Naval Air Station Whiting Field was selected by the Commander Naval Installations Command (CNIC) as the FY 2015 recipient of the Installation Excellence Award in the small category. For perspective, Whiting Field is 1 of 7 small (below 500 personnel) installations in Navy Region Southeast, out of 11 regions and 69 installations worldwide. NAS Whiting Field won top small installation out of America’s entire naval installations, while NAS Pensacola won for the large size.
Newly assigned Commanding Officer, Captain Todd Bahlau (pronounced “BAY-low”) gave credit to Rear Admiral Mary Jackson, Commander, Navy Region Southeast, “my boss” as he said, for choosing NAS Whiting out of the southeast’s regions under her command.
Bahlau said each Navy base is filled with phenomenal sailors and civilian employees. The last time NAS Whiting earned this award, he said, was 1987, both indications of the high level of competition in the largest region in the Navy.
While the entire Navy’s initial primary flight training happens at NAS Pensacola, Bahlau said all Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard helicopter pilots come through NAS Whiting Field. He said this past year pilots recorded more than 127,000 flight hours at NAS Whiting. Jay Cope, NAS Whiting’s public information officer, said these hours account for 14 percent of the Navy’s worldwide hours.
Cope said, “This is where the heavy lifting gets done.” NAS Whiting, he said, covers two airfields, two outlying fields, five counties, and two states. “It’s a lot of real estate.” Roy also said, “We are four aircraft carriers worth of frames [aircraft], 120 helicopters and 141 T6’s [planes].”
In addition to a robust station, Bahlau said NAS Whiting wouldn’t be able to do the training it does without pilots coming back to train future pilots. Roy also said a lot of military personnel come back to the Santa Rosa County area to retire. Some senior leadership members include Captain Richard Dick, Captain Joan Platz, Captain Brian Watkins, Captain Wayne Nelms, and recently retired Captain Matt Coughlin.
Asked why he believed NAS Whiting finally won this award after coming in second the last two years, Bahlau said, “We highlighted the right accomplishments.” He said this was the first year Randy Roy, Navy Operational Liaison Officer wrote the packet, limited to four pages, on which the CNIC chooses the winner.
Roy said it was a matter of presenting all the stories, the collaboration with Santa Rosa County and the four other local counties, and NAS Whiting’s many awards. “We do the most with the least,” he said. He also said the last two years NAS Whiting Field competed in the large category because personnel numbered more than 500, so NAS Pensacola was a direct competitor as well as the other large installations.
Cope said, “We’re doing a better job collecting and reporting stories. We didn’t receive the award for anything new, but the recognition of hard work.”
Bahlau also commended the support from Santa Rosa County. Roy said the Department of Defense looks to Santa Rosa County as an example of community outreach. He said NAS Whiting represents a $1.1 billion asset.
“It’s a huge impact,” he said. Cope said the community here started working to protect the base 20 years ago. Bahlau also said, “Military members come and go but the civilian workforce has been here many years. It helps to have that commitment.”
The IE Award comes with $170,000, but there is no decision yet on how to spend the money. Bahlau said winning the award was a team effort and a committee with input from department heads will determine how the money can best serve the most personnel.
Bahlau said he doesn’t care about the award itself but the recognition of hard work and dedication. Bahlau, a former Whiting student from ’91 to ’94, said, “I want to continue to raise the bar. Our performance is high. I want to make it higher.”
The CNIC measures each installation’s performance in 16 metrics including mission support, real property stewardship, and community relations. The following are seven highlights from the four-page packet sent to CNIC:
*Flawless execution and support of more than 127,000 flight hours-accounting for more than 14% of Navy hours flown worldwide.
*Aircraft operations at NASWF facilitate a student throughput of over 1,300 students and instructors in fixed wing (T-6B) and rotary wing (TH-57) aircraft-the highest volume of student aviators of five CNATRA Wings.
*Team Whiting's exemplary use of resources and strategic planning efforts was vital in the daunting task of producing 750 new warfighters . . . resulting in the highest throughput in pilot production in the last 12 years.
*NASWF's alliance in facilitating prevention, intervention, and safety awareness in multiple subjects, including Suicide Prevention, Emergency Services partnering, and Family Assistance programs were vital in our county's designation as a partner in "Safe Communities America." This unique partnership and proven approach, structured around a broad coalition of community partners is the 1st in the entire Nation!
*Support Tomorrow's Force-CO's streamlined alignment and collaboration with the entire Whiting Team (TW-5, Tenants, and Community) has NASWF well poised for the next 25 years of mission support! By empowering innovative strategies in outreach, encroachment, community service, education, unit morale, and individual growth, NASWF embodies CNIC's vision of adapting to mission changes and improving effectiveness of shore service delivery!
*NASWF, Santa Rosa County, NRSE, and the NAVFAC SE team secured another 190 acres through the use of Navy REPI and SRC Defense Infrastructure Grant Funds – partner contributions totaled just under $500K. To date, this dynamic partnership has facilitated the conservation/buffer of over 5,000 acres in sustaining one the Navy's most critical missions-providing "aviation warriors."
*Team Whiting is the "role model" in community outreach-the definition of "Community Leader!" The untiring efforts of the all-inclusive NASWF team are evident in the communities' strong support of the military and vice versa. Reaching a populace that spans across 5 counties and 2 states, our Sailors and Civilian Staff are involved everywhere! Serving in numerous platforms and programs: school mentors, youth sports coaches, Sunday school teachers, volunteer Fire Fighters, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, road and river cleanups, ROTC mentor, the Great American Clean-Up, base-wide blood drives, visits with WWII Veterans, and Honor Guard services for numerous community events. This 300 person volunteer force supported 25,000 hours of volunteer service-with an estimated value of $419,250 given back to the community.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: New captain lauds Whiting Field’s national honor