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NAS Pensacola Celebrates 100th Birthday

Mike O'Conor U.S. Navy

  Naval Air Station Pensacola held its 100th anniversary ceremony this morning, capping a year of events recognizing the base’s centennial. The highlight was the unveiling of a statue honoring one of the original naval aviators, John Towers.

Friday’s event marks the establishment near Pensacola of the Navy’s first aeronautical station. Base Commander, Capt. Keith Hoskins, extended a welcome to the audience of civilians, sailors and Marines. He spoke of the installation’s legacies, and everlasting contributions to the nation’s security.

“During the beginning it was purely focused on naval aviation, development and training,” said Hoskins. “And today, we see a wide spectrum of training that supports the joint war fighter here on board NAS Pensacola.”

In 1914, the original naval aviation unit consisted of nine officers, 23 enlisted men, and seven aircraft. The first flight occurred on February 2. At the controls were Ensign Godfrey Chevalier, and Lt. John Towers – known as “Jack” and “Aviator Number Three.”

“Their names – Mustin, Chevalier, Saufley, Mitcher – represent the pioneers of the unique profession of arms,” said Hill Goodspeed, the historian at the National Museum of Naval Aviation – which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. 

“Among the men who unloaded the canvas tent hangers and seaplanes onto the sandy shore a century ago, none served as a naval aviator longer. Indeed, every man and woman who has taken flight from the Cradle of Naval Aviation follows in the footsteps of Jack Towers,” said Goodspeed.

Towers eventually rose to the rank of Admiral and served as Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics at the beginning of World War II, and commanded carrier task forces during that war. He retired from the Navy in 1947 and died in 1955 at age 70.

The highlight of the ceremony was the unveiling of a bronze statue of Towers, done by retired Navy Captain and former Blue Angel Bob Rasmussen, who recently announced his retirement from the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. The statue is near the National Fight Academy.

After the unveiling, the guest speaker was Vice Admiral Scott Swift -- Director, Navy Staff. In his remarks, he touched on John Towers’ influence on naval aviation – an influence that reaches over the span of a century.

“They also possessed a spirit of conviction, that the airplane would become a vital weapon in naval warfare,” said Swift. “Their efforts proved successful. And the young men and women who arrive at NAS Pensacola today, do so knowing that the training they will receive will take them to the front lines of the nation’s defense. Part of the forward presence and power projection that naval aviation represents.”

Credit Dave Dunwoody, WUWF Public Media

  While NAS Pensacola is now known as a training base, in 1914 senior officers envisioned it to serve as an aerodynamic center for the study and advancement of aviation. Testing back then included aircraft catapults -- which are used on aircraft carriers to this day -- aircraft machine guns, and record altitude and endurance flights.

In closing his 15-minute address, Admiral Swift said that the march of technology, and the roll of honor of those who have served naval aviation, are present in the halls of the museum. As for the future….

“It is above us,” said Swift, “Soaring high in the skies over Pensacola. Just as Towers did when he, Commander Henry Mustin, and a small band of officers and enlisted men established a ‘cradle of naval aviation’ a century ago.”