A BIT OF HISTORY: "...CPRW-5's VP-10, VP-26 and FSU-5 move to CPRW-11 in NAS Jacksonville, Florida..." Forwarded by SAVIEO, AT3 Gene gsavieo@gmail.com [26DEC2009]

CPRW-5 Sends:

All,

Last Friday we formally shifted control of VP-10, VP-26 and FSU-5 to CPRW-11 in NAS Jacksonville, Florida. With that, CPRW-5 is out of the operational business. By every measure, the difficult process of moving our squadrons and units while continuing to prepare them for deployments set a new standard for how to do it right while always taking care of our Sailors. There is no doubt that every organization on this great base played a key role in that, and I want to personally thank you. Throughout our history, our squadrons have always been able to raise the bar in deployment performance, just as VP-10 did on their last one.

I am often asked why that is, and the one thing I can point to is the amazing team approach that the base has always had. Each and every one of you understand the importance of what our Sailors do, and bend over backwards to ensure that they and their families are fully supported and always taken care of. I am humbled and honored to have had the chance to serve with each and everyone of you (many through multiple tours), and again want to express my sincere appreciation for all you have done for this Wing.

All the best and Happy Holidays. V/r, Jim

Captain Jim Hoke
Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing FIVE
5 Jay Beasley Circle
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 921-2424 DSN 476-2424

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 Celebrates the Holidays With Local Orphanage - U.S. Naval Forces Europe, 6th Fleet Public Affairs - Date: 12.15.2009..." WebSite: DVids http://www.dvidshub.net/ [17DEC2009]

NAPLES, Italy – More then 70 Sailors from Patrol Squadron 26 'Tridents' participated in a community relations project, Dec. 11, ensuring that children from the St. Elizabeth Orphanage on Mahe Island, Seychelles had a special holiday season.

VP-26 is in Mahe Island on a six-month deployment in support of counter piracy operations off the horn of Africa.

During the COMREL Sailors served lunch, sang Christmas carols and gave out presents to 15 children.

"It is an absolute honor to be able to bring the joy of Christmas to these young children and to represent VP-26 in the Seychelles," said Chief Petty Officer Anjenelle Kelly, one of the major organizers of the COMREL.

In addition to the lunch and presents, Sailors also played games of pick-up soccer and baseball.

"Despite the differences in culture and language, all the festivities and games made it easy for Patrol Squadron 26 Sailors to form fast friendships with the children in the Seychelles. It just shows you that the holiday spirit and message is universal. The season touches us all," said Lt. j.g. John Medwid, a P-3 pilot assigned to VP-26.

VP-26 is currently based out NAS Brunswick, Maine and is on a scheduled deployed in the U.S. 6th Fleet Area of operations. VP-26 is scheduled to return to its' new duty station at U.S. Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida in June 2010.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Last Planes Leave NAS Brunswick, Maine By The Associated Press..." WebSite: BangorDailyNews http://www.bangordailynews.com [29NOV2009]

BRUNSWICK, Maine — The two last planes at Maine's NAS Brunswick, Maine have lifted off in blustery winds, ending nearly 60 years of maritime patrol operations at New England's last active-duty military air base.

The P-3 Orions lumbered down an 8,000 foot runway Saturday afternoon before heading off toward a six-month deployment in Central America. After that, they fly to their new home at Florida's Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

NAS Brunswick, Maine, once home to 4,000 sailors and six patrol squadrons, now has a skeleton crew. Its two runways are scheduled to close in January and personnel will continue to leave the base until it closes for good in May 2011.

The decision to shutter the base was made in the final round of closings by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission in 2005.

Come January, with the aircraft long gone, the twin, 8,000-foot runways will be closed and the snow plows will be idled, allowing snow to pile up on the long expanses. The fuel tank farm will be drained. Through the year, there'll be a gradual drawdown of personnel until the base closes for good by May 2011.

Activity on the sprawling coastal base 20 miles northeast of Portland has been winding down over the past year since the first P-3 Orion squadron departed.

Once there were 4,000 sailors, but the number has dwindled to roughly 500. After VP-26 and its 350 personnel leave, only a skeleton crew will remain.

"It's definitely a ghost town," Cmdr. John Coray, chief staff officer for Patrol Wing 5, said after finding himself alone in the gym during a workout.

Situated on 3,200 acres, NAS Brunswick, Maine opened during World War II to train British and Canadian pilots. After the war, the base was deactivated for a time before the U.S. Navy moved in.

Since then, maritime patrol aircraft including the P-3 Orions, which first flew in the early 1960s, have operated from the base.

They use four turboprop engines that sip fuel, allowing them to fly for 12-hour stretches either over the deep blue ocean hunting enemy submarines, or over land where they've flown missions over Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The base saw its heyday during the Cold War, when the Navy had patrol aircraft stationed at the four corners of the continental United States to interdict Soviet subs.

The decision to shutter NAS Brunswick, Maine was made in the final round of closings by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission in 2005.

The Navy initially wanted to mothball the base, keeping alive the possibility of future activation, but that would've meant an uncertain future in which the community would be unable to redevelop the property. So commissioners decided to shutter the base altogether.

Studies have put the economic impact on the local economy at $187 million. But there's a social impact as well. Base personnel and spouses served as teachers, Sunday School volunteers and Little League coaches. Their children used to fill 20 to 30 percent of the desks in local schools.

"The realization is starting to hit home that the base is closing," said Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which is tasked with finding tenants for the property. "It certainly is an end of an era, with a rich history of naval aviation."

Even though the base won't close until 2011, the redevelopment authority hopes to begin reusing the twin runways for general aviation this summer, Levesque said.

The first tenants are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which has residential campuses in Florida and Arizona, and Southern Maine Community College, which will open a branch at the base. There also has been talk of Oxford Aviation coming to NAS Brunswick, Maine. The company provides custom painting and alterations on private aircraft.

The recession hasn't created the best environment for redeveloping the base, but the redevelopment authority is getting a base that's in shipshape condition.

Before deciding to close the base, the Navy resurfaced the runways, overhauled the control tower and refurbished most of the base housing to the tune of more than $100 million. There are airplane hangars, baseball fields, 700 family homes, a bowling alley, and new townhouses with Corian countertops.

For VP-26, it seems fitting that it's the last squadron to leave NAS Brunswick, Maine, since it was the first squadron to call NAS Brunswick, Maine home after World War II, Parker said.

Some personnel already have relocated their families to Florida. Others, like Parker, will let their children finish the school year in Maine and move later.

There's real sadness, particularly for those "homesteaders" who've spent multiple deployments in NAS Brunswick, Maine because they like it so much. Parker, himself, has spent six years in NAS Brunswick, Maine over three separate deployments.

Coray said it'll be a tough adjustment.

"Most people really like Maine and have a real affection for NAS Brunswick, Maine. It has been a very challenging change for them, especially the older personnel who've been stationed here before. They've grown roots and they're comfortable. So this has been painful," he said.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Last 2 planes depart from Maine's NAS Brunswick, Maine - The Associated Press - The Tampa Tribune - Published: November 29, 2009..." WebSite: TampaBayOnline http://www2.tbo.com/ [29NOV2009]

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The two last planes at Maine's NAS Brunswick, Maine lifted off Saturday in blustery winds, ending nearly 60 years of maritime patrol operations at New England's last active-duty military air base.

The P-3 Orions of the VP-26 squadron lumbered down the 8,000-foot runway heading to a six-month deployment in Central America. After that, they fly to their new home at Florida's Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

A small group of visitors gathered to watch, including Albert Stehle, whose father, Leroy Stehle, commanded the VP-26 in the early 1970s.

"I just came to see the last plane take off. After being a Navy brat for all these years and having to miss your dad because he was off on deployment, you finally realize it was all for a great cause," he said.

NAS Brunswick, Maine, once home to 4,000 sailors and six patrol squadrons, now has a skeleton crew. Its two runways are scheduled to close in January and personnel will continue to leave the base until it closes for good in May 2011.

The Base Closure and Realignment Commission decided to close the base in 2005. The 3,200-acre base will be turned over to a redevelopment group.

The NAS Brunswick, Maine opened during World War II to train British and Canadian pilots.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Last squadron departs NAS Brunswick, Maine by The MaineBiz News Staff - November 23rd, 2009..." WebSite: The MaineBiz News http://www.mainebiz.biz/ [24NOV2009]

The last squadron at NAS Brunswick, Maine has begun its departure, marking the end of the base's use as a Navy airfield.

One of Patrol Squadron 26's three P-3 Orion planes left the base Saturday for the last time, and the other two planes are scheduled to leave this Saturday, according to The Times Record. The squadron is scheduled to deploy to Central America, the Horn of Africa and Europe, and will land at NAS Jacksonville, Florida when its overseas tour is finished. After the squadron's departure, fewer than 300 personnel will remain at the base, scheduled for full closure in 2011.

VP-26 was the first maritime squadron stationed at NAS Brunswick, Maine in 1952, according to the paper.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...END OF AN ERA: NAS Brunswick, Maine's Planes To Depart As Base Readies For Closing By DAVID SHARP | Associated Press | Nov 20, 09 3:10 PM CST..." WebSite: NewUser http://www.newser.com/ [21NOV2009]

While much of the nation prepares for Thanksgiving, air crews from VP-26 are prepping to ship out for a six-month deployment to El Salvador, Italy and the Horn of Africa. After that, they'll rejoin the rest of NAS Brunswick, Maine aircraft that have relocated to Florida's Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

Cmdr. Mike Parker, commanding officer of VP-26, begins the final wave of departures on Sunday, marking a milestone in the closing of the last active-duty military air base in New England.

"It's a heartbreaking situation to leave the base knowing that no P-3 is going to return to this base," said Parker. His massive three-bay hangar was filled with equipment being loaded on pallets and sailors getting heavy gear ready to be shipped out starting next week.

Come January, with the aircraft long gone, the twin, 8,000-foot runways will be closed and the snow plows will be idled, allowing snow to pile up on the long expanses. The fuel tank farm will be drained. Through the year, there'll be a gradual drawdown of personnel until the base closes for good by May 2011.

Activity on the sprawling coastal base 20 miles northeast of Portland has been winding down over the past year since the first P-3 Orion squadron departed.

Once there were 4,000 sailors, but the number has dwindled to roughly 500. After VP-26 and its 350 personnel leave, only a skeleton crew will remain.

