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15th Wing aids Navy in aircraft relocation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Terri Paden
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  When renovations at Marine Corps Base Hawaii left the fixed-wing aircraft assigned to Navy Patrol Squadron NINE without a runway to use, the unit didn't have to look any further than the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam flightline to find a temporary home for their mission.    

For the next two months, the 16 Navy aircraft of NPS-9, which include 11 P-3s, three VR-51s and two Hawkers, and more than 175 maintainers and aircrew members, will perform their primary mission of anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from Hickam.  

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to exercise the joint-team concept," said Navy Capt. Lance Scott, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Two, after the arrival of the first aircraft Aug 23. "Col. Roscoe and his team have been incredibly supportive."

Scott also said he looks forward to strengthening the working relationship with Hickam and expects the unit to do well in their new working environment.  

"I'm really appreciative of 15th Wing leadership for extending this invitation to us and we are thankful for all the hard work that went into coordinating our stay."  

While at Hickam, the Navy personnel will continue to perform 24-hour operations--providing maintenance and aircrew support as normal.  

"This was a seamless transition," Cmdr. Kati Hill, VP-9 commander executive officer, said of the relocation process. "Everybody here has been really terrific and supportive of the move."    

This is not the first time the Air Force and Navy have worked together to overcome a potential mission stoppage. The Navy has relied on the use of the JBPH-H runway many times in the past, including as recently as February 2011--an ongoing partnership that Col. Johnny Roscoe, 15th Wing commander, said the base is more than willing to provide.  

"This is what it means to be a mission partner," he said. "We're here every day working closely with our sister service to get our respective missions accomplished in the most effective and efficient way possible. Wherever we are able to lend a hand or offer up our support we're more than willing to do that."  

"This was a pretty big undertaking and a definite win for our joint planning teams," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Hanson, 15th Wing chief of Plans and Programs. "We have essentially relocated all of Kaneohe Bay's fixed-wing assets and set up flying operations from a new location without any mission degradation--while maintaining our operations here."  

While the arrival of the aircraft may appear to be the end of the story, it really just marks the midpoint of the joint Air Force-Navy partnership effort--planners and airfield operations personnel will continue to closely coordinate during this period of increased activity to ensure smooth operations continue on the already busy airfield. Despite the additional workload, Roscoe said he looks forward to having the aircraft and crews working on base for the next couple months.

"This is great," he said. "I'm glad to have these guys here; it's going to be a lot of fun."