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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010 VOL. 6, NO. 35 N AVIGATOR N AVIGATOR N AVIGATOR COMMUNITY TENURE UPGRADE NAS reports ‘state of station’ Page 3 Luncheon represents eight decades Page 7 Water system project begins Page 10 NORTHWEST NORTHWEST Serving NAS Whidbey Island and Community www.northwestnavigator.com By MC2 Nardel Gervacio NPASE Det. NW S ailors assigned to ten- ant commands at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island participated in a Flight Deck Firefighting Course May 18. The one-day, Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNTTAU) Whidbey Island course provided 39 Sailors with the basic level of skill and knowledge required to handle fires on flight decks, aircraft crash incidents and conflagrations involving hazardous materials. Firefighting instructor, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 2nd Class Justin Ocampo said the course starts with a brief introduction covering course safety and other important topics such as the chemis- try of a fire, visual landing aids, the operation of car- bon dioxide and potassium bicarbonate powder bottles and the fires for which they By MC2 Tucker Yates NPASE Det. NW A ribbon-cutting cer- emony marked the comple- tion of a recapitalization for Hangar 5 on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, May 24. The $55.8 million renova- tion, dubbed military con- struction project 169, was a three-phase project which began in Jan. 2008 to facili- tate the ongoing transition from the EA-6B Prowler to the EA-18G Growler. The completed hangar will accommodate five Growler squadrons, the Electronic Attack Weapons School and Commander, Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CVWP). There are currently three safe-for- flight EA-18G squadrons on the installation. “In the end, the entire project lasted only 1,036 days; back in the olden days when I was a young man, these things would take many, many years, probably half a decade, to execute. We’ve significantly shortened that,” said Capt. Pat Rios, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest (NAVFAC NW) command- ing officer. According to Capt. Gerral David, NAS Whidbey Island command- ing officer, this marks the second time the hangar’s configuration has changed to accommodate a different aircraft platform since being built in 1954. The hangar was originally built to facili- tate the P-2V Neptune, then the Prowler and, now, it’s the home of the Growler. Rear Adm. James Symonds, commander Navy Region Northwest was the guest speaker at the event. According to Symonds, as the NAS Whidbey Island transitions to new aircraft, the Growler and the upcom- ing P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon transition. Symonds said hangar recapitalization projects like this one are criti- cal to the base’s support for those new aircraft.” “We are the only organiza- tion who does what we do in all of the DoD and, if you take a look at what we’re doing out there today in the name of overseas contin- gency operations, it doesn’t take long before you realize that there’s no shortage of work in our world. The role of electronic attack is greatly expanding in overseas con- tingency operations. We sup- port troops on the ground and save lives every day; our mission is unique and criti- cally important and these facilities are a great enabler to carrying out our mission,” said Capt. Tom Slais, com- modore of CVWP. According to David, the hangar will be named Haviland Hangar in honor of Cmdr. Willis Haviland, a former Naval aviator, who received the Navy Cross, and served during World Wars I and II, as well as being the executive and commanding officer of NAS Whidbey Island during its commissioning period. Sailors learn aircraft firefighting skills MC2 Nardel Gervacio Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Jason Snyder, Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) Whidbey Island, explains hose-handling techniques to students during a Flight Deck Fire Fighting Course at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, May 18. Hangar 5 recapitalization completed MC2 Tucker Yates Capt. Tom Slais, commodore of Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CVWP), speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony to com- memorate the completion of Hangar 5’s recapitalization on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, May 24. See FIREFIGHTERS > Page 13
