James-Connally/Harlingen Navigators Website

NOTE: The Picture Gallery MAY RUN SLOW at times.

You successfully navigated the world wide web to find the James Connally Navigator’s/Observers Home Page. This web site covers people who trained at James Connally AFB, Harlingen AFB, Texas and Mather AFB, CA or who were instructor navigators or radar observers at Connally or Harlingen Air Force Bases.

The term navigator includes, navigators, observers, electronic warfare and weapons systems career fields. Today the Air Force has renamed the Navigator career field to Combat System Officer (CSO). After Harlingen closed (last class 62-22) the training moved to Connally. The last class at Connally was 66-18. Training then moved to Mather AFB near Sacramento CA. When Mather closed Sept. 1993 training was moved to Randolph AFB, TX. The last class completed training at Randolph in Sept. 2012 and training {renamed Combat System Officer (CSO)} moved to Pensacola Naval Air Station FL.

Search our site to learn about the James Connally Air Force Base TX and Harlingen Air Force Base TX History. You can also navigate to the other pages to see class and other navigator reunion schedules , peruse our photo gallery, see navigator history , view a listing of navigators who are deceased or contact our reunion planners and webmaster. To submit a Bio (placed in a book for people to review at the reunion) click on this link and fill out a bio form.

AIRCRAFT: Navigator training of the period commenced in the TC-45 Expeditor or TB-25 Mitchell, followed by transition to the T-29 Flying Classroom, although by the late 1950s, all aircrew training had been consolidated in the T-29. Navigator training for Aviation Cadets was merged with that for commissioned officers and conducted at James Connally AFB, Texas; Harlingen AFB, Texas; Ellington AFB, Texas and Mather AFB, California. Follow-on training qualified some of these navigators in additional fields, such as radar navigator/bombardier,
electronic warfare officer or radar intercept officer.