E-2C Hawkeye Wing Commander Retiring

Capt. Randall W. Bannister, who commands a wing of E-2C Hawkeye airplanes at Point Mugu’s Naval Air Station, will retire today after a morning ceremony on the base, officials said.

Bannister will be replaced by Capt. Walter C. Joller Jr., who was assistant chief of staff to the commander at Naval Air Forces Pacific in San Diego.

The E-2Cs, known as the Airborne Early Warning Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet, are used for surveillance to give commanders a clear picture of battlefield events during wartime, said air station spokeswoman Cora Fields.

Bannister, who has served in the Navy for 28 years, has been stationed at Point Mugu since his wing of 16 E-2Cs was relocated to the base from San Diego’s Miramar Naval Air Station in July 1998. Some at Point Mugu saw Bannister as a sort of white knight because the arrival of his E-2C wing meant the base would not be shut down as some feared, Fields said.

The base had been put on a federal closure list in 1995, but was ultimately spared.

Bannister’s arrival “was a good indication that we were still important to the [Pacific] fleet and we’re a viable base,” Fields said.

Today’s ceremony will include speeches by both Bannister and Joller, as well as a performance by the Navy band. Several admirals will attend, Fields said.