"It's definitely a ghost town," Cmdr. John Coray, chief staff officer for Patrol Wing 5, said after finding himself alone in the gym during a workout.

Situated on 3,200 acres, NAS Brunswick, Maine opened during World War II to train British and Canadian pilots. After the war, the base was deactivated for a time before the U.S. Navy moved in.

Since then, maritime patrol aircraft including the P-3 Orions, which first flew in the early 1960s, have operated from the base.

They use four turboprop engines that sip fuel, allowing them to fly for 12-hour stretches either over the deep blue ocean hunting enemy submarines, or over land where they've flown missions over Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The base saw its heyday during the Cold War, when the Navy had patrol aircraft stationed at the four corners of the continental United States to interdict Soviet subs.

The decision to shutter NAS Brunswick, Maine was made in the final round of closings by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission in 2005.

The Navy initially wanted to mothball the base, keeping alive the possibility of future activation, but that would've meant an uncertain future in which the community would be unable to redevelop the property. So commissioners decided to shutter the base altogether.

Studies have put the economic impact on the local economy at $187 million. But there's a social impact as well. Base personnel and spouses served as teachers, Sunday School volunteers and Little League coaches. Their children used to fill 20 to 30 percent of the desks in local schools.

"The realization is starting to hit home that the base is closing," said Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which is tasked with finding tenants for the property. "It certainly is an end of an era, with a rich history of naval aviation."

Even though the base won't close until 2011, the redevelopment authority hopes to begin reusing the twin runways for general aviation this summer, Levesque said.

The first tenants are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which has residential campuses in Florida and Arizona, and Southern Maine Community College, which will open a branch at the base. There also has been talk of Oxford Aviation coming to Brunswick. The company provides custom painting and alterations on private aircraft.

The recession hasn't created the best environment for redeveloping the base, but the redevelopment authority is getting a base that's in shipshape condition.

Before deciding to close the base, the Navy resurfaced the runways, overhauled the control tower and refurbished most of the base housing to the tune of more than $100 million. There are airplane hangars, baseball fields, 700 family homes, a bowling alley, and new townhouses with Corian countertops.

For VP-26, it seems fitting that it's the last squadron to leave NAS Brunswick, Maine, since it was the first squadron to call NAS Brunswick, Maine home after World War II, Parker said.

Some personnel already have relocated their families to Florida. Others, like Parker, will let their children finish the school year in Maine and move later.

There's real sadness, particularly for those "homesteaders" who've spent multiple deployments in NAS Brunswick, Maine because they like it so much. Parker, himself, has spent six years in NAS Brunswick, Maine over three separate deployments.

Coray said it'll be a tough adjustment.

"Most people really like Maine and have a real affection for NAS Brunswick, Maine. It has been a very challenging change for them, especially the older personnel who've been stationed here before. They've grown roots and they're comfortable. So this has been painful," he said.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Squadrons Say Farewell to NAS Brunswick, Maine By Dan Hartill - 08/28/2009...Mentioned: VP-26 and CPRW-5..." WebSite: Morning Sentinel http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/ [28AUG2009]

BRUNSWICK -- The Navy bid farewell Thursday to decades in the sky above Maine.

Navy brass, including nearly a dozen admirals, participated in a 90-minute ceremony meant to give closure to the work of thousands of men and women: mechanics, clerks, radio operators, engineers and pilots. It also meant goodbye.

"You accept us and make us feel at home," said Capt. James Hoke, the last commander of CPRW-5. The final planes are scheduled to fly away immediately after Thanksgiving. Next March, Hoke's air wing will be dismantled as part of the base's closure.

The ceremony couldn't wait until then.

"The runways would be closed," Hoke said. "No one would be left to do the ceremony. And no one would attend."

The base, which includes the Navy's last active duty airfield in the Northeast, is already a shadow of its former self. Three years ago, the wing's personnel topped 4,000 people and 40 or more planes filled the hangars here.

On Thursday, there were fewer than 700 people and three planes.

"This is our last hurrah," said John James, public affairs director for CPRW-5. "There's nothing else."

The 11 a.m. ceremony included much of the Navy's pomp and circumstance, with a brass band, a red carpet and a boatswain's pipe announcing the arrival of VIPs including U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree. "You will be missed here in Maine," Pingree said.

Officers told stories of the Cold War years, when NAS Brunswick, Maine planes chased and tracked Soviet submarines by dropping sonar buoys onto the ocean's surface and listening from a few hundred feet above. Meanwhile, they trained for deployment to NAS Keflavik, Iceland, NAS Sigonella, Sicily, NS Rota, Spain, NS Roosevelt Roads, PR and the NAF Lajes, Azores, Portugal.

Rather than hunting subs, today's P-3 squadrons are doing reconnaissance work over dry land. Air crews from NAS Brunswick, Maine are now serving in the Middle East. The local base's last squadron, VP-26, is scheduled to go there in November.

Retired Adm. John Roberts, who commanded Wing Five from 1993 until 1995, said he will miss the slow, propeller-driven planes flying overhead.

"Today is bittersweet," he said. Nine of CPRW-5's 19 prior commanders, known as commodores, were present at the ceremony. "I'm seeing many friends I have not seen in a long time. But this doesn't feel right."

Hoke, who is on his third tour of duty in NAS Brunswick, Maine, said he, too, will find it unsettling to see an empty sky. Until the past year, there were continuously five planes overhead during daylight hours.

"The base is really winding down," he said.

To host the ceremony, Hoke's office reopened a mothballed section of a $34 million hangar. The hangar hRetired Adm. Harry Richad been under construction in 2005, whRetired Adm. Harry Richen the Base Realignment and Closure Commission ordered the base to be closed.

Retired Adm. Harry Rich, who fought the commission in 1995 and 2005 in an effort to preserve the NAS Brunswick, Maine, said he was saddened that the event was ever needed.

"The base has been a vital link in the defense of the U.S.," said Rich, who served in the 1980s as the commander of all P-3 Orions on the East Coast.

"I feel betrayed," Rich said. "The BRAC commission let us down.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...OPNAV NOTICE 5400 - February 23, 2009 - Permanent Duty Station Change for Commanding Officer Patrol Squadron TWO SIX (VP-26)..." Contributed by GALLARDO, LCDR Orlando gallardo@lhd2.navy.mil [12MAY2009]

---

Circa 2008

A BIT OF HISTORY: Aircrew Wings "...Wings Oof Gold Awarded To New Aircrew by LT Phillip Sautter - VP-30 Public Affairs Officer (VP-1, VP-4, VP-5, VP-8, VP-10, VP-16, VP-26, VP-30, VP-16, VP-40 and VP-46. ) - Thursday, October 9, 2008..." WebSite: JaxAirNews http://adserver1.harvestadsdepot.com/jaxairnews/ss/jaxairnews/ [09OCT2008]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Navy, Coast Guard Score More Coke - September 23, 2008 - Navy News..." WebSite: Miltary.Com http://www.military.com/ [25SEP2008]

USS DE WERT, At Sea - While on patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, units assigned to the U.S. Navy's 4th Fleet and the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a fishing vessel carrying over three metric tons of cocaine.

This seizure comes just a week after Sailors from USS McInerney (FFG 8) and LEDET 404, in conjunction with VP-26, intercepted a self-propelled semi submersible in the Eastern Pacific Ocean carrying over seven metric tons of cocaine.

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "...Westover's 'birds' Draw Thousands By STEPHANIE BARRY - The Republican Newsroom Sunday September 07, 2008, 8:54 AM..." WebSite: Republican Newsroom http://www.masslive.com/ [08SEP2008]

Photograph Caption: Photo by David Molnar / The Republican - A crowd of people waiting to tour a Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol airplane at the Great New England Air Show at Westover Air Reserve Base. A C-5 Galaxy is in the background.

CHICOPEE - He and most of his pilot brethren have one, lurking in a frame or box somewhere: that old photograph of an 8-, 9-, or 10-year-old boy, mugging for the camera in the cockpit at an air show.

"As cheesy as it sounds, it's pretty cool to come back here as a pilot," said Navy Lt. Jess T. Hill III, standing in the shadow of the P-3C Orion maritime patrol plane he has flown on numerous missions.

He remembers visiting this show as a 10- or 12-year-old, and believes he must have that photograph, as well.

The East Longmeadow native, 27, ushered through his aircraft hundreds of visitors to the Great New England Air Show at Westover Air Reserve Base on Saturday. A member of the VP-26 based in NAS Brunswick, Maine, Hill wanted to be a pilot for as long as he can remember.

As commander of the P-3, he can rattle off details of every nook and crevice - from the weapon bays to the sonar buoys to the complex flight control system in the cockpit.

"It's actually pretty high maintenance to fly," said Hill, who was "winged" in 2004 after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis a year earlier.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "... FROM NAS Brunswick, Maine TO NAS Jacksonville, Florida By LCDR Mary Anne Andrews - CPRW-11 (Squadrons Mentioned: CPRW-5, VPU-1, VP-8, VP-10 and VP-26)..." Contributed by Antonio Diana tonidibla@netscape.net [27JUN2008]

CPRW-5 Commanding Officer Capt. Tyrone Payton and VP-8 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Eric Wiesz hosted an informational fair June 10 at NAS Brunswick, Maine for Sailors and their families who will be part of the homeport change to NAS Jacksonville, Florida beginning in the summer of 2009.

Four P-3C Orion patrol squadrons (VPU-1, VP-8, VP-10 and VP-26) and up to 1,300 Sailors will make the transition from Maine to Florida.

NAS Jacksonville, Florida Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. attended the event and presented an overview of NAS Jax and current construction projects, including the $123 million hangar that will house five P-3C Orion squadrons and a C-130 Hercules logistics squadron.

The 277,000-square-foot hangar has room for approximately 33 P-3Cs, four C-130s and more than 1,600 personnel.

Scorby introduced Sally Patch from the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, whose presentation covered many aspects of life in Northeast Florida, including demographics, neighborhoods and job opportunities.

She concluded her briefing with a photographic tour of the area's recreational and historical attractions.

After the seated presentation, approximately 350 Sailors and family members toured the 17 information booths, including: the NAS Brunswick Personal Property Office; the Clay County and Jacksonville Chambers of Commerce; Duval County Public Schools; local colleges; the NAS Jax Fleet and Family Support Center; housing experts and others.

