NASP 2013 water quality report online ... The annual drinking water quality reports for NAS Pensacola/NASP Corry Station and Saufley Field are available on the NAS Pensacola website at http://www.cnic.navy.mil/pensacola/index.htm. Copies can be obtained by contacting Integrated Science Solutions Inc. Environmental at 452-3908. NAS Pensacola routinely monitors for contaminants in drinking water according to federal and state laws, rules and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013. Data obtained before Jan. 1, 2013, and presented in the report are from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations. For more information about this report or concerning your water utility, contact Joelle O’Daniel-Lopez at 452-3131, ext. 3027.
Vol. 78, No. 25
VISIT GOSPORT ONLINE: www.gosportpensacola.com
June 27, 2014
Sundown ceremony held for T-39 Sabreliner ‘Queen of the skies over Pensacola’ will make last flight Sept. 3 By Mike O’Connor Gosport Associate Editor
NAS Pensacola and its training squadrons bid an official farewell to one of its longest-serving training aircraft, the T-39 Sabreliner, with a “sundown ceremony” for the aircraft June 20 at the National Naval Aviation Museum. Guest speaker for the event was Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis, program executive officer, tactical aircraft programs. Rear Adm. Roy Kelley, Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA); Commodore Capt. Willie D. Billingslea, Commander Training Air Wing Six (TraWing-6); and Randy Hall Jr., president of Vertex Logistics Solutions, also delivered remarks. “Every once in a while an event occurs that changes the basic way the group does business,” Gaddis said. “One such event occurred in 1963 when the Sabreliner joined the naval service. It would eventually become the workhorse of aviator training, and would help produce over 12,000 NFOs, U.S. Air Force weapons systems officers, mission specialists, asA group of T-39 Sabreliners in a division flight near Ono Island, Ala., in preparation for tronauts, flight surgeons and pilots. “This airplane has been in service the sundown ceremony. See page 2 for more on the flight. Photo courtesy VT-86/VT-4
longer than most of us have been alive,” Gaddis said. “It’s done a tremendous job in our great Navy and our great nation.” Gaddis went on to address the T-39’s long service life, personifying the aircraft in praising its accomplishments. “You will not be forgotten by the generations of aviators who flew you ... You challenged us, and taught us how to be part of a crew ... You deserve the credit for preparing well our warriors of the air, and for that we are truly grateful.” The “Gray Eagles,” a group of T-39 contract pilots with considerable hours in the aircraft, referred to the Sabreliner as a “grand old dame of aviation” and “queen of the skies over Pensacola” in the ceremony program. “The Sabreliner leaves the service at the peak of her capabilities ... She accomplished every mission asked with perfection (and) played an essential part in the changes that reshaped the training command and naval aviation. Thank you, Sabreliner, for building a truly outstanding aircraft that served our wonderful nation for so long.” The last student is scheduled to fly onboard a T-39 flight in late August; Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) will fly the last flight of the T-39 Sept. 3.
NAMI corpsman played pivotal role in saving recent Medal of Honor recipient From Navy Medicine Operational Training Center Public Affairs
While streaming media provided a front-row seat to a ceremony featuring President Barack Obama presenting the nation’s highest combat valor award to a slight, unassuming Marine, one Pensacola Sailor witnessed the presentation first-hand. And unlike the majority of individuals in atten-
dance at the June 19 ceremony in the White House’s East Wing, this Sailor also bore witness to the events which saw then Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter throw himself between a grenade and another Marine in an effort to shield that service member while on guard duty in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The Sailor who witnessed both the ceremony
and the events leading to it, HM3(FMF) Christopher Frend, was the corpsman attached to Carpenter’s unit, and ultimately saved the Marine’s life. A Florida native, Frend enlisted as a hospital corpsman in 2007, a decision which would eventually send him on combat tours to Afghanistan. Now at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) at NASP, Frend,
‘Heroes Among Us’ salutes corpsman at veterans park From the Marine Corp League, J.R. Spears Detachment 066
Thomas Eagles joined a Catholic monastery shortly after he graduated from high school in 1961. The Brothers of Mercy soon sent Eagles to Vietnam, to help care for old and ailing French and Vietnamese priests. But he decided that being an Augustinian monk was not his calling, so he returned to the United States, left the monastery and joined the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman recruit. By 1966, Eagles was back in Vietnam, this time as a corpsman assigned to a Marine unit as the war heated up. It was the start of a long and distinguished military career for Eagles, who will be singled out for attention at 6 p.m.
today, June 27, when the “Heroes Among Us” series observes Navy Medical Corpsman Month. Eagles served three tours in Vietnam and is the most decorated corpsman alive today. The event, part of a monthly series, presented by the Marine Corps League, J.R. Spears Detachment 066, will be held at Veterans Memorial Park at Ninth Avenue and Bayfront Parkway in downtown Pensacola. Admission is free, although donations will be accepted for the Marines in Distress Fund. Water and light food will be provided; people should bring their own chairs or blankets. Eagles, who was wounded several times in his career, was among the last
See Corpsman on page 2
who responded to the grenade blast seconds after it occurred, said the injuries Carpenter sustained were something he hadn’t seen, but for which he was prepared. “Before getting to the unit, I didn’t have much experience at all except going through the Navy schools – field med and corps school,” he said. “But one of the surgeon general’s tenets is ‘readiness,’ and BuMed pro-
HM3(FMF) Christopher Frend
vides intensive schools for us to train at, to get us
ready for anything, anywhere.” Hospital corpsmen work in a wide variety of capacities and locations, including shore establishments such as naval hospitals and clinics, aboard ships, and as well as the primary medical caregivers for Sailors while underway, or as in Frend’s case, are frequently the
See Frend on page 2
NASP SAPR victim advocate ranks swell past 100 By NASP Fleet and Family Support Center SAPR Team
This year, Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) celebrates its 100th anniversary, and as of May 2014, it can also celebrate having more than 100 D-SAACP (Department of Defense Sexual Assault Advocate Certification Program) certified Victim Advocates (VAs). These 100
are a diverse group of males and females, active-duty and Department of Defense civilians, enlisted and officers, Navy and other branches, married and unmarried, young and not quite as young. Despite their differences, one common characteristic is found in each and every advocate who serves: all are committed to providing the highest level of care for victims of sexual assault, both at NASP and at future duty stations. “I am encouraged by
the number of victim advocates that have been certified by Navy standards to meet the challenges we face in today’s Navy,” said NASP Commanding Officer Capt. Keith W. Hoskins. “I am incredibly proud of our certified and vetted victim advocates that provide a vital service to service members that have been subjected to a sexual assault.” SAPR VAs are the “boots on the ground” for
See 100 VAs on page 2
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.