Capt. James Knapp took command of Naval Air Station Lemoore following the change of command ceremony Sept. 26. Knapp is no stranger to Lemoore and has served a number of tours at NASL.

Most recently, Knapp spent much of the past year on an Individual Augmentee (IA) tour in Iraq. He served from July 2007 to July 2008 as the Chief of Staff for the Strategy Plans and Assessment Director at the Embassy in Baghdad. Before his tour in Iraq, Knapp served at the Pentagon. He has also spent time in Japan, Southern California, served with CAG 5 and CAG 9 as well as seen tours at Lemoore.

Knapp went through the RAG in Lemoore, served as a Department Head in VFA-137 and as XO and CO of VFA-14. "I've seen everything. I've seen the old commissary, the old exchange, the old non-fenced base, you name it," Knapp says.

After screening for major shore command, Knapp was given a list of 16 possible bases to rank. They included locations in Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, Spain, England and Bahrain.

"Out of all those possibilities, Lemoore was my number one choice. I really wanted to come back," he said.

Knapp said spending the last year away from the Navy on his IA tour has helped prepare him for part of his role as CO of NAS Lemoore.

"It gives you a much greater appreciation for what the Global War on Terror is and how important it is and what all is involved and the sacrifices that are being made," Knapp explained.

He said the base is headed in the right direction.

"Capt. Townsend really had the focus in the right area. We are here to support national policy," Knapp said. "This base is a treasure to the United States government. Someone was really smart 50 years ago when they said 'We're going to have to build a base that is going to support naval aviation on the West Coast for years to come.'"

He said one of his goals is to continue to be good stewards of the base.

"This base must survive for the next 50 years, at least, because we're still building aircraft carriers that are going to have manned airplanes, we're going to be building brand new Joint Strike Fighters through 2036 right now -- and that may extend beyond 2036," he said.

Knapp said although the branches of the military receive about the same amount of funding, it is often more difficult for the Navy to spread their dollars because the Navy has to build more equipment including aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines and naval stations to support those resources.

"We have to be really good stewards with the dollars and we have to realize that these acres are precious resources to the Department of Defense. I like the focus that Capt. Townsend has. We are here to make sure the fleet squadrons are trained and equipped and ready at the nation's call," Knapp said.

He said NAS Lemoore is an integral part of the Global War on Terrorism.

"With this war, I believe we are doing the right thing and protecting future generations to come and we're going to do everything we can to support that mission."

Knapp said part of that mission is supporting the Sailor and his or her family. "It's an all volunteer force and if we treat them (the sailors) the way we used to treat them, they're going to leave. Frankly, I wouldn't blame them. I just want to see the quality of life initiatives that have occurred on the base the last ten years continue and I think we're seeing good things.".

Since Knapp has been here before, he said he knows it is not the easiest place to live. "The quality of life is important... it has to be supported and we have to have good clubs and we have to have opportunities for the young single sailors. It just has to happen; otherwise they're not going to have as fulfilling a tour here as they need to have."

He said he is happy with the progress he sees since Lincoln has taken over housing and Public Works has been working on water and electricity projects. The anti-terrorism measures including the front gate and fence around the base are also improvements since his last tour in Lemoore.

"There are still a lot of initiatives. Even though they have poured literally billions of dollars into this base in the last ten years, we know it's not done yet. We're going to continue to recapitalize," Knapp said.

Another one of his concerns is based on his recent experience on his IA tour.

"One of my concerns is the IA family because I was an IA and I do have a family. We don't have that right yet in the Navy. We haven't figured out how we're going to take care of that family because they are leaving a command for a year," Knapp said.

"How do you take care of them? How do you know they're taken care of? I'm going to look at whatever we can do as an air station and whatever facilities we have to make sure those folks are taken care of."

He said the Navy is already changing things so that families whose spouses are on IA can move to be closer to family. He also said the Fleet and Family Support Center holds monthly meetings for IA families, which he plans on attending.

"I think there are components in place, but it's a matter of focus. It's a matter of command attention. I'm just going to make sure our command attention is directly on those families because a year is a long time to be away," Knapp explained.

Even after six and eight month deployments on the carrier, he said he didn't realize how long a year was. "You hit a point at nine months where you go 'Holy cow, this is just really dragging on.' It's the last three or four months that are just really, really hard that I didn't realize."

Knapp's wife, Nancy, and three kids are all excited to enjoy the area. Two sons, Will and Ryan, are involved in the high school band and 9th grade football team. His daughter Lauren is the youngest of the family. Knapp said all of his kids are involved in karate and he's even recently signed up so he can keep up with them.

He said he likes to ski and his two sons like to snowboard. They plan on taking plenty of winter trips to nearby ski resorts. "I've really always enjoyed the Outdoor Adventure Center. Their ski and snowboard selection is just fantastic. I've rented the A-frames before to go camping. Now, they've got a pontoon boat so I'll probably be taking that out on some weekends."

Knapp considers the schools on base another plus of moving back to Lemoore. "We always lived on base because of the schools. I would live in a Flintstone house in a heartbeat to make sure that my kids could go to Neutra and Akers. It's really a family atmosphere. You can just sense the love that they have for the kids the moment you walk in and it's across the board; all the teachers, the entire faculty, all the administrators."

Knapp and his family also plan on making plenty of trips to Sea World and checking out Magic Mountain too. "We can't wait; we're just as excited as can be."

(Oct. 9, 2008)