Current Operations
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 400 newly qualified aviators each year.
Training Air Wing FOUR consists of four squadrons. VT-27 and VT-28 handle primary training in the T-34C Mentor, a single engine turboprop aircraft. VT-31 provides advanced training in the twin engine T-44A and T-44C Pegasus aircraft, while VT-35 flies the twin engine TC-12B Huron aircraft.
Other aircraft found at NAS Corpus Christi include the UH-1N Huey, a helicopter used primarily for search and rescue, as well as P-3 Orions and RQ-1 Predators.
In addition to Navy students, VT-31 and 35 train pilots from the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines. However, due to policy changes Air Force students will no longer be training at the base, and the last graduates should complete training in mid-2012. The station employs officer, enlisted and civilian personnel serving in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the military services of numerous NATO/Allied/Coalition partnet nations.
In support of the base’s training mission are two nearby outlying landing fields owned by the Navy: NOLF Waldron, which is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the Naval Air Station; and NOLF Cabaniss, which is 8.0 miles (12.9 km) west 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). The commanding officer is currently COL Christopher Carlisle. The Army is considering moving its helicopter squadron from Honduras to this air station to save money, using facilities recently abandoned when large Navy minesweeping helicopters moved elsewhere.
Read more about this topic: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
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