In recognition of the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CoNA), the 2011 Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Heritage Celebration will be held on-board NAS Jacksonville, Florida from 4-6 April, 2011 in conjunction with the annual MPRF Reunion. Heritage events run from Monday-Wednesday and include a Flight Suit Dinner with guest speaker Vice Admiral Myers, Commander Naval Air Forces. Other highlights include a Heritage Fly-in, Heritage Golf Tournament, PBY Monument rededication and more. As we are looking for maximum participation from every era of MPR aviation, the events are open to all current and past MPRF warriors.

Information on the event, as well as, registration, is provided on the CoNA website (http://www.mprfcona.org). The website includes information on travel, lodging, base info and a detailed description of each event. There is a $20 registration fee, which includes an official patch and coin designed for the celebration. The event is fully supported by the MPRF and we intend to make it one of the most memorable events to date.

We are reaching out to the reunion groups as our first and most important step in getting full participation for this event. In order to include every individual, any rank, that has ever worked in our community, we are asking for the reunion groups to reach out to their members, as well as post the information on their websites. We are aware the reunion groups are planning their 2011 gathering and hope our event will coincide with it.

During the "heritage dinner," we will be introducing the inductees into the inaugural "Hall of Honor." The inaugural MPRF Hall of Honor will set a precedent of honoring the men and women who have helped shape the heritage of our community and/or displayed acts of heroism in and out of combat. Beginning in 2011, these individuals will be honored in conjunction with future Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force Reunions.

We are currently looking for nominations to the inaugural MPRF Hall of Honor. These nominations will be gathered via the MPRF Centennial of Naval Aviation (CoNA) Celebration website (http://www.mprfcona.org) and judged by a panel of MPRF Flag Officers. Once approved, the 2011 selectees will be presented at the MPRF Heritage Dinner during the CoNA Celebration. The requirements for submission are any members who have made significant contributions which have shaped Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force heritage or displayed acts of heroism during the following eras: WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The Cold War, Post Cold War, and Global War on Terror.

Any suggestions, ideas and assistance would be greatly appreciated, as we plan this first-of-its-kind event. Your help, in particular, in promoting the MPRF Centennial of Naval Aviation Celebration will be the foundation that makes this a historical event. We look forward to working with you.

Very Respectfully,

LCDR Rob Wilkerson
Vp30_mprfcona@navy.mil
MPRF CoNA Coordinator

MPRF Heritage Celebration "...I just got back from the MPRF Heritage Celebration at NAS Jacksonville, FLA. I had a wonderful time there. In the spirit of the historical theme of the event, I tracked down an early 60s-vintage Indian Orange flight suit, MK2 "Mae West" life vest, and matching VP-8 ballcap and wore this to the "Flight Suit Dinner" conducted on the base Tuesday night. I put this outfit together in honor of Patrol Squadron Eight, the first operational squadron to get P-3s in 1962. This is what a VP-8 flight crew member would have worn on the aircraft at that time. Here's a photo of me posed on the ladder of the "heritage scheme" VP-6 P-3C in my vintage flight gear last Tuesday..." Contributed by FRATTASIO, AW1 Marc "Frat" J. fm@gis.net [14APR2011]

"...Greetings fellow Patrol Squadron members..." Contributed by John Larson oriondriver1975@yahoo.com [13APR2011]

I just came back from the Centennial celebration of Naval Aviation and especially observing Patrol Aviation in Jacksonville, Florida. It was April 4-6, 2011. I'm going to recap for you the briefing we received on Wednesday from Rear Admiral Michael Hewitt, Commander Patrol and Recon. Force. He welcomed us to the event. We then listened to a simulated briefing for a crew to fly against a Chinese Yuan class sub. The sub is a diesel-electric boat. It was first built in 2004. The speed of the sub is 20 kts. It has 6 torpedo tubes and can fire anti-ship missiles. The op area for this event is East of Taiwan.

The briefing was then turned over to Commodore Tray Wheeler, CPRW-11 in Jax. The breakdown of the Patrol Aviation community starts with ADM Hewitt as the Commander of the force. Under him are CPRW-2, CPRW-10 and CPRW-11. Now there is an ADM commanding the op areas. Under that ADM are CTF 57, CTF 72 and CTF 67.

At one point there were 450 P-3's and now we are down to approximately 85 mission capable aircraft. A couple of years ago there were issues with the wings and some planes were "red striped", in other words hard down. The fleet got down to 49 aircraft. The planes are owned by the squadrons, but they are sharing their planes between squadrons. Sometimes they might leave a plane on deployment for the next squadron. Presently there are 2 reserve squadrons left. They own their planes, but also share. There are 18 squadrons with 7273 sailors: 1346 officers and 5927 enlisted.

