Building reopens after 2019 attack

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Fla. - Building 633 officially reopened Friday, almost two years after a terrorist attack inside its halls Dec. 6, 2019. High-ranking military officers and local dignitaries attended the reopening ceremony, which honored the three sailors who died and the eight who were injured. Building 633, which first opened in 1941, houses dozens of classrooms in which almost every new student at the Naval Aviation School Command is required to take their first courses before more advanced training. The building had remained closed since Dec. 6, 2019, when an NASC flight student from Saudi Arabia open fire on other students. The three who died were Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, Naval Aircrewman 3rd Class Mohammed Sameh Haitham, 19, and Naval Aircrewman 3rd Class Cameron Scott Walters, 21. The Navy refurbished the building, which now features a bronze plaque with the names and faces of the three sailors that can be seen on the first-floor quarterdeck. On the second floor, the Navy has installed an "an area of remembrance," featuring the three sailors' portraits and a second plaque that displays the names of the eight injured. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 10/30/21)