Traffic reminder...
The westbound turn lane that connects Taylor Road to Radford Boulevard in front of the National Naval Aviation Museum road is closed, according to NASP Public Works Department (PWD). Drivers will need to go straight on Taylor Road to the stop sign and turn right on Radford Boulevard. Signs will be posted to direct traffic. The closing will be temporary to allow road repairs and the installation of a new stoplight. The construction work is expected to take about six weeks. For more information, call Jack Severson at 452-3131, ext. 3074.
Vol. 81, No. 37
VISIT GOSPORT ONLINE: www.gosportpensacola.com
September 15, 2017
NASP stages relief flight to NAS Key West Story, photos by Mike O’Connor Gosport Editor
NAS Pensacola served as a staging point for a Hurricane Irma relief flight to NAS Key West Sept. 12. A C40-A Clipper operated by Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 61 (VR-61) took on 10,800 pounds of bottled water, 6,000 pounds of food and a group of personnel for NAS Key West. NAS Pensacola was undamaged by Hurricane Irma and is positioned to support relief efforts in the days to come. NASP Air Operations personnel and a group of the base’s chief petty officer selects – who are scheduled to be pinned as chiefs in a ceremony today, Sept. 15 – helped load the supplies. After leaving NAS Pensacola, the C40 was bound for NAS Jacksonville for further loading of personnel and supplies.
Hurricane Irma made landfall as a Category 4 storm in the Florida Keys Sept. 10, and made landfall a second time on Marco Island on the state’s Gulf Coast. According to http:// navylive. dodlive. mil, the Department of Defense had troops and equipment positioned to respond, while continuing to assist authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. U.S. Northern Command is coordinating the response with support from several DoD components, including the Navy. Essential personnel at NAS Key West have been asked to return to base. For more, go to http:// www. navy. mil/ submit/ display. asp? story_id= 102360. For updates on NAS Key West, visit the installation’s Facebook page at www. facebook. com/ nas key west, or Navy Region Southeast’s Facebook page at www. facebook. com/ NavyRegionSE.
Personnel from Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola load food and water onto a Hurricane Irma relief flight destined for NAS Key West. NAS Pensacola was undamaged by Hurricane Irma and is positioned to support relief efforts.
CERT deploys to Key West after Hurricane Irma By Sue Brink NavFac Southeast Public Affairs Office
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (NNS) – Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast (NavFac SE) dispatched part of a 17-person Contingency Engineering Response Team (CERT) Sept. 12 to Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West from NAS Jacksonville. The rest of the team flew down Sept. 13 on a separate flight.
“We are headed to Key West today to assess damage that has occurred at NAS Key West,” said Lt. Cmdr. Sean Gorman, CERT officer in charge and the incoming public works officer for NAS
Key West. “We will be working first to set up an emergency operations center for the team and immediately deploying teams to assess critical facilities.” The CERT will evaluate facilities on base that received damage from Hurricane Irma as it passed through the Key West Sunday morning, Sept. 10. There will be three Disaster Assessment Teams (DATs) on the CERT which consist of structural, electrical and me-
chanical engineers, architects, roofing specialists, community planners and construction contract specialists that deploy to begin Rapid Damage Assessments. “It is during this initial phase that damage is rapidly assessed to support restoration of basic functions such as debris removal and reopening roadways, See CERT on page 2
FFSC ombudsman luncheon Sept. 19 ...
U.S. Air Force personnel at NAS Pensacola with a T-6 Texan II training aircraft. The official date of the founding of the U.S. Air Force is Sept. 18, 1947 – yet many storied squadrons are older.
479th FTG T-6 squadron marks 75 years Story, photo by Capt. Devin Vitt Public Affairs Officer/ICSO, 479th FTG
As America’s youngest branch of the military approaches its 70th anniversary, many of the U.S. Air Force’s units are actually celebrating their 75th and 100th anniversaries with their respective foundings dating back to the world wars. One such unit celebrating its 75th anniversary
is located at Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) in the 479th Flying Training Group (479th FTG). Today’s 455th Flying Training Squadron’s mission is to train undergraduate combat system officers (CSOs) in their primary phase of training using the T-6 Texan II. Seventy-five years ago they had a much different mission when the unit was activated as the 455th Bomb Squadron, Aug. 4, 1942 in Columbia, S.C. Soon after activation
the 455th moved to MacDill AFB where it joined the 323rd Bomb Group “White-Tailed Marauders.” Also at MacDill, the 455th’s air and maintenance crews became acquainted with their new aircraft, the B-26 Marauder, which sported names like Miss Emily, Dragon Wagon, Texas Terror and Swamp Chicken. Now fully trained on their new See USAF on page 2
Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) will honor its command ombudsmen with a no-host luncheon Sept. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mustin Beach Club (450 Radford Blvd., Bldg. 250). Tickets will be available for purchase for $15. The command ombudsman is normally the spouse of an active-duty or selected reserve command member. The ombudsman supports the Navy’s mission by providing communications, outreach, resource referral and other important information to command families, especially during times of deployment.
Gold Star / Bells Across America Sept. 21 ... Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) and the National Naval Aviation Museum will honor Gold Star family members in a ceremony which recognizes the service and sacrifice of all those who lost an active-duty parent, spouse or child, regardless of the branch of service or cause of death. Bells Across America for Fallen Services Members, a remembrance ceremony, will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 21, in the atrium of the National Naval Aviation Museum.
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.