Commodore Dave Cutter from CPRW-2 spoke next. VP-4 is very busy with the Chinese Navy and also providing relief in Japan. Other squadrons in MCBH Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii are VP-9 and VP-47. Plus there is VPU-2. There is an ASWOC located in San Diego to assist squadrons working with the fleet. There has been a BAMS-D (Demonstrator) working in the Pacific for awhile now. This is a Global Hawk UAV with maritime sensors= cameras, radar, and comm. gear for the Navy. It operates at 60,000 ft and has an endurance of over 20+ hours. The pilots fly it from the "desert" and the tacco and sensor operators are in NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Usually there are 3 different crews on duty during these long missions.

Commodore Pete Garvin from CPRW-10 spoke next. The squadrons at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington are VP-1, VP-40, VP-46 and VP-69. Also there is VQ-1 and VQ-2. VQ is deployed 365 days a year to NSA Bahrain, Oman, NAF Kadena, Okinawa, Japan, NAS Sigonella, Sicily and Turkey.

Commodore Wheeler then spoke again. He said he had VP-5, VP-8, VP-10, VP-16, VP-26, VP-45 and VP-62, plus the special ops squadron VPU-1 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. VP-8, VP-10 and VP-26 were at NAS Brunswick, Maine before it closed.

There are 24 different variations of the P-3 today. One version is the AIP. The improvements are: Radar, SAR (overland surveillance and radar images), ISAR (maritime surface detection images). Electro Optics/Infrared, ESM, Color Displays and Weapons- SLAM ER and Maverick. The VP-5 crew that fired the Maverick off Libya had a LTJG TACCO and the PPC was on his first flight. They said they hope to de-classify the video so we could see it someday. Presently VP-4 is at NAF Kadena, Okinawa, Japan and NAF Misawa, Japan. VP-5 is in NAS Sigonella, Sicily, Djibouti, and El Salvador (drug ops). VP-8 is currently in NSA Bahrain, Oman and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. The primary mission of the P-3 is still ASW. China has 66 submarines and the U.S. has 70 submarines. China has top of the line equipment and the subs are quiet.

If there is a piracy event, the Navy's interaction will have a P-3 overhead. In drug interdiction the bad guys have tried using semi-submersible and fully submersible subs to get drugs to the U.S. The Russians are still operating. They don't have a big presence like before, but they are out there. The Chinese are now considered a Blue Water Navy. They are operating beyond the "first chain of islands". That would be from Taiwan to Okinawa to Japan and East of that line.

The project manager of the P-8 spoke next. The Navy is buying 117 aircraft. It is a Boeing 737-800 with a -900 wing. It will weigh 187,700 lbs. It will cruise at 490 kts and max alt is 41,000 ft. Its range is 4000 miles or 1200 miles with 4 hrs on station. It has in-flight refueling capacity. The P-8 is fuel efficient at 10,000 ft, but not so good at low altitudes. There is technology to launch sonos at 10,000 ft to hit a lat/long position. The flight time is limited to 17 hrs due to the engine oil. It will have 9 crewmembers= 2 pilots, 2 nfo's and 3 aw's. Plus there are 2 observer positions. There are 5 stations in the back, and all capable of inter-mixing these positions (tacco in the middle or at the ends). The plane is capable of carrying 20 total pax. It can carry 5 MK 54 torpedoes in the bomb-bay behind the wings. There are 4 wing stations. It can carry 76 sonobuoys. They will be launched from 3 cylinders. They will be reloaded from the sono racks in flt. The cabin will remain pressurized. There is no MAD on this plane, to much metal interference. There might be an expendable drone the size of a buoy and be shot out of the plane and then fly a mad trapping pattern. This might happen in 2016. There are dual nav. systems. INS and also celestial info could be fed into the nav system. The plane will come on line in 2013 and one Jax squadron will be the first. It has early warning self-protection and electric support measures. The plane that was at the event was the 3rd (T-3) built. There are 6 planes in flight testing. The first production plane for the Navy is in Renton, WA going through the production line. There will be 6 aircraft and 12 crews in the P-8's squadron.

