Naval air base in Texas, United States
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Beech_T-44C_Pegasus.jpg/250px-Beech_T-44C_Pegasus.jpg) A
T-44C Pegasus
of Training Wing Four based at NAS Corpus Christi
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/NASCC.gif/200px-NASCC.gif) |
Location in the United States
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Coordinates
| 27°41′33″N
97°17′28″W
/
27.69250°N 97.29111°W
/
27.69250; -97.29111
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Type
| Naval Air Station
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Owner
| Department of Defense
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Operator
| US Navy
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Controlled by
| Navy Region Southeast
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Condition
| Operational
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Website
| Official website
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Built
| 1941
(
1941
)
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In use
| 1941 ? present
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Current
commander
| Captain
Ty C. Jurica
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Garrison
| Training Air Wing Four
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Identifiers
| IATA
: NGP,
ICAO
: KNGP,
FAA LID
: NGP,
WMO
: 722515
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Elevation
| 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in)
AMSL
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Runways
|
Direction
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Length and surface
|
13R/31L
|
2,439 metres (8,002 ft)
Porous European Mix
|
18/36
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1,524.6 metres (5,002 ft)
Asphalt
|
04/22
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1,524.3 metres (5,001 ft) Asphalt
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13L/31R
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1,524 metres (5,000 ft) Asphalt
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Source:
Federal Aviation Administration
[1]
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Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
(
IATA
:
NGP
,
ICAO
:
KNGP
,
FAA
LID
:
NGP
) is a
United States Navy
naval air base located six miles (10 km) southeast of the
central business district
(CBD) of
Corpus Christi
, in
Nueces County, Texas
.
History
[
edit
]
A naval air station for Corpus Christi had been proposed since the mid-1930s, and the city's
congressman
,
Richard M. Kleberg
, supported it. But it remained a low priority construction project for the
U.S. Navy
as late as January 9, 1940. (The Kleberg family and
Roy Miller
both supported
Vice President
John Nance Garner
's quest for the
1940 presidential nomination
.) Rep.
Lyndon B. Johnson
made himself a key Texas ally of
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
's
bid for a third term
, and the
White House
told the Navy Department to consult Johnson, and heed his advice, on Navy contracts in Texas. By February 1940, the project was on the Navy's preferred list.
Brown & Root
, a
Houston
firm, shared the construction contract with another New Deal supporter,
Henry Kaiser
; the president personally signed the (first)
cost plus fixed fee
contract June 13, 1940. The Roosevelt campaign in Texas no longer had a shortage of cash.
[2]
The official step leading to the construction of the Naval Air Station was initiated by the
75th United States 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 further, that it be located on
Corpus Christi Bay
. NAS Corpus Christi was commissioned by its first Commanding Officer,
CAPT
Alva Berhard
, on March 12, 1941. The first flight training started on May 5, 1941.
US Navy
North American
SNJ-4s
warming up for training at NAS Corpus Christi circa 1943.
Aviation Ordnanceman
stationed at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi boarding a
PBY Catalina
, circa 1942
In 1941, 800 instructors provided training for more than 300 student pilots a month. The training rate nearly doubled after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor
. By the end of
World War II
, more than 35,000 naval aviators had earned their wings there. Corpus Christi provided intermediate flight training in World War II, training naval pilots to fly
SNJ
,
SNV
,
SNB
,
OS2U
,
PBY
, and
N3N
type airplanes. In 1944 it was the largest naval aviation training facility in the world. The facility covered 20,000 acres (81 km
2
), and had 997 hangars, shops, barracks, warehouses and other buildings.
Future
President
George H. W. Bush
was the youngest pilot to receive his wings at NAS Corpus Christi in June 1943. NAS Corpus Christi also was home to the
Blue Angels
from 1951 to 1954. It also served as a
Project Mercury
Tracking station in the early 1960s.
