NAS Pensacola Remains Closed To The Public

January 16, 2020

NAS Pensacola, including the museum and lighthouse, remain closed to the general public.

Base access remains available to DoD ID cardholders and veterans with a Veteran Health identification Card (VHIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs only. The Trusted Travelers Program is still in effect and DoD ID cardholders can escort guests onto the installation and to the museum and lighthouse.

The base has been closed to the public since the December 6 terrorist attack.

Comments

13 Responses to “NAS Pensacola Remains Closed To The Public”

  1. James McNair on March 21st, 2022 12:37 pm

    My family has been visiting the area since 1974. My wife and I had been visiting on our own since 1985. We loved watching the blues practice, including the B1RD jokes. I always loved Naval Aviation. The Blue Angels have always been part of our visit to the Gulf Coast. It breaks my heart that I can no longer go to the museum to see all the historic aircraft, and that I can no longer go see the Blues practice. I have contributed to the Museum in the past. Please open the Museum back up. Please, allow people like me whom have followed the Blues for so many years back in to see them practice again. To me it seems to be a typical School yard response. Everyone pays the price for the deeds of a few.

  2. David Pursell on March 16th, 2021 9:41 am

    Why don’t you take time to write your various congressman like
    Representative Matt Gaetz at
    U.S. Representative for the First District of Florida
    1721 Longworth House Office Building | Washington, DC 20515
    (202) 225-4136

    And the Naval Base commander also,
    Captain Timothy F. Kinsella Jr
    850-452-2714

    and tell them, that if they had not been allowed to train terrorist on the base they wouldn’t have had an attack on our servicemen.

    That the public visitors are/were not the terrorist.

    Is is not time to get the Naval Museum open to the public again???

    Sincerely,
    David Pursel

  3. John O McBee on February 18th, 2021 6:24 pm

    Planned on stopping by the museum on March 9,10 but after reading the above which was depressing, looks like it is closed again. As a former Navy pilot in Viet Nam it seems ridiculous that a VA card cannot allow an old man to visit. I flew old 424 VIP parked in the back lot for CINCPACFLT in 1965-66. Sad commentary!

  4. Concerned citizen on January 18th, 2020 10:42 pm

    I’m hearing concerns regarding the museum and the lighthouse. What about the cemetery where hundreds of our service members and loved ones are forever resting? Both my grandparents and my dad are buried there.

  5. Caitlin O’Malley on January 18th, 2020 10:44 am

    The museum was built before all this craziness that has transpired since 9/11 it was never an issue before then.

  6. Caitlin O’Malley on January 18th, 2020 10:41 am

    To those saying the lighthouse should have been built elsewhere, it is an aid to marine navigation and was built where it was needed. It just happens to part of the base now. Get real.

  7. Wellactually on January 17th, 2020 7:42 pm

    1.To my knowledge, the museum is not funded by taxpayer money. If so, it is a tiny drop in the bucket of the budget which is largely privately funded.
    2.Real people work there to preserve and educate about US Naval History. It is a wonderfully curated fountain of knowledge.
    3.If we get rid of things we are proud of, we are letting our opposition win.

    The museum has been open for years with no domestic issues. Let me go back to work, thanks.

  8. mike on January 17th, 2020 5:23 pm

    use the power of your vote to get people in office that will not kowtow to the military-industrial complex and won’t allow these types over here. then the base should go back to normal.

    there is much to be said on this subject that decorum prevents being discussed due to the sensitivity of the issue. if the majority wants a change it should happen. a silent majority will get overrun every time. :(

  9. SW on January 17th, 2020 2:31 am

    Typical government response.
    It wasn’t ‘the public’ who committed the terrorist acts.

  10. Mark Rivalto on January 16th, 2020 9:36 pm

    Completely wrong to deny access to the public. Especially since it has been tax payer money plus public donations that not only built this facility but also continued to support it. If the public is going to be denied access to the base grounds then the museum needs to be moved to a public area. Since it was a foreign national that was invited to the base, maybe there should be a better job of screening who you invite ! Or just don’t bring the over for joint training.

  11. Charlie on January 16th, 2020 7:05 pm

    @wife of a vet—Not practical your location suggestions. Many of the large (& other) display aircraft were flown there & not practical & in some cases impossible to truck in to a location with no runways. The existing restoration hangers are also located on base & would cost a fortune to build elsewhere. The Museum was not involved in any civilian terrorist problem, & civilian access to that, the golf course, & the lighthouse, has been going on for decades, with no problems. Thousands have enjoyed access for years with absolutely no problems, so why change it because of one incident from a foreign military student.

  12. wilykyote on January 16th, 2020 2:37 pm

    This is how it’ll need to be done. it’s a Military Base not a
    tourist park for any crack-pot or trainee to do harm to
    our Service Members . I’m. hoping we’ll arm a good
    per-centage of both open carry and concealed carry while
    on base whereever our Milirary in based. The do-gooders
    can pound sand !

  13. wife of a vet on January 16th, 2020 12:43 pm

    The museum should not have been built on the base. A better location would have been near the hospital and VA medical center. To be inviting everyone on to the base always seemed crazy to me.