The events for the 3 days were; on day 1 there was a tour of the P-3 simulators, the new hanger which will house the current squadrons and future P-8's. They can fit 10 P-3's in the hanger. Then in the afternoon was the fly-by. There was vintage aircraft; stearman and TBM. Then there was a T34C, C-12, and T44C. Then came 3 P-3's. The first was painted in WW II PBY markings. The next 2 were in the white and black colors. Then the highlight was the arrival of the P-8. Unfortunately the PBY was not able to attend (maint. issues). They looked into bringing in a fire bomber P2, but they wanted a lot of money and it exceeded the budget of the planners for this event. On Tues night was the heritage dinner. Vice Admiral Al Myers, Commander of Naval Air Force (Air Boss) was the guest speaker. There were 17 Admirals in attendance. The 3 P-3's the P-8 and the BAMS were parked outside the hanger for viewing. Then we had the induction of the first group into the Patrol Aviation Hall of Fame. One familiar name is Jay Beasley, "Mr. P-3". ADM Hewitt said he would like to make this an annual event. On Wed morning we had the briefing from ADM Hewitt and the Commodores. In the afternoon, we attended the re-dedication of the PBY on the base. It took 2 years to restore the plane. There were 4 crewmembers from WW II who were on the PBY present at the dedication.

I have posted the pictures I took and you can view them at http://patrolaviationjaxapril2011.shutterfly.com. I am attempting to do the same with my video, but am having difficulty getting it to the shutter fly site. That will be under http://patrolvideojax2011.shutterfly.com. I hope to have it posted by next Mon. Most of the video is of the heritage dinner and dedication of the PBY, not to mention some P-3's flying. I have attached a copy of the heritage dinner program. My scanner is not working correctly, so I had it down at a store. Unfortunately they didn't put in the pages the same way, so they are sideways. If you have a printer, you can print out your own copy.

It was a great time being in attendance for this event. Outside the auditorium at VP-30 are Don Feight prints, a VP-90 P-3 print "Sorry Charlie", a VP-4 P2 "Ruler of the Sea" and also there is a print of PBY from WW II. Being at the VP-30 hanger brought back memories of hearing the sound of an APU, and the Allison engines running. Not to mention the smell of JP. It was an honor being around some our nation's finest young people who are now carrying on the mission of defending this great nation.

John Larson, VP-4 Vets Assn PAO, VP-90 Vets Assn PAO

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   Notice!   
VP-62 Recruitment!

Posted:  September 3rd, 2009
Updated:  January 3rd, 2011

Navy Reserve VP-62, NAS Jacksonville, Florida

Are you on active duty and thinking of getting out, but do not want to lose your vested interest in government service? Have you recently separated, but still have that desire to fly? Did you get out years ago, but miss the camaraderie of military service? Then consider serving our Nation as a Navy Reserve Aircrewman!! Presently, Patrol Squadron SIXTY-TWO (VP-62), a Navy Reserve Squadron located at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, has openings for you to do that very thing!!! The Broadarrows fly the P-3C AIP and BMUP aircraft in operations involving Anti-Surface Warfare, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Identification/Surveillance/Reconnaissance, and Battle Group Support all over the world...right alongside our active duty counterparts!! VP-62 is still operational and programmed to fly the P-3C Orion until at least 2014 and the P-8 Poseidon is on our horizon!! Plus, we go on the road to places like El Salvador, Sicily, Japan, Guam and Hawaii just to name a few!!

Don't live in the Jacksonville area? Do not let that deter you from joining!! Opportunities are available for drill weekend pickups at Opa Locka, FL; Ft. Myers, FL; St. Petersburg, FL; Greenville/Spartanburg, SC; and Andrews AFB, MD. Plus, depending on your location, other pick up sites can be added like New Orleans, LA and Atlanta, GA depending upon the response!!!

We have the following part-time (SELRES) positions open!!!

Naval Aircrewman Operator (AWO) - We are currently looking for both acoustic and non-acoustic operators holding the P-3C AW NEC 7841/7861. Any other AWV/AWS/AWR willing to change rates/platforms (if you have the time, we'll get you in VP-30) as well as other rated enlisted personnel with a proven record of superior performance, willing to change rates to AWO (7841/acoustic or 7861 non-acoustic) and commit one year to active duty to attend Naval Aircrew School in NAS Pensacola, Florida and initial AWO qualification training at VP-30 in NAS Jacksonville, Florida will be considered. Be aware that although the standard commitment is one drill weekend a month, there could be times where additional days could be asked of you.

Naval Aircrewman Mechanical (AWF) - Specifically 8251 Flight Engineers (FE)- Either previously qualified flight engineers or AT, AE, AD, AM, AME, or AO rated and Aircrew-qualified personnel with a proven record of superior performance willing to commit nine months on active duty to attend initial P-3C Flight Engineer qualification training at VP-30 in NAS Jacksonville, Florida.

Here are the VP-62 Points of Contact if you are interested in becoming a Broadarrow!!