2020 shooting
[
edit
]
On May 21, 2020, a motorist crashed through a northern perimeter gate at NAS Corpus Christi, activating vehicle barriers that stopped the vehicle. The driver then got out and opened fire before being shot and killed. A
Navy
police officer was shot but was protected by a ballistic vest. Officials with the
FBI
announced the incident was
terrorism
-related and a second
person of interest
may be at large.
[3]
[4]
The shooter was later identified as Adam Alsalhi, a 20-year-old Corpus Christi resident born in
Syria
, who had expressed support for
ISIS
and
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
.
[5]
The incident was the second fatal shooting and the fourth security incident that caused NAS Corpus Christi to be locked down since February 2019.
[6]
Current operations
[
edit
]
Today, the Naval Aviator training program at NAS Corpus Christi is much longer, approximately 18 months, due to the increased complexity of today's aircraft. Currently, Training Air Wing FOUR produces approximately 400 newly qualified aviators each year via the "Maritime Pipeline" for shore-based U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard fixed-wing jet and turboprop aircraft, as well as a limited number of NATO/Allied/Coalition military pilots for similar aircraft.
NAS Corpus Christi in 1946 or 1947
Training Air Wing FOUR consists of four squadrons. VT-27 and VT-28 handle primary training in the
T-6B Texan II
, a single engine turboprop aircraft.
[
citation needed
]
VT-31 and VT-35 provide advanced training in the twin engine
T-44C
Pegasus aircraft along with the
Textron T-54A
.
[7]
Other aircraft found at NAS Corpus Christi include the P-3 Orions and
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
drones
operated by
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
.
In addition to U.S. Navy Student Naval Aviators, VT-31 and VT-35 also train Student Naval Aviators from the
U.S. Marine Corps
and
U.S. Coast Guard
. The station employs officer, enlisted and civilian personnel serving in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the military services of numerous
NATO
/Allied/Coalition partner nations.
In support of the base's training mission are three nearby outlying landing fields owned by the Navy:
Naval Outlying Field Waldron
, which is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the Naval Air Station,
Naval Outlying Field Cabaniss
, which is 8.0 miles (12.9 km) west of the Naval Air Station and
Naval Outlying Field Goliad
which is 57.7 miles (92.9 km) north of the Naval Air Station.
NAS Corpus Christi is also home to the
Corpus Christi Army Depot
(CCAD), the largest helicopter repair facility in the world and an unusual arrangement of an Army installation located on a Naval facility.
Units
[
edit
]
Major Commands
[
edit
]
- Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
- Corpus Christi Army Depot
(CCAD)
- Marine Aviation Training Support Group (MATSG-22)
- Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi (NHCCC)
Wings
[
edit
]
- Training Air Wing FOUR (TW4)
Squadrons
[
edit
]
Other Tenants
[
edit
]
Facilities and service also located on the installation
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
FAA Airport Form 5010 for NGP
PDF
- ^
Caro, Robert A.
(1982).
The Path to Power
.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
.
New York
:
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
pp.
579
?584.
ISBN
0394499735
.
- ^
Marinez, Luis; Shapiro, Emily; Fuhrman, Matthew (May 21, 2020).
"Naval Air Station Corpus Christi shooting terror-related, person of interest may be-at-large"
. ABC News
. Retrieved
May 21,
2020
.
- ^
Barak, Rich (May 21, 2020).
"UPDATE: Shooting suspect killed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi"
. The Atlantic Journal-Constitution
. Retrieved
May 21,
2020
.
- ^
Andone, Dakin; Starr, Barbara; Silverman, Hollie; Campbell, Josh (May 21, 2020).
"Texas Naval base shooter believed to have expressed support for terrorist groups online"
. CNN
. Retrieved
May 21,
2020
.
- ^
"FBI says Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi shooting was terror related, second suspect could be at large"
.
KIII
. May 21, 2020
. Retrieved
May 21,
2020
.
- ^
Air Forces Monthly
.
Stamford
,
Lincolnshire
,
England
:
Key Publishing Ltd
. June 2024. p. 17.
- ^
"Home - Commissaries"
.
www.commissaries.com
.
- ^
"DLA Distribution"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-10-25.
External links
[
edit
]
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
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