FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016
Eye on the Fleet
souda bay, greece
VOL. 27 NO. 2
WWW.CNIC.NAVY.MIL/KEYWEST NAVAL AIR STATION KEY WEST, FLORIDA
Offices, activities close in honor of MLK holiday From NAS Key West Public Affairs (Jan. 10, 2016) USS Ross (DDG 71) prepares to pull out of Souda Bay, Greece. Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class guidedmissile destroyer, forward deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting a routine patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.
U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Justin Stumberg
inside: FAIR WINDS SOY farewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 RUBBLE Building razed . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A LOOK BACK Sunset Lounge photos . . . . 5 SOLDIER RIDE A Key West welcome . . . . . . 7 TOP OF PAGE ONE: An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the ‘Pukin’ Dogs’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 143, launches from the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
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aval Air Station Key West’s administrative offices are closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. The Navy Exchange on Sigsbee Park and mini marts on Trumbo and Boca Chica Field are open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; the commissary is closed. All MWR facilities will be closed except for the following: Truman Annex Beach Patio Recreation Center: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fly Away Café at Boca Chica Marina: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Navigator’s at Boca Chica Marina: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. see MLK page 3
U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Cody Babin
Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Training Squadron (VMAQT) 1 maintainers perform preflight tests before flight operations at Naval Air Station Key West’s Boca Chica Field Wednesday. This will be VMAQT 1’s last visit here as the squadron is being disestablished this summer and the EA-6B Prowler will be phased out by 2019.
Prowlers make one last training detachment to NAS
stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, bids farearine Tactical Elec- well to not only Naval Air tronic Warfare Train- Station Key West after its ing Squadron (VMAQT) 1, current detachment but -
By MC3 Cody Babin Southernmost Flyer
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as of this summer - flying the EA-6B Prowler. The squadron will be disestablished as well. The Prowler is a 1960sera aircraft that originally
trained Navy pilots. As the Navy ugpraded its aircraft, the Marines started using the Prowler for trainsee VAMQT page 8
Sun sets on popular Sigsbee Park tiki; porch bar still open By Jolene Scholl Southernmost Flyer
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he sun has dropped like a wrecking ball on Naval Air Station Key West’s Sunset Lounge’s tiki bar, which
was demolished at the end of December. Fortunately, patrons will still be able to watch the sunset from the Lounge’s back patio bar, which continues to operate on its regular hours, 4 - 10 p.m.
Wednesday - Sunday. The kitchen closes one hour earlier, at 9 p.m. The current white kitchen facility was home to the original bar, which celebrated its ribbon cutting in 1988, according to Morale,
Welfare and Recreation Director Tim Campbell. “Originally it was home to the sailing club,” Campbell said, noting that an old boat ramp can still be seen beside the patio bar. The facility also served
as an engine shop for the Sigsbee Marina at one point, he said. After the bar opened, a tiki was built beside the facility and over time the see Tiki page 5