Paul Iverson/Caller-Times file VITAL NAVAL COMMAND: Sailors stand at attention in December 2001 as the top job at the Mine Warfare Command is passed from Rear Adm. Jose L. Betancourt Jr. to Rear Adm. John E. Boyington Jr. Mine Warfare Command is stationed at Naval Station Ingleside, the newest of three military bases in the Coastal Bend.

Area is home to Navy, Army
Three bases provide 21 percent of salaries in three counties

By Stephanie L. Jordan, Caller-Times

  

Performing, Visual arts Pilots-turned-famous got their starts here Although no one has any way of predicting which of today’s pilots may someday become famous, the past shows that they could become anything from a politician to a movie star. Former President George Bush, who was a Navy pilot, at 18 became the youngest to receive his wings at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, before later becoming the director of the CIA, vice president and president. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who later ran for office against Bush’s son, President George W. Bush, also earned his wings here. Film star Tyrone Power was already a movie star when he arrived on base to serve as a Marine Corps lieutenant in 1942. He served there until 1946, and went on to star in "The Sun Also Rises." And don’t forget some famous astronauts who became stars after viewing some up close: John Glenn, Alan Shepard and Neil Armstrong also trained at the base.

The Coastal Bend boasts three military bases that constitute 21 percent of the salaries in Nueces, Kleberg and San Patricio County.
   The one with the most tenants, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, is dedicated to primary flight training of Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force pilots. Naval Air Station Kingville is dedicated to training jet pilots for the Navy and Marine Corps, and Naval Station Ingleside is designated the Mine Warfare Center of Excellence.
   NAS Corpus Christi
   In addition to training pilots, the 4,400-acre base is home to the Corpus Christi Army Depot, one of South Texas' largest industrial employers. The base employs 3,120 reserve and active duty military members. There are also 7,319 civilian employees and dependents, who work on the base, as well as many who live there in military housing.
   Other major commands include:
   * The chief of naval air training oversees pilot and navigator instruction for the Corpus Christi and Kingsville bases as well as bases in Pensacola and Whiting Field, Fla., and Meridian, Miss. It is also the head of the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Naval Aviation Schools Command and the Blue Angels, all of which are based in Pensacola.
   * Mine Warfare Command, which is the headquarters for the Navy's mine warfare capabilities, oversees more than two dozen coastal mine hunting and mine countermeasures ships based in Ingleside, Sasebo, Japan and Bahrain. Under mine warfare command, and also based at the Corpus Christi installation, is Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, which has more than 200 sailors.
   * Training Wing Four is the command over the four training squadrons at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, where more than 300 student aviators train each year.
   * The base also houses the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and the Naval Hospital.
   Naval Air Station Kingsville
   Naval Air Station Kingsville consists of 4,000 acres and trains an average of 150 pilots each year for the Navy and Marine Corps. The base controls more than 14,000 square miles of air space over South Texas.
   The entire complex includes four sites and more than 23,000 acres. The other three sites are Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Orange Grove, which has 1,400 acres, McMullen Target Range, which has 11,000 acres, and Escondido Ranch, which has 7,000 acres. The base employs 664 active duty personnel and 1,117 civilians.
   Naval Station Ingleside
   Naval Station Ingleside is the newest of the three bases in South Texas. Opened in 1992, the base has 483 acres and employs 2,443 active duty military members, 84 reservists, 314 civilians and 253 contractors.
   * The base is home to 20 ships, 10 mine countermeasure ships, which are 224 feet long and have 85-man crews, and 10 coastal mine hunters, which are 188 feet long and have 50-man crews.
   * The Mine Warfare Training Center hosted 3,900 students, who received training there from Oct. 2000 to Sept. 2001.