NAS Whiting Changes Command
Hall to turn over command to Coughlin
Naval Air Station Whiting Field will execute a time-honored tradition Thursday, Nov. 10 when Capt. Pete Hall hands the reins of command to Capt. Matthew Coughlin at the base auditorium. The 10 a.m. ceremony will mark the 37th transition of command since the founding of the base in 1943.
NAS Whiting Field is the Navy’s busiest air station, and Hall has maintained operations at a peak level, with 15 percent of the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ flight hours flown at the base or one of its 13 outlying fields.
During his tour, the base supported the safe execution of 320,000 aircraft flight hours, and 3.5 million flight evolutions, as well as classroom and simulator training for 3600 student naval aviators. While keeping his sight on the needs of his Sailors and the needs of the Navy, Hall also supported an increase in Training Air Wing FIVE’s flight requirements without an increase to the budget or personnel. This flexibility enabled TRAWING-5 to successfully return to schedule and pilot production months ahead of the anticipated time.
Hall’s active participation within the community not only strengthened an already powerful partnership, but was reflected within the command through increased efforts in projects such as Adopt-A-School, Blackwater River cleanups, Starbase Atlantis, Youth Works, Sea Cadets and other community service initiatives.
Coughlin hails from Greenfield, Mass., and graduated from Western New England College. He was commissioned in Oct. 1988 through the Aviation Officer Candidate School Program and was winged in 1990 at NAS Whiting Field.
Through his career, he has flown the SH-60B with the Air Wolves of HSL-40 and the Vipers of HSL-48 as well as onboard the USS San Jacinto (CG-56) and the USS Peleliu (LHA-5). He completed tours at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif. and the National Defense University in Washington, DC. Coughlin served his command tour with the HSL-43 Battle Cats as well as working a stint with the Joint Chiefs of Staff as an assistant deputy director of operations, surveillance officer, and emergency actions officer.
The guest speaker for the ceremony will be Rear Adm. John Scorby, Commander Navy Region Southeast.
Captain Coughlin
