Current Operations
Force reductions in the 1990s and early 2000s (decade) eliminated several P-3C squadrons (VP-24, VP-49, VP-56) and SH-60F/HH-60H squadrons (HS-1, HS-9, HS-75) at NAS Jacksonville, while the BRAC-directed closure of nearby NAS Cecil Field resulted in the relocation of Sea Control Wing ONE and its multiple Sea Control Squadrons (VS-22, VS-24, VS-29, VS-30, VS-31) operating the S-3 Viking until that aircraft's retirement from the active Fleet in 2008.
Today, 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel are employed on the base. The installation is considered to be one of the hubs for naval activity in the U.S. South. Other U.S. Navy Bases in the area include Naval Station Mayport, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia, Naval Outlying Landing Field Whitehouse (just north of the former NAS Cecil Field) and the Pinecastle Range Complex stretching from just south of Camp Blanding to the southern border of the Ocala National Forest.
With the BRAC-directed closure of NAS Brunswick, Maine by mid-2011, Patrol Squadron EIGHT (VP-8), Patrol Squadron TEN (VP-10), Patrol Squadron TWENTY-SIX (VP-26), Special Projects Patrol Squadron ONE (VPU-1) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron SIXTY-TWO (VR-62) began relocating to NAS Jacksonville in 2007 with their P-3C and C-130T aircraft, with all of these squadrons in place at NAS Jacksonville by late 2010.
In addition to the many operational active and reserve squadrons aboard, NAS Jacksonville is also home to
Patrol Squadron THIRTY (VP-30), the Navy's largest aviation squadron and the only P-3 Orion Fleet Replacement Squadron that prepares and trains U.S. and NATO/Allied pilots, air crew and maintenance personnel for further operational assignments in the P-3C Orion and EP-3E Aries in the U.S. Navy, and P-3B, P-3C and similar variants in various NATO and Allied navies and air forces. VP-30 will also be the first squadron to operate the U.S. Navy's new P-8 Poseidon aircraft, training flight crews and maintainers as all U.S. Navy patrol squadrons eventually transition to this new platform.
NAS Jacksonville is also an Aviation Maintenance training facility for several aviation rates, facilitated by Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville.
Support facilities include an additional outlying field (OLF Whitehouse) for pilot training, a maintenance depot employing more than 150 different trade skills capable of performing maintenance as basic as changing a tire to intricate micro-electronics or total engine disassembly, a Naval Hospital, a Fleet Industrial Supply Center, a Navy Family Service Center, a DeCA commissary, Navy Exchange, and recreational facilities for both single sailors and families of the Active, Reserve and Retired military communities.
Read more about this topic: Naval Air Station Jacksonville
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