Naval Air Station Whiting Field was recently recognized as the recipient of the 2024 Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence for the Navy.
The Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations. The six recipients of this highly competitive presidential award were selected for their exemplary support of Department of Defense missions.
“Each of the winning installations has a list of accomplishments that really is very impressive that far surpass the criteria that have been set up,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment Brendan Owens.
Installations compete on how well they achieve the Department's objectives in several areas of installation management, including mission support, energy conservation, quality of life and unit morale, environmental stewardship, real property management, safety, health and security, communications, and public relations.
Each of the winning installations succeeded at being the best in performing installation management within their military service and the Defense Logistics Agency.
Discussing some of the factors that led to Whiting being selected as the Navy winner, DoD officials highlighted the many projects and enterprises undertaken by base leadership – from childcare support, to airport development summits, to renewable energy planning – the more than 10,000 volunteer service hours donated by base personnel and their families, and about a dozen awards the base won in fiscal year 2023.
The award also recognized the sheer scope of Whiting's mission.
Naval Air Station Whiting Field, home of Training Air Wing Five, is the backbone of Naval Aviation Training, supporting approximately 60% of all primary fixed-wing flight training and 100% of all initial helicopter training for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.
The DoD noted Whiting's team enabled the completion of over a million flight operations, making it one of the busiest air complexes in the world and accounting for 18% of all U.S. Navy world-wide flight hours.
"Over 1,200 flight students from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Allied Forces train here each year. The installation’s footprint spans two states and four counties, includes three independent tower-controlled airfields and supports 12 Navy Outlying Landing Fields. Every Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard helicopter pilot earns their Wings of Gold at NASWF, producing nearly 600 new aviators annually."
Naval Air Station Whiting Field Commanding Officer Capt. Paul Flores credited Whiting’s robust community partnership as a major factor in the installation’s ability to execute its mission.
“Community-military partnering is integral to the success of NAS Whiting Field,” Flores said. “We have 12 outlying fields we manage that facilitate our mission, each one of those has their own county we liaise with and those communities as well help facilitate the mission.”
The Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence was established in 1985 as a challenge to the men and women of the Department of Defense to search for installations where defense personnel have done the best job with their resources to support the mission and seek imaginative solutions to the complex problems they face. Naval Air Station Whiting Field was nominated for the award after winning the Commander, Navy Installations Command 2024 Installation Excellence Award in the Small Base category.
Each winning installation will receive a commemorative trophy, flag, and a congratulatory letter from the president. The other winners are:
- U.S. Army Garrison Fort Cavazos, Texas
- Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina
- Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
- Patrick Space Force Base, Florida
- Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio
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