Naval Base Ventura County or in short NBVC is located on the Californian coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The base is the result of the merger of Naval Air Station Point Mugu and Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme. Point Mugu is home of the California Air National Guard, and US Navy E-2 squadrons and test squadron VX-30. Recce Reports visited the last two, to write articles about their operations.

E-2 Hawkeye, the eyes of the fleet
An aircraft carrier and its accompanying vessels are important targets for the enemy. If the opponent has the power, it will try to attack and destroy the fleet that has taken up weapons against him. To prevent that the enemy will succeed in that mission, the fleet needs to be aware of an attack in a very early stage. For that task the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye was especially designed. One of the primary roles of the Hawkeye is airborne early warning and that of course under all kinds of weather.

VX-30 Bloodhounds: guards of the Point Mugu Sea Range
Most people know the coast line of Los Angeles from the TV series ‘Baywatch’, with Pamela Anderson and her friends guarding the Malibu beaches. But just about 22 miles west of these peaceful beaches other guards perform a serious job as well: safe guarding the Point Mugu Sea Range. The men and women of VX-30 keep sailors, merchant vessels and unwanted aircraft out of the waters and airspace of the range to avoid any diasters while tests are being performed. Keeping guard is one of main missions of VX-30. Gathering information during tests and doing testwork themselves is also part of the daily business of the ‘Bloodhounds’.

Read more about the E-2 operations in our article that was published in the April 2014 issue of Pacific Wings.
More on the daily work of the Bloodhouds can be read in our article , published in the August 2014 issue of Pacific Wings.