NAS Whiting Field wins best small base award with help from Santa Rosa community
Leaders from across the U.S. Navy Installations Command chose selected Naval Air Station Whiting Field as the best small base in the Navy.
The Commander Navy Installation Command 2024 Installation Excellence Award program recognizes naval installations with outstanding performance throughout 2023, which includes management, program excellence and community outreach.
"This award is truly a team effort of all hands on the base. It could not have been accomplished without all the hard work of everyone on the team," said Capt. Paul Flores, NAS Whiting Field's commanding officer. "I could not be more proud of everyone at NAS Whiting Field."
Training the next generation: Try before you fly: NAS Whiting Field Fly-In helps future aviators choose their destiny
In conjunction with this award, NAS Whiting Field was also nominated to represent the Navy for the 2024 Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence — the first in the base's history.
The CNIC Award was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 in which the Department of Defense initiates a service-wide competition on behalf of the president of the United States.
Part of NAS Whiting Field's ability to win the award is thanks to their partnership with Santa Rosa County and the county's community, according to the base's Community Planning and Liaison Officer Randy Roy.
"The relationship that Santa Rosa County has with Whiting Field is unique. We're a $1.6 billion economic impact to them," Roy said. But the base needs the community, as well, he said.
"The award and our achievements and our successes is absolutely tied to the support and collaboratives that Santa Rosa County gives us," Roy added. "It allows us flexibility in our mission and capability to meet (the) mission."
Many residents will remember one of the largest examples of the symbiotic relationship between NAS Whiting Field and Santa Rosa County when, in 2023, Leonardo Helicopters broke ground on a 113,000-square-foot maintenance headquarters at the Whiting Aviation Park for many of the military helicopters around the Gulf Coast and Central America, including the TH-73 "Alpha Thrasher" helicopters used at NAS Whiting Field for training.
Leonardo, in association with Space Florida, committed to investing over $65 million in the construction of the facility, which was envisioned two decades ago by then-County Commission Don Salter as an opportunity to lure aviation and transportation-related commerce to the area.
Under the county partnership agreement with Space Florida, the county will lease 15 acres of Leonardo Helicopter land inside the aviation park to Space Florida, which in turn will lease the land to Leonardo Helicopters. The two entities will work together to fundraise, finance and build a Leonardo Helicopters customer care center.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: NAS Whiting Field wins Navy best small base award