Master Jet Base

Thanks to all for all the good information. It was a question posed to me a
couple of years ago at a base ops meeting. I was one of the FRS paddles and
the base OPS-O was questioning our requirements for base equipment
(arresting gear, FLOLS, IFLOLS, ACLS, ICLS, etc). [No doubt to make Whidbey
look lean and efficient on the forthcoming BRAC] With P-3 and C-9 aircraft
coexisting on Whidbey with EA-6s, I brought up the point of adding a
parallel runway to allow for FCLP/CCAs to occur simultaneously with non-FCLP
traffic. I also pointed out that the arresting gear could be derigged on
the non-FCLP runway which would allow P-3/C-9s to land without knocking the
gear out of battery. This led to the discussion of then redesignating
Whidbey as a Master Jet base. I was kidding around, but the OPS-O was
intrigued. Therefore, I attempted to find out the criteria( if there was
any criteria) for designation as a master jet base. Anyway, it is a long
story to explain my interest in the topic. Again thanks to all.
-Moe

"Mike Kanze" wrote in message
...
The previous posts by Allen and OJ come closest to my recollection. As a
Navy brat in the 1950s and 1960s I first heard the term with reference to
consolidating aircraft types at certain bases.

Mini-backgrounder: Back in the 1950s, each active duty Air Group was based
as a unit at one location, ex all the cats and dogs. (They weren't called
Air Wings until sometime in the 1960s IIRC.) Thus all the squadrons of Air
Group Nine - VF-91, VF-92, VA-93, VA-94 and VA-95 - were based at NAS
Alameda. When the Master Base concept was implemented on the west coast,
all the fighters went to NAS Miramar and all the light attack went to the
then brand-new NAS Lemoore.

I'm not sure but this may have come about at the same time as (or as the
result of) the implementation of NATOPS. In any event, it made better
sense to consolidate types for purposes of training and equipment
maintenance.
--
Mike Kanze

436 Greenbrier Road
Half Moon Bay, California 94019-2259
USA

650-726-7890

"Let me tell you
How it will be.
There's one for you,
Nineteen for me,

"'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

"Should five percent
Appear too small,
Be thankful I don't
Take it all.

"'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman."

- The Beatles

"MICHAEL OLEARY" wrote in message
news:HTc8e.24133$hB6.9873@trnddc06...
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master
jet base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey
Island is a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't
very helpful.
-Moe

MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master jet
base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey Island is
a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't very helpful.
-Moe



No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....

IIRC, the "Premier Jet Base" and "Premier Navy Community" designators
were bestowed by the Mayor of Oak Harbor (daughter-in-law of NAS
Whidbey's first paymaster), no doubt for BRAC defense purposes.

Old Whidbey hands may be thrilled to know that after only 62 years, Ault
Field now has a control tower from which all aircraft can be seen on all
runways.

Rick


MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Thanks to all for all the good information. It was a question posed to me a
couple of years ago at a base ops meeting. I was one of the FRS paddles and
the base OPS-O was questioning our requirements for base equipment
(arresting gear, FLOLS, IFLOLS, ACLS, ICLS, etc). [No doubt to make Whidbey
look lean and efficient on the forthcoming BRAC] With P-3 and C-9 aircraft
coexisting on Whidbey with EA-6s, I brought up the point of adding a
parallel runway to allow for FCLP/CCAs to occur simultaneously with non-FCLP
traffic. I also pointed out that the arresting gear could be derigged on
the non-FCLP runway which would allow P-3/C-9s to land without knocking the
gear out of battery. This led to the discussion of then redesignating
Whidbey as a Master Jet base. I was kidding around, but the OPS-O was
intrigued. Therefore, I attempted to find out the criteria( if there was
any criteria) for designation as a master jet base. Anyway, it is a long
story to explain my interest in the topic. Again thanks to all.
-Moe

"Mike Kanze" wrote in message
...

The previous posts by Allen and OJ come closest to my recollection. As a
Navy brat in the 1950s and 1960s I first heard the term with reference to
consolidating aircraft types at certain bases.

Mini-backgrounder: Back in the 1950s, each active duty Air Group was based
as a unit at one location, ex all the cats and dogs. (They weren't called
Air Wings until sometime in the 1960s IIRC.) Thus all the squadrons of Air
Group Nine - VF-91, VF-92, VA-93, VA-94 and VA-95 - were based at NAS
Alameda. When the Master Base concept was implemented on the west coast,
all the fighters went to NAS Miramar and all the light attack went to the
then brand-new NAS Lemoore.

I'm not sure but this may have come about at the same time as (or as the
result of) the implementation of NATOPS. In any event, it made better
sense to consolidate types for purposes of training and equipment
maintenance.
--
Mike Kanze

436 Greenbrier Road
Half Moon Bay, California 94019-2259
USA

650-726-7890

"Let me tell you
How it will be.
There's one for you,
Nineteen for me,

"'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

"Should five percent
Appear too small,
Be thankful I don't
Take it all.

"'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman."

- The Beatles

"MICHAEL OLEARY" wrote in message
news:HTc8e.24133$hB6.9873@trnddc06...

Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master
jet base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey
Island is a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't
very helpful.
-Moe

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" wrote in message
news:1113745482.d69bc9687e1b901751ac0c8e0f2c07f6@t eranews...
MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master
jet base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey
Island is a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't
very helpful.
-Moe

No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....

Master jet base is a term used to apply to large multi-mission air stations:
Oceana, Lemoore, Miramar (back in the day), etc. I'm surprised Whidbey
doesn't qualify.

