Naval Air Technical Training Center

Wings of Gold, Summer 2000

What Naval Aviation organization has a population of nearly 5,000 students - a majority of them in their teens - over 1,000 instructors, 2.5 million square feet of working and living space, 17 new buildings, a highly regarded galley, terrific physical fitness facilities and over 3,100 parking spaces?

Answer: The Naval Air Technical Training Center, situated on 205 flat acres at NAS Pensacola, Florida. Once located in Millington, Tennessee and originally established during WWII, NATTC's mission is to teach Sailors and Marines the necessary skills to maintain and repair Naval Aviation's aircraft, keeping them up and ready, safely and professionally. NATTC also trains a small number of USAF, international military and Army people. All told, 25,000 individuals will matriculate at NATTC in FY 2000.

While Naval Aviation fought the Battle of Midway in June 1942, ground was broken at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Millington (near Memphis) for what became a Naval Training Station for Aviation Maintenance. The demand for more training led to expansion and re-designation of the station as NATTC in early 1943.

As aircraft design and technology improved and became more complex, so did the requirement for even more capable technicians. Courses were added to the curriculum which included aircraft structures, engines, ordnance, radar and communications equipment and electronic repair. Air Traffic Control and Aviation Boatswain's Mate training were added a little later. The school grew and became a fixture in Naval Aviation, a stepping stone for enlisted personnel from recruit training to maintenance duty in flying squadrons. The only aviation ratings not trained at NATTC are Aerographer's Mates (AG), Aviation Storekeeper (AK) and Aviation Maintenance Administrationman (AZ).

NATTC was moved from Tennessee to Florida as a result of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) dictates in 1993. Now an attractive, spanking new, college-like campus with a pervasive military ambiance, NATTC has embellished the "Cradle of Naval Aviation" as a master learning center.

Chevalier Hall, on the site of the former Chevalier Field, named after an early Naval Aviation hero, is the centerpiece of NATTC. Called the "Mega Building," it actually consists of administrative offices, classrooms and four huge chambers which were preexisting hangars handsomely "bricked over" to accommodate aircraft, ordnance, engines and a multitude of training devices for realistic, hands-on training.

Personnel arrive from boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois and are organized into small classes which march to and from classrooms and other activities and reside in first-rate berthing spaces within walking (marching) distance of the school, galley, fitness center, athletic fields and gymnasium. A separate medical clinic is also available on campus.

The student Sailors and Marines begin their technical instruction with "A" school which, depending on the rating the individual seeks, may take nine days to eight months. Some will continue on to "C" school before shipping out to the fleet while others may return for "C" school after a sea or shore duty tour. (There are no B schools now.)

Students are taught to function as a team from the get-go while marching to and from classes, while studying, during physical fitness activities or most important, while working on aircraft. Teamwork is stressed as an essential commodity which must carry over to fleet assignments.

NATTC also features a Navy Military Training (NMT) Module designed to provide information to assist the young people in budgeting, Naval heritage, Navy organization and career development. Sailors and Marines gain a foothold on knowledge that helps them while in uniform and in their personal lives.

Realism is key at NATTC. Whether working on a jet engine, hanging a 500-pound bomb on an F/A-18 Hornet or troubleshooting a hydraulic leak on a CH-46 Sea Knight, the training devices are actual aircraft or components of aircraft, such as a landing gear assembly. Accurate facsimiles - not lifesize such as skeletal mock-ups of fuselage and wings configured with electrical and hydraulic devices installed, facilitate understanding of the internal configuration of aircraft. In the case of Air Traffic Controllers, they train in a control tower replica complete with computer generated images of aircraft and vehicular movement across the runways, and computer generated voices of the various aircraft the students 'control.' Shipboard air traffic control training is specially designed for both aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. A replica of the ships control centers including radar, communications and data boards provide realistic training scenarios.

There are four major departments at NATTC: Air Traffic Control, Avionics, Air Training and Mechanical Training. In the first, prospective ACs study their trade utilizing the simulated control towers which can replicate day or night operations and even bad weather. Programmed flight scenarios enable the student to talk to "pilots" through various sequences approaching or departing airfields, or the carrier.