Willow Grove Air fest 06

woot. I am going to it this year and this time I got good seats for the ( I am pretty sure) last air show for the old Naval/Joint reserve base
I paid 50 bucks to get up close to the action (really up close) and cant wait. I will bring my camera and see what I can do.

Just a little info on the base. ( of course you dont have to read it all) 😂

In 1942, to help the nation rise to its defense, Pitcairn sold his flying field to the United States Navy. The naval aviation unit that first occupied what was to become NAS JRB Willow Grove originated in 1929 at the Rockaway, NY training school with 16 officers, 53 enlisted men, four seaplanes and seven land based aircraft. They were soon transferred to Mustin Field at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as World War II approached; it became obvious that small Mustin Field was inadequate for mobilization purposes. So in early 1942, the Navy paid $480,000 for the Pitcairn field and hangars. Some 250 Naval personnel took possession of the field that year bringing along with them 30 N3N biplane trainers known as the “Yellow Peril.”

In January 1943, the field was officially commissioned the United States Naval Air Station Willow Grove. By October, a highly classified project under the direction of the Naval Research Laboratory got underway to establish an effective deterrent to the German submarine threat. A new unit called, USNR Radio/Radar Unit, modified over 2,000 PV-1 antisubmarine aircraft here, for delivery to squadrons operating in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The PV-1 is the ancestor of our present day P-3C aircraft that operates in the Patrol Squadrons here on station and around the country. At its wartime peak, NAS Willow Grove housed tens of thousands of servicemen and women.

Following the end of the war, Willow Grove was designated a Reserve training station under the Chief of Naval Air Reserve Training. Activities increased during the Korean War and then in 1957, the Navy purchased additional land bordering the station to bring the area to its present total of 1,100 acres. The Vietnam War also brought a step up in operations and many Willow Grove Reservists volunteered to fly airlift and cargo missions in support of the U.S. effort.

In 1994, the station’s name was changed to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Willow Grove, to accurately depict the population and efforts of the station. In 2003, more changes to the Department of the Navy’s structure came about creating a new command on station known as the Naval Air Reserve, which is now responsible for the more than 5,000 drilling Naval Reservists that come to the ‘Grove each month.

Integration of resources and personnel is the theme throughout today’s Navy. Today’s Navy Selected Reservist is a member of the Navy’s Reserve, supporting the Fleet wherever the need exists. On October 1, 2004, the Naval Air Reserve Command onboard NAS JRB Willow Grove became the home to the more than 2,500 Navy Selected Reservists that drill here. Additionally, last year marked the station’s 60th Anniversary. The station has grown in scope tremendously over the years and currently employs 1,289 active duty and 726 civilians to provide services and facilities to over 5,000 joint reserve personnel from 22 tenant and 32 reserve units associated with the station. The station is truly a Joint Reserve Base. The Willow Grove "team" supports Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force Reserve, and Pennsylvania Air National Guard and Army Guard units. From A-10 and C-130 aircraft, H-53 helicopters, soldiers on the ground to sailors on ships these units deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and around the globe. Approximately 1,500 mobilizations occurred in 2003. These are the people winning the global war on terrorism. Through outstanding support to Reservists, NAS JRB Willow Grove fulfills the mission of the Naval Reserve - "support to the Fleet…ready and fully integrated."