"Premier" is best considered a local term or perhaps part of a laudatory
comment from official or unofficial sources.

As an example, when our friend Trent Lott pressured the Navy into
considering NAS Meridian as an F/A-18E/F second site (stupid idea IMO, but
he didn't ask for nor get advice from anybody with an ounce of sense), the
Environmental Impact Statement referred to Meridian as the Navy's "premier
aviation training base." Despite CNATRA's clear bias, I think the statement
is half right. That honor is shared between Kingsville and Meridian.

R / John

Mike Kanze wrote:
The previous posts by Allen and OJ come closest to my recollection.
As a
Navy brat in the 1950s and 1960s I first heard the term with
reference to
consolidating aircraft types at certain bases.

Mini-backgrounder: Back in the 1950s, each active duty Air Group was
based
as a unit at one location, ex all the cats and dogs. (They weren't
called
Air Wings until sometime in the 1960s IIRC.) Thus all the squadrons
of Air
Group Nine - VF-91, VF-92, VA-93, VA-94 and VA-95 - were based at NAS

Alameda. When the Master Base concept was implemented on the west
coast, all
the fighters went to NAS Miramar and all the light attack went to the
then
brand-new NAS Lemoore.

And the same held for Air Group 14 -- all based at NAS Miramar, then
the VAs to Lemoore and the VFs stayed at Miramar. Discovered this when
researching the history of then-VF-142 "Fighting Falcons."

I'm not sure but this may have come about at the same time as (or as
the
result of) the implementation of NATOPS. In any event, it made better
sense
to consolidate types for purposes of training and equipment
maintenance.

IIRC from the research, it also came within the time period of Air
Group 12 becoming the RAG on the west coast. Or is the "implementation
of NATOPS" also part of the RAG establishment?

MW

On 4/17/05 8:47 AM, in article
1113745482.d69bc9687e1b901751ac0c8e0f2c07f6@terane ws, "Qui si parla
Campagnolo" wrote:

MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master jet
base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey Island is
a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't very helpful.
-Moe



No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....

Dude, you're dating yourself. There are no attack pukes at Whidbey... Or
anywhere else in the Navy.

Whidbey is populated by Prowler crews and P-3's. Attack pukes died when the
Intruders were turned into coral reefs. It's all Strike-Fighter now.

--Woody

No offense taken, Fudog. Throw right in, but keep a close eye on the
carrots of the posts.

I responded to Peter Vecchio's (seemingly tongue and cheek):

"No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base...."

Not Moe's rather intelligent question (which I didn't know the answer to).

In fact, I'm slightly surprised that I don't know Moe (no mo?), but I find
that the longer I do this thing, the less folks I know.

I've got no beef with Whidbey, VAQ, or VA pilots (having been one myself).
I simply state that the terms "attack pilot" or "attack puke" died with the
Intruder, and that strike-fighter is the "new" thing (still about 8 or so
years old), and there haven't been attack aircraft at Whidbey since
1996/7--unless you want to count Electronic Attack (what used to be called
Tactical Electronic Warfare).

By the way, I haven't lived in a desert since 1996. |:-)

--Woody

On 4/18/05 10:01 PM, in article ,
"fudog50" wrote:

Been a long time posting follow ups. but had to clear things up here,
desert woody. Moe is a Prowler Stick and one of the best. Don't know
where you got that "dating yourself" stuff. No offense intended, just
wanted to throw that in.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:06:37 GMT, "Doug \"Woody\" and Erin Beal"
wrote:

On 4/17/05 8:47 AM, in article
1113745482.d69bc9687e1b901751ac0c8e0f2c07f6@terane ws, "Qui si parla
Campagnolo" wrote:

MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master
jet
base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey Island
is
a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't very helpful.
-Moe



No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....

Dude, you're dating yourself. There are no attack pukes at Whidbey... Or
anywhere else in the Navy.

Whidbey is populated by Prowler crews and P-3's. Attack pukes died when the
Intruders were turned into coral reefs. It's all Strike-Fighter now.

--Woody

Doug "Woody" and Erin Beal wrote:




No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....


Dude, you're dating yourself. There are no attack pukes at Whidbey... Or
anywhere else in the Navy.

Whidbey is populated by Prowler crews and P-3's. Attack pukes died when the
Intruders were turned into coral reefs. It's all Strike-Fighter now.

--Woody


Welll yep!! Getting old ain't for sissies.

"Doug "Woody" and Erin Beal" wrote...

It's all Strike-Fighter now.

Yeah... For some reason the "Fighter/Attack Guy" moniker wasn't accepted in
the community... :-)

Been a long time posting follow ups. but had to clear things up here,
desert woody. Moe is a Prowler Stick and one of the best. Don't know
where you got that "dating yourself" stuff. No offense intended, just
wanted to throw that in.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:06:37 GMT, "Doug \"Woody\" and Erin Beal"
wrote:

On 4/17/05 8:47 AM, in article
1113745482.d69bc9687e1b901751ac0c8e0f2c07f6@teran ews, "Qui si parla
Campagnolo" wrote:

MICHAEL OLEARY wrote:
Does anyone know what the criteria are for designating a NAS as a master jet
base? For example NAS Oceana is a master jet base but NAS Whidbey Island is
a premier jet base. Any leads would be great. Google wasn't very helpful.
-Moe



No place full of attack pukes would be a 'Master' base....

Dude, you're dating yourself. There are no attack pukes at Whidbey... Or
anywhere else in the Navy.

Whidbey is populated by Prowler crews and P-3's. Attack pukes died when the
Intruders were turned into coral reefs. It's all Strike-Fighter now.

--Woody