Premier Jet Training Installation - Vital Mission
- NAS Meridian "is the Navy's premier initial jet training installation"
- NAS Meridian's training mission "is vital to Naval Aviation and national
security" producing about 60% of the Navy and Marine Corps strike aviator
annual production requirement;
- "NAS Meridian's airspace (three adjacent Military Operating Areas)
is ideally suited for the basic maneuvers associated with the strike
training curriculum and the performance characteristics of the T-45C;"
- Arranged access to airfields in Memphis, Montgomery, New Orleans,
Columbus, Greenwood, and Meridian enhance capacity and allow student
pilots to see different approaches and traffic patterns during an early
stage of training; and
- NAS Meridian was designed from the ground up as a modern jet-training
airfield (commissioned in 1961):
- Parallel, offsetting runways extend from a maintenance center
which maximizes operation efficiency by enabling simultaneous launch
and recovery operations while minimizing ground and taxi time (saves
fuel too);
- Airfield separation (approximately 4.5 miles) from the administrative,
tenant training, and housing complex enhances the safety and conduct
of routine station business, tenant student training, and the quality
of life of dependents while maximizing airfield security;
- T-45C "Goshawk," the Navy's most modern jet trainer, solely
based at NAS Meridian since 1997, will reach full complement in September
2004 - with complete transition to T-45C Training Syllabus training
by June 2004;
- Modern facilities and simulators support state-of-the-art T-45C
training-recent military construction projects included five T-45
support facilities, new control towers for both the main and outlying
airfields, new fire and rescue building, and a new administrative
building;
- Low costs support operation efficiency - low corrosion control and
prevention costs, low facilities maintenance costs, minimal detachment
cost, and low local housing and contract costs.
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