Hello fellow members of the Tailhook Association. This year promises to be one of the best yet. I am honored and privileged to be leading the fight for Naval Aviation in the Pentagon and in the National Capital Region with the great support of our Air Boss, VADM Tom “Killer” Kilcline and, of course, all the Tailhookers, active and retired, from around the United States.
First, let me say what an exciting time this is to be a member of the Naval Aviation community. We have many new airplanes on the flight line and if you aren’t flying something new right now, you will be soon. Our Super Hornet transition continues with five additional squadrons assigned Lot XXXIII and Lot XXXIV airplanes with active electronically scanned array radars, Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems and Multifunctional Information Distribution System, making carrier aviation more lethal than ever.
The E/A-18G Growler is here and flying. VAQ-129 is training flight crews on both Prowlers and Growlers, and VAQ-132 is scheduled for initial operational capability as the first fleet Growler squadron in September. Congratulations VAQ-132 Scorpions and welcome to the Hornet community.
Another great new airplane is making its way to the fleet. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is moving steadily toward its initial operational capability in 2015. In the interim, we have all of our E-2C squadrons equipped with the eight-bladed prop, giving our “eyes in the sky” aircraft even longer loiter time to keep watch on the air and surface picture throughout the battlespace.
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) continues to move ahead, and in July, I was delighted to attend the rollout of the first carrier variant. By the way, the first JSF training unit has stood up at Eglin AFB. Our own Tailhooker, CAPT Mike “Trigger” Saunders, former CO of Topgun and Strike at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center will be heading it up. Congratulations, Trigger. We also have new rotary wing craft joining the fleet almost daily, and in the maritime patrol community, the second P-8 Poseidon rolled out of the factory in July.
On a larger scale, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) finished her first carrier qualification and now has a flight-deck certification, and Carl Vinson (CVN-70) has rejoined the fleet after completing her extended overhaul and refueling period. Speaking of carriers, my sincere compliments to the carrier crews — you guys are doing a bang up job. I had my Change of Command aboard the 34 year-young Nimitz (CVN-68) in February, and she still looked brand new. That is because of the great pride our carrier crews take in maintaining these national assets. I know it’s not easy … “90,000 tons of diplomacy” is not something you can just wipe down with a damp rag and she’s good to go … it requires a lot of hard, sometimes very tedious and backbreaking physical work. Again, our aircraft carrier crews have more than stepped up to the plate and our ships reflect their pride and accomplishments. Well done!
As you can imagine, all these programs cost a great deal of money, and we are under constant fiscal pressure to ensure we are providing the right mix of capabilities to the Department of Defense (DoD) as a whole. Through solid analytical rigor, Naval Aviation has been extremely successful in articulating its requirements to both the Navy and DoD, and you can be sure that we will continue to do that. Please help us represent you and your needs in that process. Fleet participation in operational advisory groups, integrated product lines and the Naval Aviation Enterprise processes provide us the feedback we need to get it right, so please keep that information coming.
Again, this is an exciting time to be in Naval Aviation, and that is reflected in the quality men and women who continue to want to wear the “Wings of Gold” after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps or Officer Candidate School. Our Chief of Naval Air Training team is doing an absolutely superb job of turning out great first-tour aviators who are trained on systems us older guys only dreamt about 30 years ago when I went through flight school. The T-6B Texan, the T-45 Goshawk with the glass cockpit, hands on throttle and stick and the “no drop scoring” training systems allow nugget aviators to enter the fleet far better trained and prepared than we were.
Take care and keep the ball centered!