1994-Contin ued

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

391

Army helos leave the deck of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

27 September After completing the most extensive over-

haul in U.S. Navy history at Newport News Shipbuilding,

Va., the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,

Enterprise, returned to her home port at Norfolk, Va.

30 September The aircraft model designation

TC-18F was established for two Boeing 707 -382B

aircraft. The aircraft had been extensively modified

to include cockpit avionics and a universal air refu-

eling receptacle for dry contacts only. The Naval

Training Support Unit at Tinker AFB, Okla., was

using these aircraft to train pilots for the VQ-3 and

-4 TACAMO (take charge and move out) mission

aboard E-6A aircraft.

1 October NAS Fort Worth, Tex., was established as a

joint reserve force base. The air station would be home

for the Navy and Marine Corps squadrons formerly based

at NAS Dallas, Tex., which was closing, and NAS

Memphis, Tenn., which would no longer be an air station.

1 October Commander, Patrol Wings, U.S. Atlantic

Fleet, was established in Norfolk, Va., with Rear

Admiral Michael D. Haskins as its first commander.

5 October The first aviator class to use the T-45

Training System (T45TS) received their wings and

graduated from VT-21 in a ceremony at NAS

Kingsville, Tex. The T-45 Goshawk, a modified version

of the British Aerospace Hawk, is the aircraft element

of the integrated T45TS, which includes simulators and

academic training.

7 October President William Clinton dispatched

George Washington, with CVW-7 embarked, and its

battle group to the Red Sea to protect Kuwait from

the Iraqi troops massing on its border. George

Washington arrived in the Red Sea 10 October.

Additionally, the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group,

with 2,000 embarked Marines, moved to the northern

Persian Gulf.