Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
In October 2007 Jetwash Aviation Photos visited N.A.S Corpus Christi in Texas to see the day to day activity at this busy naval training base. Sadly, a couple of months after our visit a tragic accident occured involving an aircraft form one of the based units. This page is dedicated to the three HM-15 airmen who sadly lost their lives in the crash of the Sikorsky CH-53E (164792) on 16th January 2008. They were Lt. Joshua Gross (age 30), AW2 David Leon Davison (age 22) and AW2 Alexander Le Marr (age 25).
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is home to Training Air Wing 4 (TAW-4) of the United States Navy, which incorporates VT-27 'Boomers', VT-28 'Rangers', VT-31 'Wise Owls' and VT-35 'Stingrays'. It is also home to HM-15 operating the Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon, a Coast Guard unit operating the HH-65C and HU-25C, plus the United States Customs Service with P-3's. The base sits on the South East coast of Texas, close to the town of Corpus Christi.
TAW-4 provides primary , intermediate and advanced training for Navy and Marine Corps Student Naval Aviators (SNA's) prior to them receiving their 'Wings of Gold'.
VT-27 was established as Advanced Training Unit B on July 11th 1951 at NAS Corpus Christi. After moving to NAS Kingsville and then New Iberia Louisiana in 1960 it was redesignated VT-27. The 'Boomers' returned to Corpus in July 1964 and have been resident there ever since.
The unit transitioned to a primary training role in August 1973 when the first T-28 Trojan arrived. In August of 1983 the first Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor was delivered and the last T-28 was withdrawn in March 1984. The T-34C is the mainstay of all Navy and Marine Corps primary flight training and VT-27 averages well over 11,000 training missions per year and over 70 sorties a day.
A Beech T-34C Turbo-Mentor from VT-27 sits on the ramp at NAS Corpus Christi on 24th October 2007
161820 from VT-27 'Boomers' basks in the glorious early morning sun on the Corpus ramps.
VT-28 was commissioned on May 1st 1960 having previously operated as Advanced Training Unit 611. Its primary mission was advanced multi-engine flight training. It operated Grumman TS-2F Tracker aircraft and carrier qualified thousands of SNA's until the Trackers retirement in 1979 when it was replaced by the Beech T-44A Pegasus.
VT-28 continued to operate the T-44A until 1990 when Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) directed the squadron to change it's role to that of an Instructor Training Squadron. At that time it began to operate the T-34C alongside the T-44's.
On 1st April 1993 it changed its mission once again; this time to providing primary and intermediate maritime and helicopter training, at the same time losing it's T-44A's.
164159 from VT-28 taxies out for another mission at NAS Corpus Christi on October 24th 2007
This VT-28 Beech T-34C carries 'Marines' titles on the side of the aircraft, as do a number of the aircraft based at Corpus.
This is because Marine Corps pilots as well as naval aviators conduct their basic training here.
The Beech T-44A's are now operated by VT-31 at Corpus Christi and are currently going through an upgrade programme to T-44C standard. Formed as Advanced Training Unit 601 in February 1958 it flew the Beechcraft SNB as an instrument and navigation trainer. It was commissioned as VT-31 on 1st May 1960 and operated the P2V Neptune, followed by the P5M Marlin amphibious airplane. It then transitioned to the TS-2A Tracker in 1963 and finally to the T-44A in the spring of 1977. The last Tracker departed the squadron in February 1979.
The T-44A is a military version of the Beech 90 King Air and is used for advanced turboprop aircraft training and intermediate E2/C2 training. In 1996 the squadron took on the role of training all USAF C-130 students and as such a requirement for further aircraft materialised. To supplement the T-44's the Navy pressed surplus UC-12 aircraft into the squadron and they were designated TC-12B's to denote their training capacity. In October of 1999 VT-35 took control of the TC-12 aircraft and VT-31 returned to operating the T-44 fleet. After receiving their wings the students normally head to an active squadron operating the P-3C Orion (Navy), C-130 Hercules (Marines, USAF and Coast Guard) or HU-25 Falcon (Coast Guard).
An immaculate 160842 from VT-31 'Wise Owls' sits on a sunny Corpus Christi ramp awaiting it's next mission
Two more examples of VT-31's Beech T-44A Pegasus
VT-35 'Stingrays' is the operator of the TC-12B aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi and was established on 29th October 1999. SNA's selected to fly the USAF C-130 or Navy P-3 Orion report to VT-35 and are awarded their wings upon graduation.
The squadron executes over 43,000 landings and nearly 6,500 student flight training events annually. It is the only advanced joint leadership (USN & USAF) flight training squadron in the military. The command consists of 12 Navy Instructor Pilots, 12 Air Force Instructor Pilots and 1 Marine Corps Instructor Pilot.
In its first three years of existence it reached the pinnacle of Naval Air Training Command when it received the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) VADM Goldthwaite Award for Training Excellence in 2000.
161514 taxies out for another mission at NAS Corpus Christi
Photographers Heaven!!! Brightly coloured aircraft and brilliant sunshine.
Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fifteen (or just plain old HM-15 to you and me!) was established on 2nd January 1987 with the MH-53E Sea Dragon at Norfolk Virginia. HM-15 then moved to NAS Alameda near San Fransisco on 1st October the same year. In July 1988 the squadron completed a Mine Warfare Readiness Certificate Inspection (MRCI) and was declared operational in October 1988, it's first deployment following later that month with a detachment to NAS North Island. 1989 saw the squadron embark upon the USS Tripoli for PACEX-89, a joint exercise conducted in the Western Pacific with Japan, Korea and the Phillipines.From January 1991 to April 1992 HM-15 deployed three aircraft to the Persian Gulf in direct support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The 'Blackhawks' transported over 3.2 million pounds of cargo and more than 4,000 personnel in support of combat units in theatre. In 1995 HM-15 relocated to NAS Corpus Christi as a result of Base Re-alignment (BRAC) and the closure of Alameda. During our visit in October 2007 HM-15 was about to send two aircraft to support the devastating fires raging through the state of California.
A Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon from HM-15 seen on the Corpus ramps early in the morning
The 'boom' that holds the towable sled for mine-sweeping can be seen at the rear of the ramp
164766 sits on the HM-15 ramp at Corpus Christi on 24th October 2007 awaiting its first mission of the day
163052 seen from the HM-15 tower on the morning of 24th October 2007
One of the sleds that are towed behind the MH-53E during mine-sweeping operations sits in the hanger at NAS Corpus Christi
Due to their size they are normally dropped into the water from a ship and then connected to the MH-53 whilst it hovers overhead
The final unit at NAS Corpus Christi is the United States Coast Guard under the auspices of the 8th Coast Guard District. The unit operates two Dassault HU-25C+ Guardian aircraft and two Aerospatial HH-65C Dauphins from a facility adjacent to HM-15's on the shoreline at N.A.S Corpus Christi.
A Coast Guard HU-25C+ sits in the hanger at Corpus Christi in October 2007
A USCG HH-65C Dauphin taxies back to the ramp after returning from an early morning mission on 24th October 2007
Thanks go to the following for help in arranging our visit to NAS Corpus Christi:
Ed Barker at NETC Pensacola
Lt. Ligia Cohen at CHINFO
Sean Robertson at CNATRA
Bob Torres at NAS Corpus Christi
and a big thanks to Lt. Caleb Booher from VT-35 and MNC (SW) Ruben Diaz from HM-15 at NAS Corpus Christi for escorting us during our visit.