NAS Corpus Christi

NAS Corpus Christi is located in the Nueces County, only 10 km from Corpus Christi. It is also referred to as Truax Field. The base is operated by the US Navy and commanded by Randolph F. Pierson.

History

The initiative in the history of this base belonged to the congress, in 1938. After multiple research operations, a board of professionals realized the immediate need of a base to deal with emergency training operations for pilots, in case of a potential danger. The spot was chosen in the Corpus Christi Bay. By the spring of 1941, the base was built and opened. The first training sessions started less than 2 months later. The facility had a fulminating start. More than 800 experts were sent on site to deal with the training sessions. With such a huge number of professors, it was no surprise that over 300 pilots graduated on a monthly basis. When the United States of America joined World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the training rate doubled up. Over the entire duration of the war, approximately 35000 naval pilots graduated from the schools hosted at the base. The training sessions took place on various aircrafts, such as the SNV, SNB or N3N. By 1944, the facility grew so much that it ended up as the largest and most active naval aviation training base in the world. It was spread over 20000 acres and included almost 1000 hangars, warehouses, barracks and various buildings for the troops hosted there.

Among the most important individuals that graduated from NAS Corpus Christi, you can count George H. W. Bush. He graduated in 1943. He holds the record for the youngest pilot that ever graduated from this base. When it comes to sad moments in the history of the base, there is only one major event worth being mentioned. In 2009, a T 34 C plane with two pilots simply disappeared from the radars during a testing mission. The bad weather didn’t allow the authorities to start looking after them. A little later, they were both found dead. Their funerals included military honors.

These days, the training courses take a lot longer, mostly due to the complexity of the aircrafts today. A regular course takes about a year and a half. The pilot production is not as active as it used to be during World War II. Only 400 pilots graduate every year. At the same time, the base hosts the largest helicopter repairing depot in the world, holding yet another record.

Units

The most important unit at NAS Corpus Christi is the Chief of Naval Air Training. The base is also the home of the Training Air Wing 4. Four squadrons are hosted here as well. Two of them are primary – VT 27 and VT 28, while the other two are advanced – VT 31 and VT 35. Other than that, seven associate or tenant units inhabit this place for a temporary period of time. The Navy Operational Support Center is the most important one.