Col. Gary Kling will turn over command of Training Air Wing FIVE Friday, Mar. 18 during a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Pensacola’s NavalAviationMuseum at 11 a.m.
Capt. Mark Murray will assume command of the Navy’s largest training wing and assume the title of Commodore during the event. This tour will culminate Kling’s 28 years of service.
Kling graduated from Arizona State University in 1987 and was an honor graduate at The Basic School. He was designated a Naval Aviator in the spring of 1990. He is a graduate of Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1).
Kling served as a F/A Instructor pilot at MAWTS-1 in 1995. He has flown with VMFA-232, VMFA-134 and MAG-11.
In Apr. 2004 Kling served as the Division Air Officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Following a tour at the Pentagon, Kling assumed command of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, MCAS Iwakuna, Japan. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College and served in numerous staff assignments including the Deputy Chief of Staff to Joint Forces Command and as the Deputy Branch Head of HQMC Aviation Plans and Policy.
His inspirational leadership of three T-6B Primary Flight Training squadrons, three TH-57B/C Advanced Rotary-Wing Training squadrons and two Instructor Training Units culminated in the execution of more than 140,500 sorties and 225,000 flight hours delivering 1,222 graduates to advanced training and designating 824 Naval Aviators for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and allied nations. The Commander of the Chief of Naval Air Training’s (CNATRA) largest Air Wing, he directed and coordinated the efforts of more than 2,000 officers, enlisted, civilian, and contract personnel, consistently and safely executing the primary mission of training future military leaders and combat aviators. As the lead for CNATRA’s Primary and Rotary Task Groups, Colonel Kling was responsible for the production of more than 1,750 Primary Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) across five Primary training squadrons and the winging 824 aviators through three Advanced Rotary-Wing training squadrons.
Murray earned his commission in March 1991 through the Aviation OfficerCandidateSchool and, following designation as a Naval Aviator in September 1992, reported to the HSL-40 Airwolves at Naval Station Mayport, Florida for initial training in the SH-60B Seahawk. He served additional tours with the HSL-44 Swamp Foxes at Naval Station Mayport, another tour with HSL-40 in July 1997, and as a Flag Lieutenant to the Commander, Carrier Group SIX embarked on USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67).
Prior to becoming the commanding officer for the HT-18 Vigilant Eagles at NAS Whiting Field, he performed tours with the HSL-37 Easy Riders at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, KaneoheBay in October 2002, and with the Joint Staff in February 2005 where he served as a Politico-Military Action Officer in the Americas Division of the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate.
Murray then reported to the Air Warfare Directorate on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in June 2010 where he served as the Requirements Officer for Naval Aviation Training Systems and the Requirements Officer for Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems, before he returned to NAS Whiting Field as the Deputy Commodore for Training Air Wing FIVE in 2014.
Murray will now be responsible for an estimated 43 percent of the Chief of Naval Air Training Command's total flight time and over 14 percent of Navy and Marine Corps' flight time world-wide.
Over 1,200 personnel complete their essential flight training through TRAWING -5 annually. Col. David Morris will become the new Deputy Commodore.
The guest speaker for the event will be Brigadier Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, USMC, Deputy Commander U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Murray to assume command of TRAWING-5