As part of the nation’s Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration, Point Mugu recognized its own 60-year milestone in Electronic Warfare (EW) March 31. Navy Base Ventura County (NBVC) and Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) worked together to organize the event, which included music by the 562 Air National Guard Band, a myriad of aircraft displays, exhibits, speakers, luncheon and cake cutting.

Ron Smiley, master of ceremonies and NAWCWD director of Electronic Warfare, welcomed more than 450 attendees who dined inside Hangar 372. With the hangar doors open, guests could see an array of vintage and modern aircraft that ranged from a pre-World War II Boeing/Stearman N2S to an E-2C Hawkeye.

NAWCWD Commander Rear Adm. Mat Winter also welcomed the audience and explained the significance of the combined Centennial and EW celebration.

"As we pause and reflect on these early days, it's absolutely essential that we remember this: none of the capability we have now would have happened without the men and women who pioneered this place in the early days of Point Mugu,” Winter said. “Back then electronic warfare was hardware. A receiver, for example, was a box you could hold in your hand. As a pilot, that receiver told you when a missile was coming after you, so it's no wonder our pilots took those boxes home each night for safe-keeping. When warfighters care about a capability that much, when they clutch it that close, then you know the work you are doing for them matters. I am extremely proud of all the men and women that continue to provide the warfighter the decisive EW advantage."

Capt. Jim McHugh, NBVC’s commanding officer, said part of Point Mugu’s history was also part of his own family’s history. “I was not the first Jim McHugh to be stationed here at Point Mugu. In 1955, a young Ensign Jim McHugh reported for duty as a staff judge advocate general for the base. Who would have known that 56 years later, I’d be commanding the installation where my father started his Navy career?”

The guest speaker for the EW ceremony was Rear Adm. Donald ‘BD’ Gaddis, program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft.

“Point Mugu is the center of excellence, as far as I’m concerned, for the United States Navy when it comes to electronic warfare,” Gaddis said. “The capability you have here, the capability you have at the depots, the people that you have here, the intellectual capital, the laboratory capabilities that you guys have here is absolutely astounding.”

The luncheon culminated with a cake cutting managed by Gaddis and Winter.

In a separate ceremony on the same day, Gaddis and Winter congratulated Cmdr. John Rousseau and his team at the ribbon-cutting of the S-3 simulator facility. The simulator, which moved from Jacksonville, Fla., in 2009, is now used by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30 in a completely refurbished facility. The simulator replicates the cockpit of one of the two S-3B Vikings flown by VX-30. The Viking is used in airborne threat exercises and provides infrared imagery, range surveillance, and control for the Sea Test Range off the coast of Point Mugu.

"It was an all hands effort that made this facility a reality,” Winter said. “Your efforts have enabled the S-3, a critical component to our command mission, and its aircrews to continue providing range clearance and engagement across the 36,000 square miles that you all operate on a regular basis here. This effort required the collective engagement of our command, NBVC and community leadership. Thank you for a job well done."