MISSION AND VISION

The mission of Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, is to provide the best possible service and facilities to our customers with pride. Our function is to maintain and operate facilities, and provide service and material, to support operations of aviation facilities and units of the Naval Air Training Command and other tenant activities and units.

We will complete our mission through clear and concise communication and continual pursuit of improvement. We will optimize the use of our diverse workforce and air station resources to support tenant commands, and regional goals and objectives.

Our overall command assignment is pilot training. e Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), headquartered here, oversees the training operation throughout the Southeast Region, from Texas to Florida. Under CNATRA's command are five training air wings, 16 training squadrons, more than 14,000 Navy and civilian personnel, the Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Naval Aviation Schools Command and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Established in August 1971, the Naval Air Training Command moved to its present headquarters in July 1972.

Training Air Wing Four (TW-4) was established in March 1972. It is comprised of four individual units: Training Squadrons Twenty-seven (VT-27), Twenty-eight (VT-28), irty-one (VT31) and irty-five (VT-35). VT-27 and VT-28 are two of five primary training squadrons (the other three are located at Whiting Field in Milton, Fla.). ey fly the T-6B Texan II, a single-engine turbo-prop, two-seat, basic training aircraft. VT-31 and VT-35 provide advanced multi-engine training in the T-44A King Air. VT-31 is also responsible for intermediate phase flight training for future E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound pilots. VT-35 was established as a Joint Advanced Multi-engine Training Squadron in October 1999. e historic establishment was the first time that a Navy squadron was formed under the command of a United States Air Force officer. Until 2013, when Air Force student pilot training ended in TW-4, command of the squadron alternated annually between the Air Force and Navy. e largest tenant command at NAS Corpus Christi is the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD). CCAD occupies nearly 140 acres leased from the station and is the largest industrial employer in South Texas. Established in 1961 as a relatively small maintenance facility for fixed-wing aircraft, CCAD has evolved into the Army's largest helicopter repair, overhaul and maintenance center.

NAS CORPUS CHRISTI WAS COMMISSIONED BY ITS FIRST SKIPPER, CAPTAIN ALVA BERNHARD, ON MARCH 12, 1941. THE FIRST FLIGHT TRAINING STARTED ON MAY 5, 1941. FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH WAS THE YOUNGEST PILOT TO GRADUATE -- GRADUATING IN JUNE 1943 AND COMMISSIONED JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE HIS 19TH BIRTHDAY.

Other aircraft aboard the Naval Air Station include Army helicopters that are re-worked and tested, as well as the P-3 Orion, flown by US Customs and Border Protection.

Other major tenants at NAS Corpus Christi include the United States Marine Aviation Training Support Group; and the United States Customs and Border Protection Service. In all, there are more than 40 tenant commands and activities located on board the station.

History

The official step leading to the construction of the Naval Air Station was initiated by the 75th Congress in 1938. A board found that a lack of training facilities capable of meeting an emergency demand for pilots constituted a grave situation. They recommended the establishment of a second air training station and that it be located on Corpus Christi Bay.

NAS Corpus Christi was commissioned by its first skipper, Captain Alva Bernhard, on March 12, 1941. The first flight training started on May 5, 1941. Former President George H.W. Bush was the youngest pilot to graduate -- graduating in June 1943 and commissioned just three days before his 19th birthday.

In 1941, 800 instructors provided training for more than 300 cadets a month. e training rate nearly dou- bled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. By the end of World War II, more than 35,000 Naval aviators had earned their wings here. Corpus Christi was the only primary, basic and advanced training facility in existence in the United States. At one time it was the largest pilot training facility in the world.

Today, the training program is much longer, approximately 18 months, due to the increased complexity of today’s aircraft. Currently, Training Air Wing FOUR produces approximately 600 newly qualified aviators each year.