NAS Pensacola obstacle course 2016
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Here is a short video of what used to be the famous obstacle course onboard NAS Pensacola, FL. This was the obstacle course remembered by generations of AOCS candidates, AI and API students, and aircrew trainees. The video begins by looking north along the road which ran to the east of the "O"course, then turning to the west toward the Mustin Beach Club (formerly the Mustin Beach Officers Club), which is concealed behind overgrowth. The video continues to the south over the bay, then finishes looking east over the still existent road adjacent to what used be the survival swim tank. Note that the swim tank, along with all the hangars along the seawall, are now gone - victims of Hurricane Erin in the 1990's. There is literally nothing left of the obstacle course - only sand and weeds to remind us of how much has changed in Pensacola. Please add your recollections of how you tackled this challenging part of your Naval Air training. Thanks!
Will never forget the 8-ft. bulkhead! AOCS 25-68.
Keith - Yeah, I'm pretty certain that the old O course was to the east of the Mustin Beach O Club. There's another video on TH-cam that shows the O course before it was demolished, and it shows it between the Mustin club and the east swim tank, as you mentioned. If you watch my video, then immediately watch the one from 1993, they pretty much overlay. Somewhere, there's likely an aerial photo that shows the O course back in the day - I'd like to see that.
BTW, at least one of the big seaplane hangars (being used as a gym and fitness center) was still there in February of 2000 when I ran the Blue Angel Marathon. I believe it was the easternmost one. That was where we checked in, picked up our packets, and the gear exhibition was held. I don't know about the swim tanks, land survival building, and other hangars but I believe the hangar I'm talking about was swept away by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. There is another video of the O-course intact, shot in 1993.
I'm not sure when they got rid of it, Jeff. Sometime around the mid 90s, I'm assuming. It might have been demolished when one of the hurricanes went through, or possibly when they moved AOCS to Newport.
I ran the o-course in '97 so it was still there in 97 and 98- I thought NAS Pensacola was severely damaged in "05 by Katrina- everyone focuses on New Orleans but Mississippi, Alabama and Florida took a large amount of damage. An airman checked aboard my command in "05 and told me about the devastation. I heard the Gosport was gone (across the street from NACCS and galley), Ducks is gone, Ocourse,- the mega building on the NATTC side was flooded but survived. All of the new barracks okay. NORU is gone, but don't know if it was due to the hurricane damage (that was really close to the sea wall). I checked it out on google Earth and there are several buildings gone that I remember being there. For a time there, there was so much damage that the Navy was considering moving all training from the base- heard it would cost more to fix it than to move everything... as far as I know, the majority of the training remains on both sides of the base.
I was in Aircrew in 2000/2001 and I ran the O-course then, pretty sure it was in this same spot. Not sure if they had another one.
when did they get rid of it? this film brought back some great memories. I was there in 82
AOCS may be gone, but we aircrew ran it as well. So…not sure what they’re running now.
The video is accurate. There is nothing but sand and overgrowth there now. There's no need for an O course because AOCS is gone. I believe that Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) still occurs at NAS Pensacola, but I don't think the students have to run an O course any more. In fact, many of the things that you used to do during AI (as API was called back in the seventies) are no longer in existence, such as boxing. And yes, the video correctly shows the former location of the O course - immediately to the east of the Mustin Beach Club (formerly known as the Mustin Beach Officers Club). The swim tank that was immediately to the east of the O course was demolished long ago. Just a concrete pad left where it used to be. The narrow asphalt parking lot between the O course and the swim tank is still there, complete with very faded markings for the staff parking spots back in the day, with weeds growing through the cracks. Sad.
13-78 had a reunion recently, and we had some disagreement about where the O-Course was. Most of us though it was east of the Mustin club, between the primary swim tank and the club. A few thought it was west. There were two swim tanks in those days, one to the east of the Club (where we did most of our training), the other, where the helo dunker was, to the west. Your video seems to corroborate those of us who thought the O-course was east of the Club.
Thanks for the reply, Scott. When I filmed it, the wind was howling through the abandoned site, adding a sense of desolation to the place. You can hear this in the video. What did you do after AOC school?
I left my breakfast on that asphalt several times
no o course and no boxing at ai? shame...