Nearly 12,000 people toured the ships during the four- day civic celebration, while crewmembers attended receptions, played in golf and tennis tournaments, joined in the nationally televised Festival of Roses Parade and visited children in local hospitals. Fort Worth and NAS Dallas reached an aviation safety milestone recently when they completed 27 years of mishap-free operations. Aircraft at the two stations have accumulated more than 34,500 flight hours. When you consider the many thousands of sorties that have taken place in 27 years, combined with the inherently dangerous environment of military aviation, you can't help but feel good about this accomplishment. It involves a positive safety climate, beginning with the commanding officer, and permeating to all those involved in flight operations.
Vigilance is required day in and day out.
Obviously, all hands have met the challenge quite well. NAS Dallas is scheduled to close in the fall of 1998. NAS JRB Fort Worth provides a quality training environment for reserve components of all branches of the armed services. Deploying Sailors and Marines will find calling home a lot easier and cheaper in the future. On the ships that currently have phones installed, they have proven to be a huge morale booster.