C
OMMANDED BY CAPT
Markus Gudmundsson and
his deputy CAPT William
Gotten, NAS Lemoore
is perfectly situated in
central California’s sparsely
populated farmlands. It’s a massive
base with staggered twin runways that
sandwich a pair of sprawling ight lines.
This is very much Super Hornet country,
the last ‘legacy’ Hornets having bowed
out here in 2016. Today, the ‘Rhino’ — as
the Super Hornet has become known —
rules the roost.
Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113
‘Stingers’ conducted the last o cial
ight of a west coast eet F/A-18C at
Lemoore on February 17, 2016, before
it began the transition to the F/A-18E.
Squadron ‘boss’ CDR Eric Doyle said,
‘While we remain proud of all the good
work we have done with the F/A-18C,
we are excited to begin transitioning
to some brand-new F/A-18E Super
Hornets. Our maintainers have done a
spectacular job of keeping these aging
aircraft combat-ready despite the many
challenges associated with high- ight-
hour jets. I’ll appreciate the extra gas,
but admit that I’ll be a little sad when I
have to say ‘Rhino ball’ vice ‘Hornet ball’
behind the boat.’NAS Lemoore is an ideal location for
Super Hornet pilots who are either
learning their trade straight out of ight
school, preparing for deployment, or
keeping their skills sharp on a day-to-
day basis. To the west lies the Paci c
Ocean and vast sea training ranges; to
the east, the Sierra Nevada and the arid
Mojave Desert beyond. The latter has
become renowned as an ideal training
ground with low and high-level work
areas to suit the range of missions own
by the ‘Rhino’.
There’s also a new game in
town. Former ‘legacy’ Hornet Fleet
Replacement Squadron (FRS) VFA-125
‘Rough Raiders’ was reactivated
at Lemoore as the west coast RAG
(Replacement Air Group — training
squadron) on January 12, 2017. It
received its rst four F-35C Lightning
IIs on January 25. While VFA-101 ‘Grim
Reapers’ at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida,
will continue to train instructors for the
FRS and the Naval Aviation War ghting
Development Center (NAWDC) at NAS
Fallon, Nevada, new pilots are coming
to VFA-125. Fleet F-35C squadrons are
arriving at Lemoore as well. VFA-147
‘Argonauts’ will transition from the
F/A-18E to the F-35C in early 2018 and
the squadron is expected to conduct
its rst deployment in 2021 as the
Lightning II makes its air wing debut.‘Rhino’ country
The Navy’s program of record now
includes 584 Super Hornets and the
type is expected to be in US Navy
service beyond 2040. On June 23,
2017, President Trump sent his Fiscal
Year (FY)18 budget to Congress with
the requirement for 80 Super Hornets
over the next ve years, along with
$265 million for new Block III elements
that are likely to initially be added to
these jets. The Navy’s Super Hornet buy,
estimated at $7.1 billion, followed its
decision to buy 14 aircraft in FY17.
‘[Lemoore] is expanding quite a bit,
and it is becoming the Master Jet BaseA VFA-25 ‘Fist
of the Fleet’
F/A-18E gets
down low in
the R-2508
training
complex to
the east of
NAS Lemoore.
Jamie HunterNaval Air Station Lemoore in the fl at, agricultural Californian
farmlands is home plate for a staggering 18 squadrons —
and more are coming...REPORT Ted Carlson/Fotodynamics
Ted Carlson/Fotodynamics24 March 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
24-29 Lemoore C.indd 24 19/01/2018 11:10