

Naval Hospital Pensacola’s (NHP) Family Medicine Residency Program was recently included in a new online database of professional training programs created by the Patient-Centered Primary

Care Collaborative (PCPCC). The hospital is the only military treatment facility to be included in the database, which identifies innovative primary care training programs throughout the United States. The PCPCC, which was started in 2006, works to advance an effective and ef-

Lt. Kevin Bernstein, a chief resident, speaks with Lt. Caitlin Redman, a resident, about Naval Hospital Pensacola’s Family Medicine Residency Program. Bernstein led an initiative to include NHP in a new database of professional training programs created by the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative.

ficient health system with a strong foundation of primary care and a patientcentered medical home model. The database is managed by the PCPCC’s Education and Training Task Force and includes 100 programs that support students, residents and health professionals deliver primary care that is patientcentered and collaborative across multiple disciplines including nursing, social work, behavior health and more. NHP’s Family Medicine Residency Program was the first program in the Navy to implement a patient-centered medical home model, known as Medical Home Port, into its residency curriculum. “I thought it was important to share how residents are taught patient-centered care because we have an established curriculum here

See NHP on page 2

USS Alabama Living History Crew in action ... Outfitted in authentic period clothing and gear, World War II reenactors from the USS Alabama Living History Crew recently held drills onboard the battleship in Mobile, Ala. The group is dedicated to accurate portrayals of service member’s lives during the ship’s active history. For more, visit https:// www. facebook. com/UssAlabamaLivingHistoryCrew. Photo by Patti Wagner

Published by Ballinger Publishing, a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Navy. Opinions contained herein are not official expressions of the Department of the Navy nor do the advertisements constitute Department of the Navy, NAS Pensacola or Ballinger Publishing’s endorsement of products or services advertised.


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