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Naval Aviation News Magazine Wins First Place Navy Public Affairs Award

The Naval Aviation News (NAN) magazine recently received the first place Team Publication in the Navy Public Affairs Awards (NPAA) program for calendar year 2024. The NPAA program recognizes outstanding achievement in communication efforts that advance Department of the Navy objectives.

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In this first edition of 2025, Naval Aviation News celebrates the 70th anniversary of the stalwart C-130 Hercules aircraft, a transport plane that has served the armed forces in a variety of capacities since the 1950s. Read about what makes the Hercules so enduring starting on page 22.

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Marine's Award-Winning NPS Thesis Explores Mixed-Reality for Training Aviators

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Thomas A. Cecil—a June 2024 graduate from the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES) program and winner of Commander George L. Phillips Award for top MOVES graduate—focused his award-winning thesis research on advancing one of these technologies—mixed-reality (MR) head-mounted displays (HMD)—a key contributor to Naval Aviation’s plan for distributed, low-cost, simulation-based training.

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Night Flight Operations: USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Conducts Routine Flight Operations Around the Clock

Observing nighttime flight operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) is like watching a meticulously choreographed ballet unfold under the cover of darkness.

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Versatile, Agile, Dependable and Enduring: C-130 Hercules Turns 70

The C-130 Hercules has been answering the call to defend America since Aug. 23, 1954, providing tactical airlift, humanitarian aid, air support and various other missions. Initially designed to be a medium cargo plane able to land in short, confined runways, the Hercules is used in over 70 countries with more than a million flight hours. Last year marked the 70th year the C-130 has been in flight, and the aircraft continues to reach new heights.

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VAQ-133 Completes First Next-Generation Jammer Deployment

Electronic Attack Squadron 133 (VAQ-133), assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, returned Dec. 14, 2024, from the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group’s (ABECSG) five-month deployment to the Middle East and Eastern Pacific to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in time for the holidays.

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Marines Improve F-35B Maintenance Efficiency With 3D Printing

In July 2024, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS) 13 faced a critical shortage in reamers—precision cutting tools essential to aviation maintenance. The traditional reamers were costly and insufficient due to their lengthy procurement times and limited lifespan.

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NAN 2024 Year In Review

Welcome to the second annual Year in Review edition of Naval Aviation News.

For 2024, we bring you an eclectic mix of stories, but with a few general themes. Like last year, innovation in training was big news for the Navy throughout the period. Helicopter training was set to undergo fundamental change using a joint service, public-private partnership; the establishment of a Marine Corps F-35B landing signal officer (LSO) training school was designed to increase the quality and quantity of trained LSOs; and aviators from Training Air Wing 1 completed carrier qualifications aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

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