In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) committee voted to close NAS Brunswick and move its aircraft operations to NAS Jacksonville. By law, the base must close by Sept.15, 2011.

"The focus today is to increase Sailors' knowledge and comfort about the move to Jacksonville," said Freddie Byers of the NAS Jacksonville BRAC office.

"We gave out a lot of good information. Our goal is to make this move less stressful and very successful."

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...NEWS - Final Touchdown at BNAS: Squadron 26's Homecoming The Last One For Brunswick - 06/13/2008..." Contributed WebSite: The Times Record http://www.timesrecord.com/ [14JUN2008]

BRUNSWICK — A young boy in sandals clutched his sippy cup within view of where the last plane of Patrol Squadron 26 would land this morning. The scheduled homecoming, a private event closed to the media, would reunite sailors with their loved ones after six months abroad.

It was the last such touchdown for Brunswick Naval Air Station. The next squad-ron that deploys — this coming Christmas — will return to the Navy base in Jacksonville, Fla., when its work overseas is done.

By December 2009, all three regular squadrons, one reserve squadron and a fifth smaller squadron will have left Bruns-wick, never to return.

"(Today's) return is part of the regular rhythm and cycle of overseas deployments," said John James, public affairs officer for the base. "But for many of us here and for the surrounding communities, this is a historic occasion. This rhythm has been part of the fabric of Mid-coast Maine since the Cold War began in the early 1950s. The five squadrons will be gone by December of 2009."

That reality may be a splash of cold water for area residents, who have known for three years that the Navy would be leaving, but who also have become used to the oft-stated base closure date of 2011. Though most of the sailors and their families will be gone within the next 18 months, the majority of the 3,200-acre base won't be officially turned over to civilian redevelopers until September 2011.

Family members of sailors deploying this December can choose to relocate ahead of time, and families with children could find that to be an attractive option if they don't want to move midway through a school year.

That means Brunswick and its surrounding towns could begin seeing a population drop immediately. According to Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, "they're going to start leaving now."

But while Navy families and their spending power are going to begin disappearing from the local marketplace, Levesque said civilian redevelopment planners are hoping to make the best of the squadrons' departures. By early 2010, he said, "all the aviation units will be gone," freeing the airfield for possible reuse by civilian companies, which could help reinvigorate the economy before the final 2011 closure.

"That's when — if we have all our ducks in a line — we could start using the aviation complex for civilian uses, potentially," said Levesque.

The authority director added that there has already been interest in base property by businesses looking to relocate or expand into the area.

"We're turning stuff away, and helping them to find other locations in the region or the state," he said. "There's a lot of interest in this property. Some of it is tire kicking, but some of it is real. We get several calls a week," he noted.

A BIT OF HISTORY: Rear Admiral Brian C. Prindle "...Rear Admiral Prindle Makes Historic Visit by Navy LT Aaron Roberts - VP-47 Public Affairs - Hawaii Marine - Volume 38, Number 5 - February 1, 2008 - http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil - Page A5. Squadrons Mentioned: VP-26, VP-47 and MOCC..." Contributed by LT Roberts james.roberts@tlab.afcent.af.mil [15MAY2008]

Photograph Caption: Rear Admiral Brian C. Prindle, commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, addresses Task Group 57.18 Sailors in Iraq. Ali Air Base, Iraq was one of the last locations Prindle visited in his recent tour of the Fifth Fleet area of operations. Photograph by Seaman Meagan E. Klein

TALLIL, Iraq – Rear Adm. Brian C. Prindle visited the men and women of Task Group 57.18, comprised of Sailors from VP-47, VP-26, Consolidated Maintenance Organization 2, and Mobile Operational Control Centers Delta and Golf, at Ali Air Base, Iraq here.

Rear Admiral Prindle, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, visited Ali as one of his final stops touring forward deployed P-3C squadrons.

“I cannot think of another organization in the Navy, especially in aviation, that has more dynamic events going on,” Prindle said. “Everyone I talk to has high praise for this command. You are the leading the way at the fighting edge of freedom.” Task Group aircrews are flying in support of maritime patrol operations and Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is an unprecedented era for the P-3 Navy, marking the first time a complete P-3 squadron and maintenance organization have deployed to Iraq.

Though originally designed for maritime patrol and submarine hunting, the P-3 has additional capability to enable it to be the “eyes in the sky” for Coalition Forces on the ground. The plane is equipped with cameras that allow surveillance over great distances with precise resolution, making it a force multiplier in counterinsurgency operations.

The Admiral spent his day touring the Navy compound, talking to Sailors, and answering questions about current P-3 operations. He wanted to see firsthand how the Task Group accomplishes its mission.

Prindle, a P-3 Naval aviator, gave a very enthusiastic speech to his fellow Sailors about the P-3 community.

“Coming out here is one of the most valuable things I do. I get reenergized when I watch this well-oiled machine doing great things for our nation. I see a lot of talented and motivated Americans doing tremendous work,” Prindle said.

Prindle continued his journey to al Udeid Air Base before flying back to Norfolk, Virginia.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Group - RADM Brian C. Prindle, USN. Wings of Gold - Spring 2008 - Page 6-8. (Squadrons/Wings Referenced: VP-62, VP-69, VQ-1, VQ-2, VPU-1, VPU-2, VP-1, VP-4, VP-5, VP-8, VP-9, VP-10, VP-16, VP-26, VP-30, VP-40, VP-45, VP-46, VP-47, CPRW-2, CPRW-5, CPRW-10 and CPRW-11..." WebSite: Association of Naval Aviation http://www.anahq.org/index.htm [23APR2008]

Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Group Article 166KB

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Far from the water, close to the mission by Senior Airman Tong Duong - 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs - 2/29/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN)..." WebSite: Air Force Link http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123088340 [02MAR2008]

Far from the water but close to the mission, members of the Navy VP-26 Patrol Squadron are enjoying beng deployed on an air base, they say.

Far from the water, close to the mission Navy Aviation Operator 2nd Class David Vaneman performs pre-flight checks on P-3 aircraft radar equipment before take off Feb. 26 from an air base in Southwest Asia. The maritime is a diverse element of the U.S. Navy whose missions include battlespace surveillance. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)

"We really appreciate being on an Air Force base, because of the facilities and it's a great feeling to come back to solid ground after a mission," said Lt. Jonathan Jacesko, a Navy flight officer. "With our flight schedule so varied, having services like a 24-hour galley (dining facility) is nice and we look forward to the opening of the Blatchford-Preston Complex pool."

Far from the water, close to the mission Navy aircraft structural mechanic 1st Class Leo Mackin spins a propeller as part of a pre-flight check Feb 26 at an air base in Southwest Asia. Checks are done on each of the four propellers for nicks, scratches and cracks prior to take off. The Navy members are stationed on the air base in support of battlespace surveillance missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)

Exposure and the ability to interact with sister services and coalition forces is another advantage the sailors pointed out.

Far from the water, close to the mission Navy Lt. Jed Magda, a VP-26 Patrol Plane commander (second from right), gives an emergency procedures brief to crew members prior to their mission Feb. 26 at an air base in Southwest Asia. The Navy members are stationed on the air base in support of battlespace surveillance missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)

"This is a very big and diverse base, everything seems to run so smoothly," said Tanika Milligan, Petty Officer 3rd Class, VP-26 personnel specialist on her second deployment. "One of the reasons that I joined the Navy was to experience different things."

Far from the water, close to the mission A Navy VP-26 Patrol Squadron member signals the aircrew prior to take-off Feb. 26 from an air base in Southwest Asia. Navy members are stationed on the air base in support of battlespace surveillance missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)

The Navy members have traded in their "Cracker Jack" and utility blue uniforms for desert camouflage and boonie hats. Their mission here is to fly the Navy's P-3C Orion in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

"Our primary mission is anti-submarine warfare, but we contribute to the security of the entire region by providing reconnaissance missions, which in turn improves the air wing's lines of supply and communication," said Lieutenant Jacesko.

VP-26, a maritime patrol squadron with a worldwide theater of operations is based out of Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine. These sailors deploy for six months at a time and currently have more than 200 sailors assigned in support of the P-3C Orion on the air base.

According to U.S. Navy fact sheets, the P-3C is a land-based, long range anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft. It has advanced submarine detection sensors such as directional frequency and ranging sonobuoys and magnetic anomaly detection equipment.

The P-3C's mission evolved in the late ninties and early 21st century to include surveillance of the battle space.

Either at sea or over land Its long range and long loiter time have been very useful during Operation Iraqi Freedom as it can view the battle space and instantaneously provide that information to ground troops.

"This base fosters a sense of camaraderie and really embodies the phrase, 'One team, one fight.' " Petty Officer Milligan said.

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Circa 2007

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 Holds Change of Command Ceremony - Story Number: NNS070507-18 - Release Date: 5/7/2007 4:09:00 PM - By Lt. j.g. Kyle Malone, Patrol Squadron 26 Professional Development Public Affairs..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=29227 [25MAY2007]

BRUNSWICK, Maine (NNS) -- The "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 held their change of command ceremony May 4 during which Cmdr. Greg Cozad relinquished command to Cmdr. Kevin King, the squadron’s executive officer for the past year.

The squadron, joined by the guest of honor Capt. Tyrone Payton, commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5, as well as family, friends, and other distinguished visitors, conducted the ceremony at Hangar 6 aboard Naval Air Station Brunswick.

The completion of the ceremony marked the end of a highly successful tour for Cozad, who took command during the squadron’s last operational deployment to Sigonella, Italy.

Under his command, VP-26 continued a record of 44 consecutive years and 310,000 hours of flight without a mishap. Additionally, VP-26 earned the 2006 Arnold J. Isbell Award for Anti-submarine Warfare Excellence and won its fifth consecutive Gold Anchor Award for Retention Excellence.

King spoke quite highly of his predecessor as commanding officer.

“Although [it was] a team effort,” he said, “the Tridents’ success over the last year would not have been possible without the dedicated leadership of Skipper Cozad.”

Upon leaving Brunswick, Cozad will report as a student to the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington.

As he prepared to depart, Cozad praised the Sailors of VP-26, “I am proud and humbled to have been a member of an outstanding group of patriots dedicated to service to our nation.”

