From loon to AAMRAM: Naval aviation at Naval base Ventura County

Wings of Gold, Fall 2001

Wings of Gold Feature

It lies 65 five miles northwest of down town Los Angeles, is blessed with excellent flying weather year-round, has a six and a half mile stretch of uncluttered beach along its southwest perimeter and features a Sea Range for test and development work that includes 36,000 square miles of ocean and the airspace above it. It is Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, host to multiple Naval Aviation activities. It occupies more than 4,500 acres of land, about half of which is natural salt watermarsh wetlands. The fertile soil in the region helped make it the strawberry capital of the world. Importantly, NAVAIRSYCOM's extensive presence and flourishing activities at NBVC makes it one of Naval Aviation's key and enduring facilities.

NBVC provides world-class aviation support for its tenant activities, especially those involved in testing and evaluating aircraft, aircraft systems and related weapons for the fleet. Among those activities are the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD); Navy Test Wing Pacific and Airborne Early Warning Wing U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMAEWWINGPAC) with its four E-2C Hawkeye squadrons.

Seabees trained in the Mugu area in 1941, putting down a section of Marston Mat runway which became Point Mugu's first airstrip. The Navy, particularly CDR Grayson Merrill, then head of the Bureau of Aeronautics Special Projects Branch, convinced seniors of the need for a sea test range, an effort which ultimately led to Point Mugu's emergence as a center for testing weapons. Its first project was the Loon surface to surface missile, planned for ship to shore bombardment against Japan. The air station was permanently established in 1949 to support what became the Naval Air Missile Test Center (NMC).

Weapons with gloomy names like Glomb, Gorgon and Gargoyle came into the inventory and were followed by Sparrow and Regulus.

In 1958 the Pacific Missile Range (PMR) was established, headquartered at Point Mugu as the western representative of nation's three test ranges, the other two being the Atlantic Missile Range and the White Sands (New Mexico) Missile Range. Weapons tested in this period included the Sidewinder, Bullpup and Phoenix missiles. The coupling of Phoenix and the F-14A Tomcat stands out as one of Point Mugu's most valuable contributions to Naval Aviation.

NMC and PMR were disestablished and formed into the Pacific Missile Test Center in 1975, working on Harpoon, Tomahawk, the Standard Missile, Aegis and Trident. In 1989 the first launch of a Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) was made from a test center A-6E Intruder.

With downsizing after the end of the Cold War, NAVAIRSYSCOM combined Point Mugu, China Lake and White Sands into the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, aligning base functions under one command.

In 1998, NAS Point Mugu and Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, were realigned under COMNAVAIRPAC. In 2000, NBVC was established, consolidating the Hueneme and Mugu Naval bases under a single command with CAPT Jim Rainwater as the CO.

During an August visit to Point Mugu, Wings of Gold interviewed some leading officials at the base. Following are their remarks.