CCAD Celebrates 50 Years of Support to the Warfighter

By Nicole Plascencia, CCAD Public AffairsApril 20, 2011

Celebrating 50 Years of Support to the Warfighter
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Corpus Christi, TX-What began with 12 people in 1958 as an idea to fulfill Army aviation maintenance needs, will celebrate its golden anniversary Thursday. Corpus Christi Army Depot, originally established as the U.S. Army Transportation Aeronautical Depot Maintenance Center, opened for business on April 21, 1961.

The center came as a result of the Army's need to establish an in-house capability for depot-level maintenance, repair, and overhaul of Army aircraft and an impressive pitch from a few former Corpus Christi Naval Air Station Overhaul and Repair Facility employees.

At the end of its first full year of operation, the depot had turned out six fixed-wing aircraft, 40 helicopters, 756 engines and 6,673 components.

Closing in on CCAD's golden anniversary, the depot has grown to become the world's largest helicopter repair facility providing 12% of the local Coastal Bend economy, employing more than 5,900 employees.

At the end of its last full fiscal year in 2010, CCAD had produced or repaired 167 fixed-wing aircraft, 14,315 helicopters, 97,243 engines and

1,886,503 components.

The depot continually provides support for the Warfighter and has plans in place to move forward in response to the Army's need for high quality, low cost, quick turn-around maintenance and repair.

A brand new ten-year project to upgrade the infrastructure and repair capabilities is underway with the first phase including the new Dynamic Component Rebuild facility. The 160,000 sq. ft. building is nearing completion and will include cutting-edge technology to repair many of the dynamic components found on helicopters including transmissions, rotor hubs and others.

The depot's full-spectrum mission is fourfold: to return Army rotary wing aircraft and components to the fight with uncompromising quality, at the lowest possible cost, and in the shortest amount of time; to support the Army's accident investigation processes with subject matter expertise and reliable laboratory analysis anywhere in the world; when required, assess, evaluate, and repair forward deployed aircraft and components anywhere in the world, to include depot forward capabilities as required; and to support Active, Reserve and National Guard maintenance skill development with hands-on experience at the depot.