CNATT Celebrates 13th Birthday

From Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Public Affairs

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT) Headquarters, celebrated its 13th birthday with a luncheon, cake-cutting ceremony and team-building exercises at the Naval Air Station Pensacola Portside complex Feb. 5.

A command with oversight of more than 3,000 staff members supporting 115,000 students annually at training units, detachments and learning sites around the world.

CNATT provides nearly 550 courses in support of the Naval Aviation Enterprise and fleet readiness, according to CNATT Commanding Officer Capt. Terry Hammond.

"We're celebrating 13 years of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training [CNATT]," he said. "A highlight for me is that we've been able to provide the single source for naval aviation technical training for these many years, and with each year we're providing greater and greater quality in support of a training continuum for our Navy and Marine Corps students."

CNATT is headquartered aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola. The headquarters develops, delivers and supports aviation technical training at 27 sites located throughout the continental United States and Japan.

Hammond addressed the nearly 120 CNATT service members and civilian employees at the onset of the four-hour celebration, stressing the importance the headquarters staff has played in the professional development of thousands of students.

"Our support staff [the Pensacola staff] serves as kind of a linchpin to making what we do around the world really work," he said. "Our key functions here are to provide guidance to our units out in the fleet that are actually doing the training and to provide direction in helping them understand policy, two things I know we are excelling at as we head in to our next year."

The CNATT Morale, Welfare and Recreation committee provided lunch and organized games and activities for the staff members. Pensacola resident and previous Naval Aviation Maintenance Training Group Unit Commanding Officer Capt. Frank Smith also attended the celebration.

Hammond also requested the civilian employee with the most time working at CNATT, Marcus Digmon, and the most newly reported service member, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Paul Bourgeois, to cut the command's birthday cake.

Hammond also said the command's headquarters element remains dedicated to the continued efforts toward training the future maintainers of naval aviation, a task he said CNATT embraces.

"Being here in the cradle of naval aviation is important because it gives us an opportunity to be part of that aviation warrior ethos," he said. "All Naval Aviation Enterprise members come through one of our schoolhouses -- whether you're a pilot, whether you're an enlisted Sailor or Marine, you have an opportunity to come through our schoolhouses. So I think it's appropriate and fitting that our center is headquartered right here in the cradle of naval aviation."

CNATT is a technical training agent for the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE), an organization designed to advance and sustain Naval Aviation warfighting capabilities at an affordable cost, and is the largest training center under Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).