Now almost 20 years old, the NAS at Whidbey Island, about 60 miles northwest of Seattle, Washington, has finally achieved a permanent place in the defensive bulwarks of the nation.
The busy station, in 1960, recorded over 36,000 landings and take-offs, more than 67,000 “touch-and-go” landings, and 11,926 Ground Control Approaches conducted. For the year, NAS Whidbey stood first in the Navy, fourth in the entire military establishment, and twenty-first in the nation (including all commercial airfields), in the number of instrument approaches conducted.
The mission of the Station is to provide facilities, services, and material to support operations of aviation activities and other assigned units. Whidbey Island is “home” to Commander, Naval Air Bases, Thirteenth Naval District; Commander, Fleet Air Whidbey; Commander, Fleet Air Wing Four; a Heavy Attack Wing (Squadrons VAH-2, VAH-4, VAH-6, VAH-10, VAH-123); a Patrol Wing (Squadrons VP-1, VP-2, VP-17); Seaplane Squadron VP-47; a Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit Detachment; a Fleet Air Intelligence Support Center; a Naval Air Mobile Training Unit; and the necessary supporting activities.
The Patrol Wing, whose mission is long range reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare, flies Martin P5M Marlins and the Lockheed P2V-7 Neptunes. Their “Ready Alert” aircraft are capable of launching in less than 15 minutes to investigate any reported or suspected submarine contacts. The Heavy Attack Wing flies A3D twin jet Skywarriors, which carry a variety of weapons including depth charges, torpedoes, mines, and nuclear bombs, and are capable of all-weather operation, at ranges exceeding 2,000 nautical miles. Heavy attack aircraft from Whidbey operate at sea from Pacific Fleet attack carriers.
Training is a never-ending business at Whidbey. Skilled personnel with special equipment work both at the Seaplane Base, near the island town of Oak Harbor, and at Ault Field, some four miles southeast. Commander, Fleet Air Whidbey, in command of all fleet aircraft in the Northwest area, is responsible for the co-ordination of the training and operational readiness of the Heavy Attack and Patrol Plane Squadrons. Daily training includes practice shipping reconnaissance, antisubmarine tactics, navigation and patrol crew training, long range practice radar bombing missions, radar plotting, celestial navigation and the ever-important field mirror landing practice.
There is close liaison between Commander, Fleet Air Whidbey and the Canadian Flag Officer Pacific, who commands air and surface antisubmarine forces for the defense of Canada; they frequently combine forces or operate in each other’s areas as the need arises. This assures complete surveillance of the off-shore waters for shipping and submarines.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is ideally situated for operation flight training of the Fleet Squadrons, ten miles off any major air lane, and well clear of the notorious Olympic mountain rainfall. While Seattle, down the Sound, gets 31.9 inches of rain a year, Whidbey records only 19.8. Weather is so good that VFR conditions exist there 89 per cent of the time, as compared to 82.68 per cent at Alameda and 86 per cent at North Island. Hunting, fishing, and other facilities make living a pleasure at Whidbey.
In fact, the inhabitants of the place back in 1941 liked living there so well that they vigorously objected when the Navy announced plans for its seaplane base at Whidbey Island. Wheat farmers there had harvested a world’s record yield of 117 bushels to the acre. Who needed the Navy? The first contingent of 266 officers and men to reach the site met an un- enthusiastic reception, which was somewhat tempered soon after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Gradually the Navy and the community discovered common problems and mutual interests. Now, local residents consider Whidbey Island as a model of Navy- community relations, which many other Navy communities could well copy.
Especially noteworthy, at Whidbey Island, has been the Navy’s participation in wildlife conservation programs. An area of 579 acres at Crescent Harbor (Seaplane Base) has been leased to the Washington State Department of Game and Wildlife Management. Another 93 acres of the lagoon area at the Seaplane Base has been leased to the Washington State Department of Fisheries for salmon propagation. Part of the Coupeville Outlying Field will probably soon be planted to provide feed and cover for game birds.
First construction work at Whidbey commenced on 15 January 1942; the station was commissioned on 21 September. A few months later Ault Field was christened in honor of Commander William Bowen Ault, U. S. Navy, an aircraft squadron leader lost in the Coral Sea Battle.
During World War II, the station’s mission was to re-arm and service patrol planes. Various types of training were conducted; thousands of recruits were put through a quick two weeks’ course there. Late in 1942, torpedo overhaul facilities were moved to Whidbey from nearby Indian Island. But within six months of VJ-Day, the station was placed in a reduced operating status and most of its 8,000 naval personnel and 1,000 civilian employees went home. The place was almost as quiet as it was when pioneer Martin Teftezon first set foot on it, a century earlier.
Whidbey’s new lease on life came in 1949, when Navy planners began to stress speed, mobility and dispersion as the answer to the threats of the atomic age. A survey board recommended that Whidbey Island should become one of the nation’s major all-type, all- weather Navy fields, one to support Alaskan and Fleet operational activities. Since then the once “temporary” base has turned permanent, with the additions of a new operations building, hangars, barracks, galley and mess- hall, and an 8,000-foot runway. Another 8,000-foot runway is being built. The station can now handle all types of aircraft regardless of weather conditions.
The military population at NAS Whidbey Island fluctuates with the arrival and departure of squadrons, but averages around 3,000. About one-fifth that many civil service workers are employed. The annual civilian and military payroll of 13 million dollars has had marked effect on the local economy. Many Navy families own homes in the community. The population of Oak Harbor, approximately 400 when the station was commissioned, had increased to about 2,400 in 1957.
Because the station is in a relatively isolated location away from large population centers, its religious and recreational facilities and school system are an important factor. A complete religious program is carried on for military personnel and their dependents. Recreational facilities on the base range from clubs, a golf course and swimming pool down to a billiard room and woodworking shop.
The local community school enrollment has increased with the expansion of the station. Federal assistance was first provided by the construction of a half-million dollar school near the housing project at Ault Field in 1951. Even so, 13 Homoja Huts have been leased to the school for the past two years as temporary classroom facilities. Another Federal fund school, to be erected in the Capehart Housing area at Crescent Harbor, has recently been approved. The new building will house approximately 400 pupils and cost another halfmillion dollars.
The original seaplane base, estimated to cost about 4 million dollars in 1941, has now grown until it covers more than 8,000 acres, includes over 1,200 buildings, and has a plant value of 80 million dollars. Planes from Whidbey Island patrol the far reaches of the Pacific. Whidbey is busy, booming, and nationally important. In addition to all that, it’s good duty.