New CNATRA boss takes helm

Rear Adm. Gregory “Hyfi” Harris relieved Rear Adm. James “Spock” Bynum as the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) headquarters in Corpus Christi, Texas, on July 12 in a change of command ceremony aboard the former aviation-training aircraft carrier USS Lexington (AVT-16). The new CNATRA boss is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and recently served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 11. The lead ship of CSG 11 is USS Nimitz, the oldest U.S. aircraft carrier in active service and based out of Naval Base Kitsap, Wash. Bynum had led CNATRA since June 2017. CNATRA oversees all pilot and naval flight officer training for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and international partners throughout five training air wings located in three states, including NAS Meridian, Miss., and Pensacola and Whiting Field, Fla. It also oversees the Navy’s Blue Angels. (Source: KRIS-TV 07/12/18) The ‘Lady Lex’ is now an aviation museum, and had served, until its decommissioning, at NAS Pensacola. Student-aviators from NAS Meridian often did carrier qualifications with AVT-16 throughout the Gulf of Mexico.