King, a graduate of Iowa State University, received his commission through the Naval ROTC program in December 1988 and his naval flight officer (NFO) wings in February 1990. Upon the completion of flight training, he joined VP-49 as the communications officer, readiness officer, and NFO training officer. Subsequently, he reported to VP-30 for service as an NFO instructor.

His later tours included a disassociated sea tour aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), where he served as the catapult and arresting gear officer, a shore tour at the Naval Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn., and a department head tour with VP-8 in Brunswick. Immediately before reporting to VP-26 in March 2006, King worked for commander Task Force 67 in Naples, Italy as the current operations officer.

King assumed command of VP-26 in the midst of a busy period. Throughout the next year, he will be tasked with leading the squadron through the remainder of its Inter-Deployment Readiness Cycle, managing several crews in support of operations throughout the world, and executing the squadron’s next deployment.

VP-26 also welcomed its new executive officer, Cmdr. Andy Westerkom, who served as the maintenance/logistics officer for Patrol and Reconnaissance Force 7th/5th Fleet.

A BIT OF HISTORY: Operation Enduring Freedom "...VP-5, VP-8, VP-10, VP-26, VP-40 and VP-45 - Deployment PATRON Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar Dec 2006 - Jun 2007..." Contributed by LT Donald W. Hartsell donald.hartsell@navy.mil [03MAY2007]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 Command Structure..." WebSite: VP-26 http://www.vp26.navy.mil/ [03MAY2007]

CO - Gregory J. Cozad Following initial P-3 Orion training with Patrol Squadron THIRTY ONE, Commander Cozad joined Patrol Squadron NINE in July 1991, where he served as the Aerial Mining Officer and Pilot Training Officer. During this tour he deployed to Panama, Adak, Alaska, Diego Garcia, BIOT and Masirah, Oman. In July 1994, Commander Cozad reported to the Bureau of Naval Personnel serving as Rating Assignment Officer for the Radioman and Electronics Technician ratings, enlisted assignment PCS/TEMDUINS manager and Special Assistant to the Director, Enlisted Assignments (PERS-40).

After attending Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer training in August 1997, Commander Cozad reported to the USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70) where he served as Arresting Gear Branch Officer and Fuels Division Officer. During this tour, he completed one WESTPAC deployment in support of Operations SOUTHERN WATCH and DESERT FOX. Following his disassociated sea tour, Commander Cozad reported to Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing TEN in October 1999 and served as the Assistant Maintenance Officer.

Following refresher training at Patrol Squadron THIRTY (VP-30) in Jacksonville, Florida, he reported in May 2001 to Patrol Squadron FORTY-SIX (VP-46) at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. While assigned to the “Grey Knights” he served as Safety/NATOPS Officer, Assistant Maintenance Officer and Maintenance Officer. During this tour he deployed to Misawa, Japan and served as the detachment Officer-in-Charge during a tri-site deployment to Diego Garcia, BIOT in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Following his department head tour, Commander Cozad reported to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, where he was assigned as the Maintenance Officer until November 2004. Commander Cozad reported as Executive Officer, Patrol Squadron TWENTY SIX (VP-26) in March 2005.

Commander Cozad’s decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various other campaign, service and unit awards.

XO - CDR Kevin King Following initial P-3 Orion training with Patrol Squadron THIRTY, Commander King joined Patrol Squadron FORTY-NINE in October 1990, where he served as the Communications Officer, Readiness Officer and NFO Training Officer. During this tour he deployed to Rota, Spain, Lajes, Azores and Keflavik, Iceland. In October 1993, Commander King reported to Patrol Squadron THIRTY as an instructor and served as IML Branch Officer, EER Fleet Introduction Team Leader and Assistant Operations Officer.

After attending Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer training in October 1996, Commander King reported to the USS JOHN C STENNIS (CVN-74) where he served as Hangar Bay Division Officer and Catapult and Arresting Gear Division Officer. During this tour, he completed an around the world deployment in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. Following his disassociated sea tour, he was assigned to Naval Personnel Command in Millington, TN where he served as the VP Shore and then Sea Detailer in the Aviation Assignment Branch. In October 2000, CDR King joined Patrol Squadron EIGHT in Brunswick, ME. While assigned to the “Tigers” he served as Tactics Officer, CTG Operations Officer and Operations Officer. During this tour he deployed to Keflavik, Iceland and Sigonella, Italy in support of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Following his department head tour, Commander King reported to Commander, Task Force Sixty Seven, homeported in Naples, Italy, where he served as the Current Operations Officer. During NAVEUR transformation, he was re-assigned to the consolidated NAVEUR/ SIXTHFLEET staff and served as head of the Operational Plans Division. Commander King reported as Executive Officer, Patrol Squadron TWENTY SIX (VP-26) in March 2006.

His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various other campaign, service and unit awards.

CMC(AW/NAC) - Jeffrey W. Murphy Master Chief Jeffrey Murphy, a native of Pensacola, Florida, entered the Navy in 1982, at Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon completion of basic training, he attended Anti-Submarine Warfare Operator (AW) "A" School, Millington, Tennessee; Naval Aircrew Candidate School, Pensacola, Florida; P-3C Fleet Replacement Squadron Acoustic Operator Course, Jacksonville, Florida; and Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations Center Operator Course, Dam Neck, Virginia.

His initial fleet assignment was to Tactical Support Center Bermuda. In 1986 he transferred to Patrol Squadron TEN (VP-10) at NAS Brunswick, ME. During his tour with the "Red Lancers", he made deployments to Rota, Spain; Lajes, Azores; Keflavik Iceland; and Sigonella, Sicily. He transferred in October 1992 and attended Instructor Training at NAS Millington, Tennessee before reporting to Patrol Squadron THIRTY (VP-30) as a Fleet Replacement Squadron instructor. While assigned to VP-30, he attended the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and returned to manage Foreign Military Sales and Training. In 1995, he reported to Patrol Wing ONE detachment Diego Garcia where he served as Command Chief and Task Force Watch Officer. From 1996 to 1998, Master Chief Murphy was stationed with Commander Fleet Air Keflavik in Iceland as a Leading Chief Petty Officer and Task Force Watch Officer at the Tactical Support Center. He then attended Command Career Counselor School in San Diego, California and in October of 1998, he reported to Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi where he attended the Air Force Basic Instructor Course and then served at the Naval Technical Training Unit there as AG "C" School Division Officer and Command Career Counselor. From 2000 to 2002, Master Chief Murphy was stationed at Commander Air Surveillance Reconnaissance Force SIXTH Fleet in Sigonella, Sicily where he served as Command Senior Chief and Task Group Watch Officer at the Tactical Support Center. In May of 2002, he reported to Patrol Squadron TEN (VP-10) at NAS Brunswick, ME as Operations LCPO and Task Group Operations Officer and made deployments to Keflavik Iceland and Sigonella, Sicily. His next assignment was as the Enlisted Lead Aircrew Detailer at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee from 2004 to 2006.

In July of 2006, Master Chief Murphy reported to his current position as the Command Master Chief with the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron TWENTY SIX (VP-26) at NAS Brunswick, Maine.

Master Chief Murphy has qualified as a Naval Aircrewman, Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist and Master Training Specialist. He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the University of Southern New Hampshire. His personal awards include the Meritorious Commendation Medal, Air Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (five awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards), and numerous campaign and unit awards.

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Circa 2006

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Naval Air Station Brunswick Brunswick, ME 11/21/2006 - (Squadrons Photograph's: VP-8, VP-10 & VP-26 and VP-92)..." WebSite: Topgun Photography http://topgunphotography.net/basevisits/Nasb/index.htm [16MAR2007]

NAS Brunswick, Maine was constructed in March of 1943 and commissioned on April 15, 1943. The primary mission was training of the RCAF pilots. The first U.S. squadron to arrive at NAS Brunswick, Maine was VS-1D1, a scouting squadron. In October of 1946 the base was deactivated and turned over to Bowdoin College and the University of Maine . The Navy on March 15, 1951 raised the national ensign on the flag pole re-commissioning the dormant base back to a Naval Air Facility. They were to established a mission of supporting 3 land-plane patrol squadrons and one Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron.

The Navy requested $35 Million from Congress to transform this into a Master Jet base. Such a base required dual 8,000 foot runways. In 1951 Congress requested an additional 20 Million for additional barracks, officers quarters, and such to make it a permanent installation. The squadrons based at NAS Brunswick, Maine flew the P2V Neptune Patrol Bomber.

On July 1st, 1971, Commander Patrol Wings US Atlantic Fleet / Commander Patrol Wing Five established NAS Brunswick, Maine as their Headquarters. At present 3 Patrol squadrons (VP-10, VP-26 & VP-8) and 2 Reserve Squadrons (VP-92 & VPU-1) fly the P-3 Orion. A Fleet Support unit, VR-62 operates the C-130T out of NAS Brunswick, Maine.

I had the chance to visit NAS Brunswick, Maine and spend a few hours with VP-10, known as the Red Lancers. A little history of their patch, the insignia represents the mission of the Compass Rose as a backdrop. The Dipper and Polaris is superimposed to show how long overseas patrol is necessary for navigation. The lightning bolts represent the importance of sending and receiving radio information. The bomb in the middle of their unit patch represents their secondary mission as a VP Squadron.

The P-3 units deploy to the Mediterranean and throughout the Atlantic including successful deployments in Keflavik , Iceland , the Azores, Rota Spain , and many others. The P-3's main roll is land based, long range anti-submarine warfare (ASW). It has advanced submarine detection equipment such as sensors, directional frequency and sonar buoys. The P-3 can carry a variety of internal weapons on it pylons like the Harpoon anti-surface missile, MK-50 torpedo and the MK-60 Mine.

While walking the ramp with LTJG Christina Evans of the unit VP-10 & PAO Lt. Gomez, we were able to capture some shots of the ground crews working on a few aircraft. One had just finished some engine work and I was allowed to watch the engine run ups. There were multiple P-3s in the pattern flying touch and goes or landing and taxing back for another take off.

On our way back one of the crews were preparing to hang a dummy missile. I was allowed to take some pictures of how they hang this to the outside wing pylon. After this I went outside the base to capture some images of the P-3s in the pattern.

