Halloween trick or treating hours onboard NAS Pensacola ... Halloween trick-or-treating: Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. throughout housing onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola and NASP Corry Station for authorized dependents. Base security will provide additional patrols to help keep children safe. For more information, contact NASP Chief of Police Carl Matthews at 452-2653. Naval Hospital Pensacola Halloween ... Naval Hospital Pensacola (NHP) will have trick-or-treating Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the hospital. All children of military families are invited to attend and many of the staff will be dressed in costumes. Join NHP for a faBOOlous time!
Vol. 81, No. 43
VISIT GOSPORT ONLINE: www.gosportpensacola.com
October 27, 2017
NASP holds drone chemical attack exercise Story, photo by Kaitlyn Peacock Gosport Staff Writer
Service members onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) were alerted early morning Oct. 24 of a chemical attack on base as part of a mass casualty exercise. This exercise was the first to be held utilizing new drone technology to simulate an attack onboard NASP. Base security and firefighting forces were joined by local law enforcement and fire stations from Escambia County to assist in the training exercise. The exercise was conducted in response to rising concerns over the use of drones in potential attacks on military installations or crowded areas. The exercise simulated a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) attack as the drone, a DJI FC-40, dropped a new street drug called “gray death” on NASP Port Operations personnel. Gray death
is a designer drug that includes heroin, fetanyl and other chemicals and, as the name suggests, is an extremely dangerous, deadly drug. NASP Executive Officer Cmdr. Shawn Dominguez was on scene to observe the training. “As we are doing this drill for the first time, some of the things we’re learning for the first time,” Dominguez said. “We’ll go back with lessons learned and we’ll build that into our future scenarios. It helps the training for our security forces.” NASP Installation Mission Readiness Officer Trent Hathaway coordinated the exercise. He wanted to utilize drones due to the new and evolving threat they pose to the base. “With a lot of drones, you can be two or three miles away and still be flying it because they have cameras onboard,” Hathaway said. “They can avoid everything from buildings to See Drone on page 2
Drone attack: In a mass casualty exercise held Oct. 24 onboard NAS Pensacola, a drone disperses a simulated deadly drug called “gray death” over a manikin at NASP Port Operations. The exercise is a part of annual training held onboard the base to demonstrate readiness against potential security threats.
March 2018 E-4 – E-6 Advancement Cycle announced By Ed Barker Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center (NETPDC) Public Affairs
The March 2018 Navywide enlisted examinations (Cycle 239) testing dates
for active duty, full time support, and canvasser recruiter Sailors who are advancement eligible to the paygrades of E-4 – E-6 have been announced in Naval Administrative Message (NAVADMIN) 252/17, released Oct. 18. Each Navy examination consists of 25
professional military knowledge and 150 job-specific rating technical questions. The Navywide examination dates are March 1 (E-6), March 8 (E-5) and March 15 (E-4). Examination results are anticipated to be released to command triads in late May, prior to posting on the Navy
Enlisted Advancement System (NEAS) website. During Advancement Examination Readiness Reviews held at NETPDC, visiting E-7 – E-9 fleet subject matter See Exams on page 2
NIOC Pensacola celebrates 30 years of operations By CTN1(IW/SS) Mark Jansson U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/ U.S. TENTH Fleet
NAS Pensacola MATSG-21 Sgt. Major Joseph C. Gray (left) congratulates Marines at the graduation ceremony for the base’s first Marine Corps University College of Distance Education and Training Sergeants Course Seminar Oct. 23.
Marine sergeants first to graduate from training program Story, photo by Mike O’Connor Gosport Editor
Twelve Marines – mostly from NAS Pensacola’s (NASP) Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21 (MATSG-21) – graduated Oct. 23 from a new education program at NASP. The Marine Corps University (MCU) College of Distance Education and Train-
ing (CDET) Sergeants Course Seminar graduation marked the first class in a program designed to ensure all Marines are afforded the opportunity to further their professional military education. The ceremony was held at the National Naval Aviation Museum onboard NASP; guest speaker for the event was MATSG21 Sgt. Major Joseph C. Gray. See Marines on page 2
Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Pensacola celebrated its 30th year of operations during a short ceremony held at Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) Corry Station Oct. 6. In 1982, it was recognized that the Naval Security Group would require a significant number of general purpose automated systems for field-station use. With the cost of computer hardware decreasing and software costs increasing at a dramatic pace, it became evident that a new approach to software support was required. Thus, the concept of an organization whose only mission was computer support was born.
In the fall of 1986, the authorization was granted by the Chief of Naval Operations to establish NSGD Pensacola, now known as NIOC Pensacola. A transition team was placed at Headquarters, Naval Security Group Command where planning and implementation efforts continued. Personnel started arriving in Pensacola in February 1987. The event featured remarks from the current Commanding Officer of NIOC Pensacola, Cmdr. Paul D. Lashmet and the former officer in charge of Naval Security Group Detachment Pensacola, retired Capt. Tom Pigoski. “We’re here today to celebrate the 30th birthday of Navy Information Operations Command, Pensacola; a See NIOC 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.