Naval Air Station Lemoore Explained

Naval Air Station Lemoore
Native Name:Reeves Field
Nearest Town:Lemoore, California
Country:the United States
Type:Naval Air Station (Master jet base)
Pushpin Map:USA
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in the United States
Pushpin Label:NAS Lemoore
Ownership:Department of Defense
Operator:US Navy
Controlledby:Navy Region Southwest
Used:1961 – present
Condition:Operational
Current Commander:Captain Douglas M. Peterson
Garrison:Strike Fighter Wing Pacific
Iata:NLC
Icao:KNLC
Faa:NLC
Wmo:747020
Elevation:65.2m (213.9feet)
R1-Number:14L/32R
R1-Length:4115.4m (13,502feet)
R1-Surface:Concrete
R2-Number:14R/32L
R2-Length:4115.1m (13,501feet)
R2-Surface:Concrete
Footnotes:Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County and Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, a census-designated place, is located inside the base's borders.[1]

NAS Lemoore is the Navy's newest and largest master jet base. Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, along with its associated squadrons, is home ported there.

NAS Lemoore also hosts four carrier air wings: Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9), Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11), and Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17).[2]

History

Commissioned in 1961, NAS Lemoore, as seen from an aircraft flying above, looks significant and stands out from the farmlands of Central California, due to its large construction. It is the newest and largest master jet base of the U.S. Navy. It has two offset parallel runways 4600feet apart. Aircraft parking and maintenance hangars are aligned between the 13500feet runways. Separated from the hangars by underpasses beneath taxiways A and C, the remainder of the air operations area is located directly to the southeast.

In July 1998, NAS Lemoore was selected as the West Coast site for the Navy's newest strike-fighter aircraft, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. This decision brought approximately 92 additional aircraft, 1,850 additional active duty personnel and 3,000 family members to NAS Lemoore, and several associated facility additions or improvements.

The Navy also brought four new fleet squadrons to NAS Lemoore from 2001 to 2004. Additional military staffing was required at the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific, and Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Lemoore (CNATTU Lemoore) to support this effort. Originally, the officer in charge of construction for building the base was Commander Dennis K. Culp CEC/USN, the first Naval officer in Lemoore.[3] [4]

On 31 March 2016, two civilians were killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee they were driving in collided with a parked F/A-18 jet.[5] They were being pursued by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and managed to enter the base without hindrance by base security. A CHP helicopter was monitoring the chase from above and captured the event in a FLIR video; the base tower staff can be heard asking if the vehicle was already in the base. A CHP dispatcher can be heard confirming so and that CHP were unable to contact base security for assistance.

Current operations

With the transfer of NAS Miramar to the United States Marine Corps, NAS Lemoore now hosts the Navy's entire west coast fighter/attack capability. NAS Lemoore was built "from the ground up" as a Master Jet Base, and has several operational advantages, and relatively few constraints, as a result.

Strike Fighter Wing Pacific with its supporting facilities is home ported here. The primary aircraft based at NAS Lemoore is the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter. In November, 1999, NAS Lemoore received its first F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, which replaced the F-14 Tomcat in fleet service as an air-superiority fighter and has assumed, in a different configuration, the role of older F/A-18 Hornet fighters. Currently, there are a total of 175 Hornets and Super Hornets home-based at NAS Lemoore operating from one Fleet Replacement Squadron and sixteen Fleet [operational] Squadrons. In 2017, the F-35C Lightning II was received onboard NAS Lemoore, establishing the first F-35 Pacific training squadron.

Lemoore is home to aircraft assigned to the following Carrier Air Wings.

Based flying units

Flying units based at NAS Lemoore.[6]

United States Navy

Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific

Tenant squadrons

InsigniaSquadronCodeCallsign/NicknameAssigned AircraftOperational AssignmentAdministrative Assignment
Strike Fighter Squadron 2VFA-2Bounty HuntersF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 14VFA-14TophattersF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 22VFA-22Fighting RedcocksF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 25VFA-25Fist of the FleetF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing ElevenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 41VFA-41Black AcesF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 86VFA-86SidewindersF-35C Lightning IICommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)
Strike Fighter Squadron 94VFA-94Mighty ShrikesF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 97VFA-97WarhawksF-35C Lightning IICarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)
Strike Fighter Squadron 113VFA-113StingersF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 122VFA-122Flying EaglesF/A-18E/F Super HornetFleet Replacement Squadron (FRS)Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 125VFA-125Rough RaidersF-35C Lightning IIFleet Replacement Squadron (FRS)Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)
Strike Fighter Squadron 136VFA-136KnighthawksF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing OneCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 137VFA-137KestrelsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 146VFA-146Blue DiamondsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 147VFA-147ArgonautsF-35C Lightning IICommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)
Strike Fighter Squadron 151VFA-151VigilantesF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 154VFA-154Black KnightsF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing ElevenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Strike Fighter Squadron 192VFA-192World Famous Golden DragonsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Naval Air Station Lemoore Search and RescueNASL SARMH-60S Seahawk "Knighthawk"Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL)
Strike Fighter Weapons School PacificSFWSPACF/A-18E/F Super HornetCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)
Fleet Readiness Center WestFRCWNaval Air Station Lemoore (NASL)Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC)

Other tenant activities

Educational institutes

See also

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naval Air Station Lemoore. www.cnic.navy.mil.
  2. Web site: Home. www.csfwp.navy.mil.
  3. Web site: History. www.csfwp.navy.mil.
  4. Web site: NAS Lemoore. www.militarybases.us.
  5. News: CHP chase ends in fatal crash into a F/A-18 at NAS Lemoore. Peres. Jessica. 2016-03-31. ABC30 Fresno. 2018-10-08. en-US.
  6. Kaminski. Tom. 2020. Air Power Review. US Navy and Marine Corps Air Power Review Yearbook 2020. Key Publishing. 66–81.