The BRAC recommendation is to close NAS Brunswick, Maine and move all the P-3s down to NAS Jacksonville FL. I appreciate the time LTJG Evans and Lt Gomez gave me during my visit. NAS Brunswick, Maine plans to host an Air Show featuring the Blue Angels this year.

Copyright © 2006-2007 Dave O'Brien - http://www.topgunphotography.net

VP-8 Aircraft at NAS Brunswick, Maine

VP-10 Aircraft at NAS Brunswick, Maine

VP-26 Aircraft at NAS Brunswick, Maine

VP-92 Aircraft at NAS Brunswick, Maine

Other Aircraft at NAS Brunswick, Maine

A BIT OF HISTORY: 061026-N-8726C-002 Brunswick, Maine (Oct. 26, 2006) "...Lt. j.g. Patrick O'Brien, a P-3 Orion pilot from Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), flies above the clouds on his way to a Coast Guard ceremony honoring the crew that help rescue a P-3 Orion crew that crashed into the ocean over 30 years ago. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy News Stand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=40342 [05NOV2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Why the Afterbody Went Flying - By AD2(AW) Randy Penrod, VP-26 - Mech Spring 2006..." WebSite: Navy Safety Center http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/mech/issues/spring06/whytheafterbody.htm [27JUN2006]

The P-3C is a multi-crew aircraft, and its aviators rely on crew resource management (CRM) every day for mission accomplishment. At the core of CRM are the tenets of decision-making, assertiveness, mission analysis, communication, leadership, adaptability and flexibility, and situational awareness. These same tenets work in maintenance. As a maintainer, I learned the importance and value of a few of the skills, specifically situational awareness and communication, one duty weekend in Brunswick, Maine.

That particular weekend was busier than normal as we focused on getting an aircraft full mission capable (FMC) for the coming week’s flight schedule. Two props on the aircraft needed balancing, which entailed turning the aircraft, running the balance gear, adding or subtracting weights to the props, and turning the aircraft again to check the balance.

On the turn, I was the collateral-duty inspector (CDI) with an experienced third class petty officer and a new third class to assist me. The turn occurred without incident, and, afterwards, as I have done countless times before, I went into the shop to update maintenance control and the maintenance action forms (MAFs) while the other two maintainers removed the balance gear and installed the propeller afterbody assemblies.

Finished with the MAFs, I headed back out to the aircraft and intercepted one of my team members. That maintainer told me the ground-turn crew planned to start engines again to check reverse shaft horsepower (SHP) on the No. 3 engine—one of the engines we just had balanced.

Within seconds of returning to my shop, the maintenance chief called, saying the afterbody fell off the aircraft. My heart sank, and I could not believe it! I immediately proceeded out to the aircraft and saw that my team had failed to install the bolts, allowing the afterbody to fall free during the turn.

The flight engineer (FE) was new to the command and had failed to recognize I was the CDI and started the engines again without confirming the afterbodies were installed or completing another walk-around inspection.

I’m thankful that the flying afterbody didn’t hit anyone or anything on the way down. Everyone involved in this fiasco relearned two basic CRM or MRM (maintenance resource management) skills: communication and situational awareness.

As the CDI, I should have let the FE know that I was heading into the hangar to sign off MAFs and my workers were installing the afterbodies. My workers should have told the FE that the installation had not been CDI’d and should have had the situational awareness to stop the turns, knowing I had not signed off on their work.

The FE, noticing the petty officers no longer were working on the afterbody, assumed the work was done. Instead of talking to someone or checking the work, he proceeded to turn the engine.

The requirement to have ready-for-tasking (RFT) aircraft, increased operational tempo, and perceived pressure are common to all fleet squadrons, and these conditions have the potential to cause a mishap. It happened to us, but we have the ability to learn from our mistakes, as do other Sailors and shipmates.

Petty Officer Penrod is a powerplants collateral-duty inspector with VP-26.

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060410-N-8726C-002 Sigonella, Sicily (April 10, 2006) "...Aviation Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Nathaniel Nasarow assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), directs a P-3C Orion during low power turns. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=33454 [04JUN2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060407-N-8726C-002 Sigonella, Sicily (Apr 6, 2006) "...Aviation structural Mechanic 3rd Class Julie Burney assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron twenty-six (VP-26), removes a bad rivet from the number one beaver tail on a P-3C Orion Aircraft. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=33389 [02MAY2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer`s Mate 1st Class John Collins "...Aviation Electrician`s Mate 3rd Class Nathaniel Nasarow assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), directs a P-3C Orion during low power turns. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism (2006-04-11)..." WebSite: FutureKorea http://www.futurekorea.co.kr/article/article_frame.asp?go=content§ion=%ED%8F%AC%ED%86%A0%EB%89%B4%EC%8A%A4&id=12540 [12APR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060331-N-8726C-001 Sigonella, Italy (March 31, 2006) "...Sailors assigned to the “Trident” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) bring in Cmdr. Thomas G. Kollie, Jr's P-3 Orion into the hanger for the last time. Commander of (VP-26) based in Brunswick, Maine, changed hands when Cmdr. Gregory J. Cozad, Jr., relieved Cmdr. Thomas G. Kollie, Jr. The ceremony was held in the squadron's Hangar on board Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment supporting maritime patrol operations, Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class John Collins (Released)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=33251 [07APR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060323-N-8726C-001 Sigonella, Sicily (March 23, 2006) "...Aviation Electrician’s Theodore Sawinko, assigned to Patrol Squadron twenty-six (VP-26), walks the port wing of a P-3C Orion aircraft during post-flight procedures. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=33051 [26MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060217-N-8726C-007 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 17, 2006) "...Lt. j.g. Matt Watson, assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), makes pre-flight checks on his navigation and communication systems. The Tridents are currently taking part in anti-submarine warfare operations in support of Operation Noble Manta. Operation Noble Manta is the largest anti-submarine warfare exercise (ASW) in the world. The eleven-day North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise is designed to improve joint ASW operations between NATO forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEAESD)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=32118 [26MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060217-N-8726C-006 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 17, 2006) "...A Sailor assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), makes last minute adjustments to equipment prior to the launch of a P-3 Orion. The Tridents are currently taking part in anti-submarine warfare operations in support of Operation Noble Manta. Operation Noble Manta is the largest anti-submarine warfare exercise (ASW) in the world. The eleven-day North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise is designed to improve joint ASW operations between NATO forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=32117 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060217-N-8726C-001 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 17, 2006) "...Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Charles Lindsay, assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), load sonar buoys into a P-3 Orion. The Trident combat aircrew flying the P-3 launched sonar buoys during anti-submarine warfare operations in support of Operation Noble Manta. Operation Noble Manta is the largest anti-submarine warfare exercise (ASW) in the world. The eleven-day North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise is designed to improve joint ASW operations between NATO forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=32116 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060202-N-8726C-008 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb 2, 2006) "...A P-3C Orion assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) shown on the flight line prior to night operations at Naval Air Station Sigonella. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate 1ST Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31711 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060202-N-8726C-004 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 2, 2006) "...Aviation Structural Mechanic Airman Kenneth Ruch, assigned to the “Rawhides” of Patrol Squadron Twenty-Six (VP-26), re-threads a hinge to an interior aircraft door for a P-3C Orion. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31708 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060126-N-8228R-585 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 26, 2006) "...Aviation Structural Mechanic 3rd Class Steve Hastey assigned to Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), conducts routine maintenance on a P-3C Orion. VP-26 is currently deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and maritime patrols. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31548 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060116-N-8726C-006 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 16, 2006) "...A Sailor assigned to Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), heads toward a P-3 Orion to put chocks under the aircraft wheels during shut procedures. VP-26 is currently on deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31305 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060115-N-8726C-003 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 15, 2006) "...Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Charles Lindsay, assigned to Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), begins the "stop" signal during recovering operations of a Trident P-3 Orion. VP-26 is currently on deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31298 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060115-N-8726C-001 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 15, 2006) "...Three P-3C Orion aircraft belonging to the Tridents of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) stand ready on a rain soaked airfield on board Naval Air Station Sigonella. Originally designed as a land-based, long-range, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft, the P-3C's mission has evolved in the late 1990s and early 21st century to include surveillance of the battlespace, either at sea or over land. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment supporting maritime patrol operations and the Global War on Terror. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31248 [04MAR2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060112-N-8726C-001 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 12, 2006) "...Sailors assigned the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) head back to the hanger after conducting a pre-flight checks on a P-3C Orion. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31174 [14JAN2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060112-N-8726C-004 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 12, 2006) "...Airman Christina Murphy, assigned the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) removes over wing plugs from the number three engine nacelle during pre-flight checks on a P-3C Orion. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class John Collins (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31175 [14JAN2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060102-N-8228R-360 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 2, 2006) "...Aviation Electrician's Mate Airman Thaddeus Greene assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) work to repair an auxiliary power unit (APU). VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jonathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31041 [14JAN2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060102-N-8228R-427 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 2, 2006) "...Aviation Electrician's Technician 1st Class William Cockshutt, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) removes a wing tip from a P-3C Orion to check an electronic system. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jonathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31042 [14JAN2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 060102-N-8228R-465 Sigonella, Sicily (Jan. 2, 2006) "...Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Larocque, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), takes hydraulic samples to check for contaminates in the hydraulic service center of a P-3C Orion aircraft. VP-26 is currently on a six-month deployment to Sigonella, Sicily in support of maritime patrol operations and the global war on terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jonathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=31043 [14JAN2006]

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Circa 2005

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 43 years 304,000 hours..." WebSite: Naval Safety Center http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/approach/issues/sepoct05/Mishap-Free.htm [30NOV2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...“Tridents” of CAC-4 Return to Visit Squadron After 37 Years - Story Number: NNS051004-18 - Release Date: 10/4/2005 11:23:00 PM - By Lt. j.g. David Savery, Patrol Squadron 26 Public Affairs..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=20368 [14OCT2005]

NAVAL AIR STATION BRUNSWICK, Maine (NNS) -- The “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, honored six members of the 1968 Combat Air Crew (CAC) 4, Aug. 20.

The reunion brought the CAC-4 veterans together from all over the United States to visit, share stories and reminisce about their adventures in the Navy. This tight-knit group of air crew flew missions in their P-3B Orion aircraft against Russian diesel and nuclear-powered submarines in the North Pacific during the Cold War.

