Scan pattern - People Planes Places - Brief Article

0 Comments | Naval Aviation News, May-June, 2004 | by Brandy Lewis

A 10 February ceremony at NAS Pensacola, Fla., marked the official establishment of Officer Training Command Pensacola (OTCP). Capt. John T. Nawrocki commanding. The new command provides three officer accession programs: Officer Candidate School, Limited Duty Officer/Chief Warrant Officer School and the Direct Commissioned Officer Indoctrination School. The OTCP's mission is to prepare civilians, enlisted and newly commissioned personnel for service in the fleet as officers and enlisted sailors. The command is responsible for the initial accessions training of approximately 2,000 Sailors each year.

In November 2003, EA-6B pilot LCdr. Jeffrey A. Craig of VAQ-137 brought a Prowler back aboard Enterprise (CVN 65) despite not being able to extend the flaps or slats. The challenging night trap concluded an 11.1 hour mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The remains of two Navy officers lost during the Vietnam war have been identified and returned to their families for burial. Ltjg. Robert A. Clark and another officer, whose name has not been released at the request of his family, took off in an A-6A Intruder from Midway (CV 41) on a mission to suppress surface-to-air missiles in North Vietnam on 10 January 1973 and were not heard from again. In July 1991, U.S. researchers discovered a data plate from the downed aircraft in a Vietnamese military museum. In another museum, they discovered photos of a crash site that correlated to the missing aircraft. A witness to the 1973 crash turned over remains that he claimed to have recovered at the site. During an excavation in 2002, additional remains were recovered.