Newest T-45 lands on Navy’s newest runway at NAS

Last T-45, No. 328, lands on NAS Kingsville’s newest runway Naval Air Station Kingsville and Training Air Wing TWO accepted delivery of the final T-45 Goshawk aircraft from Boeing, Corp. Wednesday, Nov. 18 as aircraft 3-2-8 landed at NAS Kingsville on runway 13-left (13L). The arrival marked several significant milestones for the Navy, the air station, and the Boeing Corp. Aircraft 328 is the final T-45 Goshawk to be delivered to the Navy under the original construction agreement reached between the Navy and McDonnell- Douglas, Corp. (now Boeing Corp.) to build 221 T-45’s for the Navy for intermediate and advanced jet training at NAS Kingsville and NAS Meridian, Miss. The production of the Goshawk began in 1991 with the first aircraft delivered to NAS Kingsville in February, 1992 and at NAS Meridian in 1995. Thus, NAS Kingsville was the first base to accept the Goshawks and initiate the T-45 Training System (TS) into the Naval Air Training Command (CNATRA).

HISTORIC MOMENT — On hand to greet the last production T-45 Goshawk are, from left, Dick Messbarger, Kingsville EDC; Lt. Cmdr. Wes McCall, DCMA test pilot; Steve Schmidt, experimental test pilot, Boeing Corp.; Capt. Mark Brooks, Commander, Training Air Wing Two; Jeff Lambert, Rolls Royce site manager; and Rick Ridley, Boeing Field Service Representative. The T-45 TS was the first totally integrated training system developed for and used by CNATRA. It includes the T-45 Goshawk, advanced flight and instrument simulators, computer-assisted instructional programs, and a computerized training integration system. The integration of all five system elements produces a superior pilot in less time and at lower cost than previous training systems. The T45 TS replaced two training aircraft (T-2 Buckeye and TA-4 Skyhawk) and added advanced simulators to improve the process for training U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots for conversion into the F/A- 18A-D Hornet, the F/A- 18E/F Super Hornet, the EA-18G Growler, the AV- 8B Harrier and the EA-6B Prowler.

“The arrival of aircraft 328 is a significant event for NAS Kingsville for two reasons,” said NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer Capt. Phil Waddingham. “First and foremost, the aircraft marks the completion of the production run of the T-45 for the Navy for the original contract. Second, the aircraft landed on the Navy’s newest runway here at NAS Kingsville, runway 13L, which opened this week after a three-month, $6 million re-surfacing project that finished ahead of schedule and under budget.”

Ironically, Waddingham was part of the team that welcomed aboard the first Goshawk to NAS Kingsville in 1992. Then a flight instructor with VT-21, Waddingham was a member of the first cadre of instructor pilots to train in the T-45.

“It was an exciting time here at NAS Kingsville when we transitioned to the T-45 which replaced the venerable T-2 and TA-4J intermediate and advanced strike trainers,” Waddingham recalled. “For over a year, I was qualified in both the TA-4J and T-45A, and the skies over South Texas were buzzing with three different types of jets. When I finally had my last flight in the TA-4 and began to fly solely in the T-45, it was a solemn event, since I knew the Navy would eventually retire the Skyhawk permanently, and I would never fly it again. But the T-45 has been a very capable replacement, and has been instrumental in training the world’s best aviators ever since.”

Three members of the original McDonnell-Douglas team that delivered the first aircraft to NAS Kingsville in 1992 are now employees of the air station. Jeff Lambert, current site manager for Rolls-Royce which builds the engine that powers the jet, and L-3 Vertex employees Mike Wymore and Tony Boccardi were all McDonnell-Douglas employees at the time and participated in the first delivery. Lambert was also present Wednesday as the final Goshawk made its landing here and taxied its way to the tarmac under one of the air station’s protective canopies.

“I started working for McDonnell-Douglas in 1991,” Lambert reflected, “and was part of the team that made the first delivery. After 14 years with “Mac” and Boeing I went to work for Rolls-Royce. It has been quite an experience to be part of the full production run of the T-45, and I’m proud to have been part of the Boeing/ Rolls-Royce team.”

Training Air Wing TWO Commander, Capt. Mark Brooks, was on hand to greet the flight team upon arrival in Kingsville Nov. 18, along with Boeing site manager Rick Ridley, Lambert, and Kingsville Economic Development Counsel executive director Dick Messbarger. Brooks posed for photos with the flight crew on the NAS Kingsville tarmac and welcomed the arrival of aircraft 328 to the Training Air Wing Inventory.

The arrival of the jet in Kingsville coincided with the opening of runways 13L and 31R which had been undergoing a major resurfacing and upgrade for the last three months. The runway project is just one of many major upgrades that NAS Kingsville has undergone over the last 18 months that have transformed the base into the Navy’s most modern air traffic control facility. In July, NAS Kingsville held a grand opening ceremony for a new and state-ofthe art Digital Approach Radar facility, a project that took nearly 10 months to complete at a cost of $11.5 million. The National Airspace Modernization Project (NASMOD) was completed by the Naval Space & Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR).

“We’ve been waiting for this day to arrive for over a year now,” Waddingham told those in attendance at the official opening ceremony July 20. “This facility is a perfect example of what I like to call Kingsville P.R.I.D.E; or, professionalism, responsibility; integrity; dedication; and effectiveness.

“Take a look around at what we have here. This facility is professional in every aspect. Our technicians from the SPAWAR and their contract support personnel have done an outstanding job putting this facility together. Just look at what they’ve done; responsibility and integrity is integral to everything we do here at NAS Kingsville. And dedication - you just don’t put something like this together and do it seamlessly unless you really care about what you are doing. That includes taking the pain every step of the way and our Air Operations folks working closely with Wing Ops to ensure that we have minimal – if not zero – impact to Training Air Wing TWO operations. The results of which equals the ‘E” in pride, the effectiveness. We’ve been able to accomplish our mission every step of the way, and that’s a big tribute to everyone in this room, from the technicians and controllers to the installers.”

Waddingham also spoke about the transformation the new facility brings to the command - from a much larger perspective.

“What we now have,” Waddingham said, “is what I believe to be the most modern air traffic control facility in the U.S. Navy right here at NAS Kingsville. This NASMOD program is an initiative that goes back to 2001 working with the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That initiative was put in motion to ensure that our [military] air stations have the same type of equipment that our brethren at the FAA have so that we can seamlessly control aircraft from one facility to the next. What we now have here in Kingsville increases our reliability, our maintainability, and our performance to accomplish our mission. It also includes some additional capabilities for future expansion should we receive additional requirements added to our existing mission.

“We’ve come a long, long way over the past 18 months,” Waddingham added.

“But today, we can proudly take note in the fact that NAS Kingsville is now looked upon as being the model Naval Air Station for preparing for the future. That says a lot; a lot about our efforts, and a lot about the sailors and civilian employees that make NAS Kingsville capable of meeting our mission of supporting flight operations for training student naval aviators.”