“For diesel submarines, I’ve flown [against] Peruvian and Chilean type 209s, a Chinese Ming, two Japanese subs and a Russian Kilo during my career,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dwayne Burbridge, squadron tactical coordinator (TACCO) and admin officer. “For this veteran Cold-War ‘Trident’ crew, which flew on hundreds of submarines, it would have been just a good week.”

One CAC-4 member present was retired Cmdr. Robert Fant, who spent 56 months in the Hanoi, Vietnam, prison camp. He and recently-deceased Rear Adm. James Stockdale endured some of the worst torture received by the Viet Cong. Despite the horrible conditions, including complete isolation, both men displayed incredible courage and returned home with distinct honor.

“I am always honored to be in his presence. He is truly a great American,” explained VP-26 Command Master Chief CMDCM Aaron Shipley, who worked with Fant as an instructor at the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school.

The veterans, who flew the P-3B, toured a P-3C AIP aircraft and marveled over the improvements and upgrades. The crew sat at their former positional stations, and memories flooded back to them as they recounted stories of missions they once flew.

“The reunion of CAC-4 substantiates the tight bond all ‘Tridents’ enjoy and cements the ‘Once a Trident, always a Trident’ motto,” said Shipley.

Members of the 1968 CAC-4 included retired Rear Adm. P.D. Smith, patrol plane commander; former Lt. Cmdr. Don Lundquist, co-pilot; retired Chief Aviation Machinist's Mate Jim Grover, flight engineer; retired Cmdr. Robert Fant, TACCO; retired Master Chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Jack Moore, acoustic sensor operator; and retired Senior Chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Bill McDonough, radioman/sensor operator.

“It was really a neat thing to see the crew together like this,” said McDonough's wife.

Finally, the group honored “Tridents” reported missing in action at the new squadron ceremonial quarterdeck. This included one VP-26 crew from 1950 and two crews from 1968.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Local military happenings - Wednesday, September 21, 2005..." WebSite: Suffolk News Herald http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/articles/2005/09/22/news/news5.txt [03OCT2005]

-Navy Airman Josh R. Grimes, son of Angel R. and Mike J. Grimes of Suffolk, recently reported for duty with VP-26, NAS Brunswick, Maine.

Grimes is a 2004 graduate of Lakeland High School of Suffolk and joined the Navy in November 2004.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Navy Marine Corps News - Aug 13, 2005 - VP Squadrons - VP-26...VIDEO..." WebSite: Navy News http://www.news.navy.mil/management/videodb/player/video.aspx?ID=5345 [14AUG2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Navy Marine Corps News - Aug 13, 2005 - Active/Reserve Integration - VP-26, VP-30 and VP-92...VIDEO..." WebSite: Navy News http://www.news.navy.mil/management/videodb/player/video.aspx?ID=5344 [14AUG2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050713-N-8228R-354 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 13, 2005) "...Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Lee Ramirez loads empty sonobouys into their carriers after downloading them from a P-3C Orion, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), after a training mission VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26309 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050712-N-8228R-280 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 12, 2005) "...Lt.j.g. Orlando Garcia, center, briefs his Combat Air Crew on their P-3C Orion aircraft's operating area prior to a training mission. The "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26307 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050712-N-8228R-250 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 12, 2005) "...Maintenance personnel assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), conduct system checks on one of their P-3C Orion patrol aircraft prior to a night flight. VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26306 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050711-N-8228R-006 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 12, 2005) "...Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Frank Wilson, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), preflights the engines of a P-3C Orion aircraft prior to a training mission. VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26303 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050711-N-8228R-019 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 12, 2005) "...Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Aaron Unruh, foreground, and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Scott Keating load sonobouys in launch tubes underneath a P-3C Orion, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26). VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26304 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050711-N-8228R-031 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 12, 2005) "...Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Frank Wilson and Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Adam Gladding perform coordinated checks during a preflight check on a P-3C Orion, assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26). VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26305 [26JUL2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 050710-N-8228R-040 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 10, 2005) "...Sailors assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), show their hands during bomb bay operations while Aviation Ordnancemen check the security of the bomb bay door pin on a P-3C Orion aircraft. The hands raised are to assure that no one turns on the hydraulics, which would instantly shut the door, injuring personnel. VP-26 currently has two crews deployed to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, participating in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Johnathan Roark (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy Newsstand http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=26302 [26JUL2005]

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Circa 2004

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Sigonella aircraft aids in rescue of African refugees near Malta - By Jason Chudy, Stars and Stripes - European edition, Thursday, April 15, 2004..." WebSite: Stars and Stips http://www.stripes.com/ [15SEP2008]

The crew of a P-3 Orion patrol aircraft deployed to Sigonella, Sicily, recently aided in the rescue of 39 African refugees packed into an overloaded, 18-foot-long rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea about 70 miles south of Malta.

The 35 Eritreans and four Ethiopeans used a satellite telephone to make a distress call from the boat late Thursday night. The signal was picked up by Maltese authorities, who started to search for the boat and contacted Italian and U.S. military forces for help.

The Navy Orion and an ATL3 Atlantique of the Italian air force’s 41st Stormo — or squadron — joined the search early Friday morning.

The Orion and its 11-member crew, attached to VP-26 of Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, spent 8½ hours searching for the boat, which was located early that afternoon.

With their aircraft low on fuel, the crew dropped a search-and-rescue kit with two life rafts and survival gear to the refugees, then directed Armed Forces Malta Patrol Boat P-51 to the scene before returning to Sigonella.

“We’ve rehearsed doing this but have never gotten to do it,” said mission commander Lt. Cmdr. Chip Barnes. “Overall, it’s a rare occasion to push the SAR kit out the door.”

According to the Malta Times, the P-51 escorted the boat to a maritime base on the island nation. The 34 men, three women and two children were reported by Maltese authorities to be in good health.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Mission Planning and Hangar Flying - by Lt. Christopher M. Barnes/P-3C - Lt. Barnes flies with VP-26..." Naval Safety Center WebSite: http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/approach/vault/articles/2004/0638.htm [04JUN2005]

As part of my flight training and upgrading process my instructors consistently harped on the importance of both mission planning and hangar or "chair" flying but, I never fully grasped their importance until my crew experienced an in-flight malfunction during a mission in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Some argue hangar flying is unnecessary once you are in the groove or when the missions seem relatively straightforward; however, the cornerstone of mission planning and hangar flying is to prepare you for whatever Murphy's Law might have in store. Though NATOPS provides the proven standards for handling malfunctions through emergency procedures, it also makes allowances "for sound judgment and decision-making to account for operational contingencies and considerations when our mission affects the lives of others." This is where hangar flying comes into play.

After three months deployed to the Mediterranean Theater my crew received short-fused orders to reposition to the Fifth Fleet Area of Responsibility. Frantically, we mission planned for our upcoming detachment, employing hangar flying scenarios and drawing on the experience of others and the Commander's Guidance for insight. In less than two months, we would find ourselves drawing tools from this mission planning toolbox over hostile territory.

Tasked to conduct an overnight mission in support of Coalition Forces, my crew mission planned for the event several hours before takeoff, reviewing possible scenarios and malfunctions we might encounter during the flight. Night flying was nothing new but, my crew was far from seasoned on the mission and additional preparation was a must. The mission went off without a hitch until just prior to our off-station when, under a blanket of darkness, our Flight Engineer called out, "Oil Pressure Light on the #4 engine". We immediately checked the oil gauges and noticed: power section oil pressure at zero, reduction gearbox oil pressure at 30 PSI and fluctuating, oil temperature decreasing and no change in oil quantity. The first thing I recalled was our NATOPS verbiage regarding oil pressure malfunctions: "if out of limits, execute the Emergency Shutdown Procedure". Since we were about to check off-station and our aircraft weight was light enough to maintain sufficient altitude above our assigned hard deck, I ordered, "E-Handle #4 engine, HRD not required, Emergency Shutdown Checklist, 1010 TIT on the three operating engines". The copilot began to coordinate a descent with the controllers and I focused on maintaining sufficient airspeed to keep us above the hard deck. The off-duty pilot and flight engineer quickly reviewed NATOPS and calculated stall speed and 3-Engine SHP requirements for each engine in case we had to perform counter threat maneuvers.

With the emergency shutdown checklist complete and the aircraft in a controllable state, I faced a safety-of-flight decision. Do we stay above the hard deck and transit home at 190 knots or descend below the hard deck to gain more airspeed in case we have to evade? Descending would place the aircraft and crew inside the threat envelope and therefore at a greater risk. Fortunately, precious little time was wasted since my crew had discussed just such a scenario in a hangar flying session prior to the mission. Without delay I made the decision to remain at altitude. The fact that our crew performed a hangar flying scenario in advance and that the timing of our malfunction occurred just prior to off-station made me reasonably comfortable with my decision.

My personal experience proves the need for hangar flying, no matter what your platform. P-3C flight station communications and coordination have the potential to become hectic during the conduct of an emergency procedure. Having a plan in place that everyone has discussed in advance alleviates confusion and minimizes mistakes. Hangar flying gives you a relaxed environment that facilitates discussion amongst the crew and gives you an opportunity to obtain answers to questions about your mission without time and asset constraints. I encourage all aviators to conduct thorough mission planning and hangar flying-being prepared for whatever Murphy might throw at you will facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in the decision making process during times of stress and will enable your crews to fly safer and with increased confidence.

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040416-N-5821W-005 Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Sicily (Apr. 16, 2004) "...Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Justin Donohue, assigned to Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), shows Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions a sensor station inside one of the squadron's P-3C Orion aircraft. Senator Sessions and Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss visited NAS Sigonella to tour the base and meet with Sailors. NAS Sigonella provides logistical support for Commander, Sixth Fleet and NATO forces in the Mediterranean area. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Stephen P. Weaver. (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=13417 [04MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040409-N-4179T-001 Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Sicily (Apr. 9, 2004) "...VP-26 Aids in Rescue Near Malta - Story Number: NNS040409-11 - Release Date: 4/9/2004 12:33:00 PM - By Journalist 3rd Class Stephen P. Weaver, Naval Air Station Sigonella Public Affairs..." Navy News Stand http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=12748 [23MAR2005]

Combat Aircrew 4 assigned to Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) pose for a photo following a successful Search and Rescue (SAR) mission off the coast of Malta. About 40 refugees were rescued after the VP-26 aircrew vectored in a Maltese Coast Guard boat to aid in the rescue. The "Tridents" of VP-26 are currently deployed to NAS Sigonella from Brunswick, Maine. NAS Sigonella provides logistical support for Commander, Sixth Fleet and NATO forces in the Mediterranean. U.S. Navy Photo. (RELEASED)

SIGONELLA, Sicily (NNS) -- Members of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 currently deployed to Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella aided in the search and rescue of about 40 people in the Mediterranean April 9.

