Naval Air Station Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD)

 

NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville are part of Navy Region South Texas under the current US Navy organization. The Region and Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) leadership structures are basically the same, unlike some Navy facilities elsewhere in the country.

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NAS Corpus Christi is located in Flour Bluff, ten miles southeast of Corpus Christi and twenty-five miles south of NAVSTA INGLESIDE. The Corpus Christi Army Depot occupies a large portion of the Naval Air Station. Among the other tenants are Chief of Naval Air Training, U.S. Coast Guard/Air Station, Drug Enforcement Agency, Medical Naval Hospital, Mine Warfare Command, and Defense Distribution Depot (a sub-organization of Defense Logistics Agency).

NAS Corpus Christi's mission is to provide the best service and facilities for its customers. Facilities are maintained and operated, service and material are provided to support aviation activities of the Naval Air Training Command, as well as other tenant activities.

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In its role as a training base, NAS Corpus Christi emphasizes basic flight maneuvers and traffic pattern operations. As a result, the installation supports about 400,000 operations per year, almost all of them VFR. There is accommodation available both at the main base and at the outlying fields (OLF) Waldron and Cabiniss. In addition to providing other essential services (e.g., firefighting), each OLF is controlled by a Navy control tower. Their services are limited to VFR; only NAS Corpus Christi has NAVAIDs, ILS, and PAR. The main base and neither of the OLFs have a significant record of noise concerns, although local commanders do their best to manage both real-time dissatisfaction and the growth of the communities in order to ensure the airfields' viability.

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However, some encroachment concerns have been reported about the base. Despite solid political and economic backing from state and local leaders, the unprecedented migration of American residents to southern states and the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts has placed pressure on many Navy installations. There has been no documentation of negative effects associated with the impending arrival of twelve minesweeping MH-53 helicopters (from helicopter squadron HM-15) at the installation. These planes mostly fly over water or sparsely populated areas, but their departure and return have been contentious issues at some other locations, particularly MCAS Miramar, where they have recently been stationed. In spite of this, NAS Corpus Christi has direct access to its overwater operating areas.