Naval Air Stations: Love ’em or not, they’re home.

Every Naval Air Station has something amazing about it. They also always have something wrong with them. Your Flightline is your home. You can always take pride in the birds you put in the air regardless of where you do it, but holy God it’d be easier if it wasn’t 110 million degrees out. But that builds character, right? You’ve been tempered in the fires of El Centro. The Navy picked the locations of these airfields because of tactically-relevant

The Navy picked the locations of these airfields because of strategic relevance, meaning they’re within defensible distance of other bases and major cities in the event of an attack. Obviously, the land needs to be flat. Now, we’re not geographers here at Navy Crow, but it seems like being in the middle of a big area of flatland is just asking for a Naval Air Station to be either boiling lava hot or freezing cold and windy. Ask any Midwesterner.

Let’s examine a couple case studies.

Point Mugu

An E-2C Hawkeye flies over Point Mugu NAS

Now, there are some nice parts about Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Unlike a lot of bases, it’s within shouting distance of Oxnard. If you’ve taken getting stabbed as a hobby, that place is great! There’s also tons of smog, which is great if you’re used to not breathing a lot.

But it’s all about the silver lining, so at least the weather is always temperate. It can get up there in temperature, but at least you’re not freezing your cajones off in the winter. You can also drive down to Santa Barbara, which is a pretty nice city if you’ve been selling drugs in Oxnard and can afford the luxury.

Oceana

Flight Formation over NAS Oceana

As a general rule, the further a base is from Washington DC, the better. From our reader’s reviews, though, Naval Air Station Oceana actually isn’t that bad. Sure, there’s some big wig visits since it’s only 211 miles from DC, but they’re far and few between enough to make life pleasant. Weather isn’t too bad, it’s the same as Norfolk (which is also fairly nearby).

Really, the only complaint we could find was that MWR is a little underfunded, and there’s nothing to do.

Wherever you lay your jet, celebrate it with the NAS Coin from Navy Crow! It’s a fantastic gift for any ground-pounding Naval aviation professional or enthusiast! It makes a great gift for the holidays, too! Find it here.

The NAS Coin by Navy Crow!