NC1 John Baker
Command Career Counselor
COMM (904)542-5182
DSN 942-5182
john.c.baker@navy.mil

CMDCM Phil Rogers
Command Master Chief
(904)542-0573
DSN: 942-0573
phillip.rogers@navy.mil

P.S. We are looking for maintenance rates too!! Preferably those with P-3 backgrounds, but if you are willing and have the time, we will make every effort to get you the schools you need!!

NC1 John Baker
Command Career Counselor
COMM (904)542-5182
DSN 942-5182
john.c.baker@navy.mil   [Updated 03JAN2011]

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   Notice!   
Memorial Day Tribute - Lockheed P-3 Orion!

Posted:  May 25th, 2009
Updated:  May 25th, 2009

Forty years ago about now, VP-56 started the transition to the P-3C aircraft system, having moved from the seawall at NAS Norfolk, Virginia to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and from the P2V-7 (SP-2H) first into transition P-3Bs and then into the wonderful, magical P-3C - which we now called a "weapons system" instead of a "Plane." Mel Meltzer and I picked up the first operational "Charlie" in Burbank, and something new started to happen. To the generations that have followed us into that remarkable "system", I would like to suggest a Memorial Day Tribute – our names are not on a honored wall or were any of us the kind of heroes we celebrate on Memorial Day, but after four decades, I think we made a difference. As the Commanding Officer of VP-56 for the transition and the first P-3C operational aircraft Commander in the Navy, I think that all of us now-old-timers have to take a bow and doff our ball-caps to all of you guys who followed us and made great things happen. We thank you!

McINTYRE, CAPTAIN John (Retired)
bravoz@columbus.rr.com [Updated 15JUN2011 | 25MAY2009]

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   Notice!   
VP Related Employment Opportunities!

Posted:  August 21st, 2008
Updated:  February 3rd, 2009

VP Related Employment Opportunities...

SEE: VP Related Employment Opportunities! [Updated: 03FEB2009]

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   Notice!   
Shipmate Needs Your Help!

Posted:  January 20th, 2009
Updated:  June 15th, 2011

NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES
OAKLAND CALIF # 068
733 Pomona Ave
Albany, Ca. 94706
510-527-6600
baycomm@earthlink.net

January 17, 2009

REF: LCDR Matt Thompson, currently assigned to VT-35

ALL

My name Greg Brazil and I'm a friend of Matt's for the last 20 years as I met him as a Sea Scout when he was a teenager in Oakland, Ca.

I don't know if you know, but Matt is dying of in-operable cancer. He is currently living with his wife Danica and his mother in the Bolder Creek, Ca.

My efforts here are to help Matt & Danica as much as I can. We at Oakland Navy League are a 501c (3) non profit corporation as such can raise funds for Matt & Danica's kids for their future and college. We are also trying to set up a trust for their kid's future. ONL can accept all funds for Matt and when the trust is formed transferred 100% of the funds to the trust. CDR. Mark Springer, CO VT-35 is also onboard with this.

I am asking you to help in any way you can to help out a class mate. If you can host fund raisers to help, that would be great along with any other things you can do.

I am trying to get all his old squadrons which are VT-21, VT-35, VP-30, VP-5, VX-30 and VPU-2 and VP Association to help also. Any help in reaching those squadrons would also be helpful.

Skipper Springer sent to a personal letter to BUPERS.

Any suggestions and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Greg Brazil (USNR 1965-72)
baycomm@earthlink.net

If you can make a donation - please do so at this address:

Oakland Navy League
c/o Robert L. Castle CPA
610 Oakland Ave.
Oakland, CA 94610
Please mark the memo "LCDR Thompson"

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   Notice!   
Shipmate Information Request #24

Posted:  May 31st, 2008
Updated:  May 31st, 2008

OK Shipmates, you came through times already!  You provided information for family members about their fathers and husbands that that Official Channels couldn't provide.  Here is number :

James Darryl Bennett My name is Bobbie Bennett Shamburger. In 1962 I was married to James Darryl Bennett. He was stationed NAS Alameda, California. I am pretty sure he was with VP-9. I have seen pictures of him with the baseball team during that time. He was killed in a car crash in Mexico in 1962. At that time he had been stationed at a base next door to Lockeed Aircraft. Thier sq. was moved to NAS North Island, San Diego, California. They had just been transferred there and had not even worked the first day when he and Neil Duncan went to Mexico on holiday and he was killed.

We have a daughter who never knew her dad and I am trying to get any information on the squadron that he was with. She would love to have any pictures, patches etc. that I can come up with. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Bobbie Bennett Shamburger
hunyeb@yahoo.com [31MAY2008]

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