The black rubber boat, which was said to be packed full of refugees, began taking on water about 65 miles south of the island of Malta. A person aboard the boat with a cell phone called in for assistance and was in communication with the Rescue Coordination Center in Malta.

A VP-26 P-3C Orion Search and Rescue (SAR) Ready crew received the call at 1:45 a.m. April 9 about the situation and took off at 5:30 a.m. An ATL3 Atlantique assigned to the Italian Air Force 41st Stormo also received the call to aid in the search and rescue.

“Someone from the boat used their cell phone and frequently would call the rescue coordination center on Malta to relay information to us and to the Italian plane,” said. Lt. Cmdr. Chip Barnes, mission commander. “We took off and split up the area with the Italian aircraft.”

At about eight and a half hours into the flight, VP-26 Combat Air Crew 4, the “Plug Uglies,” spotted the boat adrift in the Med. “When we found them they were bailing water,” said Barnes. “From then on, we were just talking to the rescue center, trying to vector in a Maltese Coast Guard boat to find them.”

“They were very happy when they saw us,” said Lt. Colby Morgan, plane commander. “They were waving their arms. They were very packed into that little boat.”

The rescue boat was 45 minutes away at this point, and the P-3 was getting low on fuel. “We had one more fly-by left, so we decided, based on the overloaded condition of the boat and the fact they were bailing water, to drop the search-and-rescue kit,” said Barnes. The search-and-rescue kit consists of two life rafts and a survival kit. This was the first time in a few years a VP-26 crew has dropped a kit such as this.

The boat crew’s initial situation was unclear. “We don’t know if maybe they were in another boat that sank, but the boat they were in ran out of gas,” said Morgan.

The members aboard were taken to safety by the Maltese Coast Guard. “The rescue center called on our way back and said their rescue craft had picked them up,” said Lt. Jason Romero, a pilot aboard. “[The Rescue Coordination Center] thanked us and wished us a happy Easter.”

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040308-N-3983C-005 Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Sicily (Mar. 8, 2004) "...Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Nelson Ramos directs a P-3C Orion aircraft assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) as it is towed to a parking spot on the NAS Sigonella flight line. The "Tridents" of VP-26 are currently deployed to NAS Sigonella from Brunswick, Maine. NAS Sigonella provides logistical support for Commander, Sixth Fleet and NATO forces in the Mediterranean area. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Betsi Currence. (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=12605 [04MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040218-N-8228R-023 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 18, 2004) "...An Italian military police officer stands watch as another searches for possible threats to Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) inspection teams boarding a U.S. Navy P-3C Orion aircraft assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), during Exercise Air Brake 04, a multi-lateral aviation interdiction training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea area. The exercise, led by Italy, is part of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a collaborative effort to take active measures against trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The P-3C aircraft and crew assigned to VP-26 are participating in the exercise, along with French and Italian assets, to improve interdiction capabilities and interoperability among the eleven PSI nations. VP-26 is currently deployed to Sigonella, Sicily in support of Commander Task Force 67 (CTF 67), Sixth Fleet, and European Command operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class John Roark. (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=12007 [05MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040218-N-8228R-020 Sigonella, Sicily (Feb. 18, 2004) "...An Italian military police officer boards a U.S Navy P-3C Orion aircraft assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), to ensure the area is safe for the Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) team to search the aircraft for simulated Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD, during Exercise Air Brake 04, a multi-lateral aviation interdiction training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea area. The exercise, led by Italy, is part of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) a collaborative effort to take active measures against trafficking in WMD. The P-3C aircraft and crew assigned to VP-26 are participating in the exercise, along with French and Italian assets, to improve interdiction capabilities and interoperability among the eleven PSI nations. VP-26 is currently deployed to Sigonella, Sicily in support of Commander Task Force 67 (CTF 67), Sixth Fleet, and European Command operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class John Roark. (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=12006 [05MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040218-N-8228R-006 Mediterranean Sea (Feb. 18, 2004) "...An Italian Air Force F-16 fighter intercepts a U.S. Navy P-3C Orion assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), during Exercise Air Brake 04, a multi-lateral aviation interdiction training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. The exercise, led by Italy, is part of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a collaborative effort to take active measures against trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The P-3C patrol aircraft and crew assigned to VP- 26 are participating in the exercise, along with French and Italian assets, to improve interdiction capabilities and interoperability among the eleven PSI nations. VP-26 is currently deployed to Sigonella, Sicily, in support of Commander Task Force Six Seven (CTF 67), Sixth Fleet, and European Command operations. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class John Roark. (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=12005 [05MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: 040619-N-5821W-007 Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily (Jun. 19, 2004) "...Oscar winning actor/producer Michael Douglas descends a ladder after his visit aboard a P-3C Orion assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26,). Douglas, star of movies such as "The American President" and "Wall Street," visited Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella to meet, sign autographs and pose for photos with Sailors and their family members before appearing at the Taormina Film Festival in Taormina, Sicily. VP-26 is currently deployed to NAS Sigonella, and is based in Brunswick, Maine. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Stephen P. Weaver (RELEASED)..." Navy News Stand http://newshome.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=15235 [03MAR2005]

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Circa 2003

A BIT OF HISTORY: "..."Was that a Bald Eagle?" - by ADCS (AW/NAC) Kevin Smith/ P-3C - ADCS (AW/NAC) Kevin Smith is attached to Patrol Squadron 26..." Naval Safety Center WebSite: http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/approach/vault/articles/2003/0607.htm [04JUN2005]

I was scheduled to fly an early morning event as the Instructor Flight Engineer on a pilot check flight. The weather was overcast, 4500 ft ceilings with rain showers expected later that afternoon. Another typical summer day in the "Great State of Maine."

Preflight went without a hitch and we were airborne on time. ATIS reported moderate bird activity just as it had every day this summer, so we discussed the importance of keeping a good VFR scan for birds. There was no traffic in the bounce pattern and it looked like a great day for flying.

All of our work was primarily in the landing pattern conducting multiple simulated 3 engine, 2 engine, and no flap landings. A simple flight for the up-grading pilot, but one that would prove to be a first for all of us.

During our normal landings we noticed birds around the approach end of the runway, but they were remaining clear of the traffic pattern. The grass had recently been mowed, andthe smaller birds were busy catching their meals in the short grass.

Finished with the flight, the student pilot set up for a full stop landing from the right seat. As we rolled short final at 400 ft AGL with flaps at approach, I scanned outside just in time to spot a very large bird right in front of us at the same altitude! I called out the traffic and the Plane Commander (Instructor) took the controls in an attempt to avoid a collision. It was too late, and we hit the bird on our starboard side. We felt and heard a noticeable thump, followed by secondaries on the #4 engine. The shaft horsepower fluxed into the negative range, and the turbine inlet temperature increased by 60-80 degrees C. RPM remained stable and the engine continued to operate. I called these indications out and the Plane Commander made an approach flap full stop landing. I continued to call out engine indications until we came to a full stop. We secured the engine after clearing the runway and taxied back to our line. The entire evolution took no more than two minutes from strike to shut down.

On post flight, the #4 intake was filled with bird remains. It was completely wrapped around the inlet guide vanes. Fortunately, there was no appreciable damage and after engine cleaning the plane was returned to service. Post flight analysis by the base environmental office revealed we struck an Osprey.

Lessons learned:

Scan. Keep your scan moving inside and out. Even if you have good scan practices set up; do not let your guard down.

Surroundings. Get familiar with the birds in your local operating area. We struck an Osprey with a wingspan of approximately 3 feet. Other birds in the area are seagulls, pigeons, crows, hawks, and various types of jays. Know when it is prime feeding time.

Bottom line, expect the unexpected, and have a plan at all times when flying. It is a recipe for success.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "30OCT2003...VP-26 hosts POW/MIA ceremony - By:NC1 (AW/SW) Steven L. Rothert and AM1 (AW) Daniel B. Wagner, Photo by PHAN Jared W. Thurber, VP-26..." WebSite: The Dolphin http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10426675&BRD=1659&PAG=461&dept_id=8103&rfi=6 [03DEC2005]

Spotlight

NAS Brunswick, Maine - Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26) commemorated the missing crew of "HB 7" in a solemn POW/MIA ceremony Sept. 19.

Following an old maritime tradition, PN1 Corbett struck a ship's bell once as CMDCM (AW/SW/NAC) Aaron Shipley, VP-26 command master chief, read the name of each missing crewmember. A small table, set with symbols of grief and a solitary empty chair, represented missing crewmembers.

Retired Cmdr. Bob Fant honored the squadron as the guest speaker.

Fant received his wings in 1965 as a Naval Flight Officer and was assigned to VP-26. Following his tour at VP-26, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 102 aboard USS America (CV-66). While serving aboard the America in the Gulf of Tonkin, he was shot down in July of 1968 during his 52nd combat mission. The North Vietnamese immediately captured him and held him captive for four years and eight months, before finally releasing him in March 1973. Fant enriched each Sailor's perspective of the words "support and defend" and "true faith and allegiance" through his own accounts and experiences. The details of his survival as a prisoner of war became a tribute to those of those who didn't return.

AM2 (AW) Daniel Bogacki said of the ceremony, "It really revealed a new perspective of what some of our shipmates had to endure to protect my freedom."

"His experience brought home to me the reality of war," added YN3 (AW) Leandra Fernandez, "and the important role that the family plays in the emotional survival of a POW. If I were captured, it would be thoughts of my immediate family that would give me faith to endure."

