Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi Texas was commissioned by its first skipper, Captain Alva Berhard, on March 12th,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. The training rate nearly doubled after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. 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.
Article - NAS Corpus Christi - Training Air Wing Four - 2019
NAS Corpus Christi - Training Air Wing Four
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.
Mission
"The mission of Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, is to provide the best possible service and facilities to its customers with pride. The function is to maintain and operate facilities, provide service materials 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 optimise 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. The 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 Squadrons
Training Air Wing Four (TW-4) was established in March 1972. It is comprised of four individual units:
Twenty-seven VT-27 "Boomers" T-6B Texan II
Twenty-eight VT-28 "Rangers" T-6B Texan II
Thirty-one VT-31 "Wise Owls" T-44C King Air
Thirty-five VT-35 "Stingrays" T-44C King Air
The T-6B Texan II, is a single-engine turbo-prop, two-seat, basic training aircraft, while the T-44C King Air is an advanced multi-engine trainer responsible for intermediate phase flight training for future E-2C/D Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound pilots.
Students who fly the T-6B will normally take around 30 weeks to complete the basic flying course. Student's flying with VT-31 and VT-35 in the advanced multi-engine flying phase in the T-44C will normally take around 27-35 weeks depending on the syllabus. Normally around 1000 students pass through TAW-4 over a 18 month period and these are trained by over 200 fully qualified instructors.
During 2018 into 2019, TAW-4 has over 100 T-6B and 50 T-44C aircraft assigned to NAS Corpus Christi.
Aviation Reporting would like to thank CNATRA for their assistance in this article, with special thanks to Elizabeth Feaster and her new replacement Michelle Tucker for their time during the November 2018 photography visit.
Author: Mark Forest
Photography: Neil Owen & Mark Forest
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