Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County and Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, a census-designated place, is located inside the base's borders.

NAS Lemoore is the Navy's newest and largest master jet base. Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, along with its associated squadrons, is home ported there.

NAS Lemoore also hosts four carrier air wings: Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9), Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11), and Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17).

History Commissioned in 1961, NAS Lemoore, as seen from an aircraft flying above, looks significant and stands out from the farmlands of Central California, due to its large construction. It is the newest and largest master jet base of the U.S. Navy. It has two offset parallel runways apart. Aircraft parking and maintenance hangars are aligned between the runways. Separated from the hangars by underpasses beneath taxiways A and C, the remainder of the air operations area is located directly to the southeast.

In July 1998, NAS Lemoore was selected as the West Coast site for the Navy's newest strike-fighter aircraft, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. This decision brought approximately 92 additional aircraft, 1,850 additional active duty personnel and 3,000 family members to NAS Lemoore, and several associated facility additions or improvements.

The Navy also brought four new fleet squadrons to NAS Lemoore from 2001 to 2004. Additional military staffing was required at the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific, and Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Lemoore (CNATTU Lemoore) to support this effort. Originally, the officer in charge of construction for building the base was Commander Dennis K. Culp CEC/USN, the first Naval officer in Lemoore.

On 31 March 2016, two civilians were killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee they were driving collided with a parked F/A-18 on the base's tarmac. The vehicle had been pursued by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and entered the base without being stopped by base security. A CHP helicopter monitoring the pursuit recorded the incident using FLIR, capturing radio communications in which base tower personnel asked whether the vehicle had entered the base and a CHP dispatcher confirmed that it had. The vehicle then proceeded onto a darkened section of the tarmac without its lights on before colliding with the parked aircraft. The aircraft's left tail surface cut into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

Current operations With the transfer of NAS Miramar to the United States Marine Corps, NAS Lemoore now hosts the Navy's entire west coast fighter/attack capability. NAS Lemoore was built "from the ground up" as a Master Jet Base, and has several operational advantages, and relatively few constraints, as a result.

Strike Fighter Wing Pacific with its supporting facilities is home ported here. The primary aircraft based at NAS Lemoore are the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet since 1999 and the F-35C Lightning II since 2017, operating from 16 Fleet [operational] Squadrons and 2 Fleet Replacement Squadrons.

Lemoore is home to aircraft assigned to the following Carrier Air Wings: Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), assigned to Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3), assigned to Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9), assigned to Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11), assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17), assigned to

Based flying units Flying units based at NAS Lemoore.

United States Navy Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific

Tenant squadrons InsigniaSquadronCodeCallsign/NicknameAssigned aircraftOperational assignmentAdministrative assignmentStrike Fighter Squadron 2VFA-2Bounty HuntersF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 14VFA-14TophattersF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 22VFA-22Fighting RedcocksF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 25VFA-25Fist of the FleetF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing ElevenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 41VFA-41Black AcesF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 86VFA-86SidewindersF-35C Lightning IICarrier Air Wing ElevenCommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Strike Fighter Squadron 94VFA-94Mighty ShrikesF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 97VFA-97WarhawksF-35C Lightning IICarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Strike Fighter Squadron 113VFA-113StingersF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 122VFA-122Flying EaglesF/A-18E/F Super HornetFleet Replacement Squadron (FRS)Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 125VFA-125Rough RaidersF-35C Lightning IIFleet Replacement Squadron (FRS)Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Strike Fighter Squadron 136VFA-136KnighthawksF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing ThreeCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 137VFA-137KestrelsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 146VFA-146Blue DiamondsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing SeventeenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 115VFA-115EaglesF-35C Lightning IICommander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING)Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (COMJSFWING) Strike Fighter Squadron 151VFA-151VigilantesF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing NineCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 154VFA-154Black KnightsF/A-18F Super HornetCarrier Air Wing ElevenCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Squadron 192VFA-192World Famous Golden DragonsF/A-18E Super HornetCarrier Air Wing TwoCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Station SAR LemooreSTASAR Lemoore Wranglers MH-60S Seahawk "Knighthawk"Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL)Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Pacific (COMSEACOMBATWINGPAC)Strike Fighter Weapons School PacificSFWSPACF/A-18E/F Super HornetCommander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC)Fleet Readiness Center WestFRCWNaval Air Station Lemoore (NASL)Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC)

Other tenant activities

Fleet Logistics Center San Diego, Det Lemoore Fleet Aviation Specialized Operational Training Group, Pacific Fleet Naval Air Technical Services Facility Detachment Naval Aviation Engineering Service Unit Naval Air Maintenance Training Group Naval Hospital Naval Branch Dental Clinic Naval Training Systems Center Trainer Systems Support Activity Navy Operational Support Center (formerly Naval Air Reserve Center) Naval Criminal Investigative Service NCISRA Naval Legal Service Office, Southwest Branch Office Aviation Survival Training Center NATEC, Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service Command NAFC, Naval Aviation Forecast Component NAMCE, Naval Aviation Maintenance Center for Excellence MWSS 473 Detachment Alpha, Marine Corps Reserve Motor transportation company

Educational institutes Akers Elementary School (Preschool–8th) Neutra Elementary School (K–5) Columbia College West Hills College

See also List of United States Navy airfields

References

Sources

External links