NAS Patuxent River is the home of three major Commands responsible for the life cycle management of Naval Aviation systems: the 'Naval Air Systems Command' and the subordinate 'Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division' and 'Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers'. Each of these organizations is briefly outlined on this page.
1. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
Aligned to the Chief of Naval Operations (external link), the Naval Air Systems Command or NAVAIR (external link) conducts full life-cycle management of all naval aviation systems. NAVAIR oversees the development, testing, and fielding of aircraft, weapons, and systems, and also acquires and logistically supports those systems.
Commanded by a Vice Admiral, NAVAIR originated in 1966 as a successor to the Bureau of Naval Weapons (external link). Since 1997, NAVAIR Headquarters has resided at NAS Patuxent River.
In 1992, nearly all of NAVAIR’s life-cycle management functions were organized into the three new components outlined below:
2. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD)
Co-located with, and an element, of NAVAIR, NAWCAD (external link) is headquartered at NAS Patuxent River. NAWCAD is commanded by either a Rear Admiral or Marine Corps Brigadier General.
NAWCAD’s principle responsibility is to provide naval aviation Program Management teams with specialists in various management and technical disciplines known as 'Competencies' in NAWCAD's lexicon. NAWCAD Competencies include contracts, engineering, test and evaluation, logistics, and industrial operations.
The Program Management teams supported by NAWCAD are administered by several aviation-related Program Executive Offices (PEOs - external links), of which four reside at Pax River (external links):
- PEO (A) | NAVAIR (navy.mil) (Program Executive Office Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault & Special Mission)
- PEO (CS) | NAVAIR (navy.mil) (Program Executive Office, Aviation Common Systems and Commercial Services)
- PEO (T) | NAVAIR (navy.mil) (Program Executive Office, Tactical Aircraft Programs)
- PEO (U&W) | NAVAIR (navy.mil) (Program Executive Office, Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons)
NAWCAD was created in 1992 upon the disestablishment of Pax River’s Naval Air Test Center (NATC). NATC's flight test-related organizations were assigned to the Naval Test Wing Atlantic (NTWL), a component of the newly-established NAWCAD. Today, NTWL's flight test squadrons conduct most of their operations on the Atlantic Test Ranges, which is administered by NAWCAD's Atlantic Ranges and Targets Department (external link).
Although NAWCAD was initially headquartered in Arlington, VA with NAVAIR, both NAVAIR and NAWCAD were moved to NAS Patuxent River in 1997. With this move, Pax River became the national lead for life cycle support of all of naval aviation, including developmental test and evaluation.
NAWCAD operates a variety of Aircraft Launch and Recovery Systems (outlined here), along with the Air Combat Environment Test & Evaluation Facility (ACETEF), the Facility for Antenna and Radar Cross Section Measurement (FARM), and the Electromagnetic Pulse Facility (all outlined here), NAWCAD also operates Webster Outlying Field (outlined here) and the facilities located at Lakehurst Maxfield Field, NJ.
The 1997 move of NAVAIR and NAWCAD to Pax River brought about a number of ancillary changes in long-standing Pax River organizations. For example, two O-6 (Navy Captain)-led groups, the "Naval Aviation Depot Operation Center" (NADOC) and the "Naval Aviation Maintenance Office" (NAMO), were both disestablished in 1997. Both groups' functions were incorporated into the new NAWCAD.
Of the two disestablished groups, NADOC was the more venerable. NADOC's origins can be traced to 1969, with the establishment of the "Naval Aviation Integrated Logistics Support Center", or NAILSC. In 1978, NAILSC was redesignated as the "Naval Aviation Logistics Center", or NALC, reflecting changing functional responsibilities. Similar changes in 1978 saw the group again redesignated, this time as the "NADOC".
The newer NAMO group originated in 1978 as the "Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Support Office", or AIMSO. The redesignation to "NAMO" came about in 1987 when AIMSO's responsibilities were significantly expanded.
3. Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC)
Among NAVAIR's key components are naval aviation’s nine Fleet Readiness Centers (FRCs), the Commander (external link) of which resides at NAS Patuxent River.
Located around the world, FRCs provide Maintenance Repair and Overhaul products and services to naval aviation, including shore-based and depot-level maintenance and support. The FRC Commander is a one-star Admiral or USMC General.
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Updated 21 Jan 2024. The material herein, excluding images, is copyright the author, Robert Tourville, and the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum. Image copyrights are as noted.