On April 8, 1950, a VP-26 plane, a PB4Y-2 designated HB 7, took off from Wiesbaden Air Base, West Germany. Their primary mission was to record and analyze the signals of Soviet radars and electronic equipment. At 5:39 p.m., the "Privateer" was intercepted by four Soviet "La-11" fighters while flying over the Baltic Sea, south of Liepaja, Latvia. Encircling HB 7, the two lead fighters rocked their wings and turned to the left, signaling the Privateer to follow them back to Latvia. Hoping to evade the Soviet fighters, HB 7 turned sharply to the right and initiated a descent into the clouds. The Soviet group leader reacted by firing a warning burst parallel to the Privateer. Claiming the U.S. plane had returned fire, the Soviets again targeted the PB4Y-2, striking a fatal blow and sending the burning aircraft into a dense cloud layer below. This incident caused the crew of four officers and six enlisted men to become the first casualties of the Cold War.

On April 9, 1951, one year and a day after the incident, the U.S. government declared all 10 men "presumed dead" and posthumously awarded them the Distinguished Flying Cross. Fifty-three years later, the entire crew remains missing and now carries the status of "unaccounted for."

Today, on the Baltic coast, a limestone monument exists in memory of the missing crew. Standing atop the monument is a bronze statue of a mother shielding her eyes in vain, as she gazes towards the sea in an effort to find her missing Sailors. She has patiently waited for over 53 years for the story to be told, and for her brave sons' sacrifice to be recognized.

In the concluding moments of the ceremony, representatives of the VP-26 First Class Petty Officers' Association presented framed artwork to Cmdr. Mathew J. Carter, VP 26 commanding officer. The artwork, created from charcoal rubbings of the HB 7 crewmembers' names etched into the Latvian Memorial, is a solemn reminder of the sacrifices of our fallen patriots. The memorial is displayed on Team "Trident's" quarterdeck.

Those lost were: Lt. John H. Fette, USNR; Lt. Howard W. Seeschaf; Lt. j.g. Robert D. Reynolds; Ensign Tommy L. Burgess; AD1 Joe H. Danens; AD1 Jack W. Thomas; AE1 Frank L. Beckman; CT3 Edward J. Purcell; AT3 Joseph N. Rinnier and AT3 Joseph J. Bourassa.

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "08JAN2003...030108-N-7171K-003 Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland (Jan. 8, 2003) -- Aviation Machinist’s Mate Airman Casey Demarse uses a fire hose to wash down the wing of a P-3C “Orion” assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), during an aircraft wash down in one of the Naval Station hangar facilities. Aircraft are washed every 28 days as part of preventative maintenance and corrosion control schedule. VP-26 is currently on deployment providing maritime reconnaissance in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Catherine R. Kee. (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.news.navy.mil/ [22FEB2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "08JAN2003...030108-N-7171K-005 Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland (Jan. 8, 2003) -- Aviation Machinist’s Mate Airman Casey Demarse scrubs the wing of a P-3 “Orion” assigned to the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), during an aircraft wash down in one of the Naval Station hangar facilities. Aircraft are washed every 28 days as part of preventative maintenance and corrosion control schedule. VP-26 is currently on deployment providing maritime reconnaissance in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Catherine R. Kee. (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.news.navy.mil/ [22FEB2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "08JAN2003...030108-N-7171K-001 Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland (Jan. 8, 2003) -- Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Micheal Olver cleans the tire rims on a P-3C “Orion” assigned to the "Tridents" of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26), during an aircraft wash down in one of the Naval Station hangar facilities. Aircraft are washed every 28 days as part of preventative maintenance and corrosion control schedule. VP-26 is currently on deployment providing maritime reconnaissance in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Catherine R. Kee. (RELEASED)..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.news.navy.mil/ [22FEB2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "27JAN2003...VP-26 Celebrates Successful Deployment - Story Number: NNS030127-18 - Release Date: 1/27/2003 4:14:00 PM...http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=5545..." WebSite: Navy NewsStand http://www.news.navy.mil/ [22FEB2003]

VP-26 Celebrates Successful Deployment
Story Number: NNS030127-18
Release Date: 1/27/2003 4:14:00 PM
By Journalist 3rd Class Landon Mason, Naval Air Station Keflavik Public Affairs

KEFLAVIK, Iceland (NNS) -- After obtaining $1.08 billion in drug seizures, logging more than 4,500 flight hours and collecting 17,000 toys for children in Ecuador on a six-month deployment, the Sailors of Fleet Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 are getting ready to head home.

For the deployment, one VP-26 detachment traveled to Naval Station Roosevelt Roads (NSRR), while the main body of the squadron deployed to Keflavík, Iceland.

"Between us and the rest of the squadron, we've flown over the Mediterranean, Caribbean, El Salvador and South America," said Lt. j.g. Carolyn Holloway, a pilot with VP-26. "It's been an interesting challenge."

Between missions, the Sailors of VP-26 participated in the NSRR Adopt-a-Grade program and worked to give some families in Ecuador a Merry Christmas.

"Along with the 17,000 toys, we provided 800 outfits for families and 25 car packages, which included toys, diapers, washcloths, bed linens and the like, for students at the Institute of Special Education in Manta, Ecuador, and also for families visiting their children at the pediatric ward at one of the hospitals in Ecuador," Holloway said.

While many of the Sailors say they had a great time, going home is a beautiful thing.

"I had a great time down here," said Yeoman Seaman Abel Espinal. "I learned a lot about my job and about myself. Now I'm just anxious to get home and see my family."

VP-26 will return home to Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, in February. VP-5 from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., will relieve them.

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Circa 2002

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Team ‘Trident’ surpasses 40-year Safety Milestone By LTjg Chris Barnes - August 22nd, 2002...http://www.flagshipnews.com/archives_2002/aug222002_20.shtml..." [19JUN2003]

The “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 have been setting the standard in aviation safety for a long time and the Federal Aviation Administration recognized VP-26 as the safest organization throughout the entire spectrum of military and civilian aviation. On Aug. 8, team Trident surpassed a 40-year milestone for mishap free flying, having flown more than 290,000 hours without a “Class A” mishap.

The beginning of each safety record can be traced back to a single incident. For VP-26, that incident occurred with the loss of a P2E Neptune to a fire and explosion during a ground maintenance turn Aug. 4, 1962. The causal factor listed in the safety report is “the main primer line of the impeller section was improperly connected.” Fortunately, no deaths or injuries resulted.

The squadron’s safety record is based on the training and skill of flight crews, and equally, on the professionalism and vigilance of ground crews who maintain the aircraft. When Cmdr. Sean Buck became the commanding officer of VP-26 in March, his first goal during the inter-deployment training cycle was to “conduct ground and flight operations safely.” From the front office to the most junior airman, a vigilant safety culture thrives in VP-26, allowing Team Trident to execute their plan flawlessly and uphold their long-standing tradition of “safety first” operations.

Sustaining this safety legacy requires constant attention to detail, “by the book” maintenance practices, and strict adherence to procedures. The safety record of VP-26 is the direct result of the diligence of more than 5,300 current and former Tridents, who “did it right the first time” and took appropriate action each time something did not “look right,” according to Buck.

VP-26’s safety program remains the epitome of a proactive aviation safety program. Safety-related issues are thoroughly evaluated and regularly re-examined by the enlisted safety committee and officer safety council. Safety is not confined to the hangar. Tridents take their “safety first” mind set and reapply it each day in their work centers and at their homes. Safety training has been integrated into each work center’s training syllabus.

Knowledge gained through the training “pipeline” and at other commands is validated in accordance with current published standards. Published procedures are subjected to rigorous operational readiness management based scrutiny to discover mishap potential and to initiate corrective action. The use of standardized briefs prior to all aircraft moves and ground engine turns as well as preflight operational risk management checklists allow air crew to assess increased mishap vulnerability and to be proactive in their prevention. VP-26’s Maintenance Department implemented ORM checklists at the maintenance control and individual work center level, further strengthening each link in the command safety chain.

Every member of VP-26, past and present, takes tremendous pride in their long-standing safety records. Their pride carries over in their excellence in the aircraft and on the ground. Congratulations to all the hard-working men and women of VP-26 for a job very well done.

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Circa 2001

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Technician goes above and beyond - March 1, 2001..." WebSite: DC Military - Tester http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/tester/6_09/local_news/5331-1.html [12DEC2005]

"We support the fleet." It's a motto that most of us take for granted. Not so for AT1(AW/NAC) Allen Claflin of Naval Force Aircraft Test Squadron Orion Test Team Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP) Projects Office.

Claflin is currently accompanying VP-26, homeport NAS Brunswick, Maine, on its six-month deployment to NAS Sigonella, Sicily. Recent fleet manpower shortages in the in-flight technician community required VP-26 to send out the call for volunteers to assist them on their operational deployment cycle this year.

Cmdr. Robert Adrion, VP-26's commanding officer, welcomes Claflin with open arms. "His in-depth knowledge of AIP systems will bring a lot to the fight during our deployment to the Mediterranean area of responsibility," Adrion said.

Claflin is quoted as saying "Having a Force representative on deployment with an operational squadron is a win-win for us at Force, the deploying squadron and the fleet. We at the AIP Program office will be able to gather raw data on how our AIP equipment is performing under operational conditions."

The Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program is the latest in avionics improvements for the venerable P-3 Orion. The communications, surveillance and data handling capability of AIP allows the P-3 to better integrate with other air, ground and surface units. Many of these systems have already been used in support of various missions around the globe. Currently, VP-26 is performing traditional maritime fleet support in the Adriatic and Mediterranean as well as supporting operations Joint Guardian over Kosovo and Determined Forge over Bosnia, all with "AIP Onboard."

In the months to come, Claflin will be flying with VP-26's Combat Aircrew 11. Having done a previous Mediterranean deployment with the "Mad Foxes" of VP-5 in 1998-99 and returning again in 1999 to augment VP-10 during the Kosovo Air Campaign, Claflin not only brings operational experience, but also a wealth of knowledge and technical ability in dealing with the latest in AIP systems. During his current assignment to the AIP Projects Office, Claflin has worked on some of the latest in avionics technology as well as assisting with the testing and delivery of AIP production aircraft to a number of fleet squadrons.

(Submitted by Force)

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Remembering three aircrews - Wings of Gold, Spring 2001 by Wagner, Daniel..." http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3834/is_200104/ai_n8946441 [28MAR2005]

At VP-26's March 2001 change of command, departing CO, CDR Robert Adrion,recognized three lost Trident aircrews with a mural on a hangar wall featuring three diamonds (see photo). The first of the crews honored was lost in April 1950 in a PB5Y which launched from Wiesbaden AB, West Germany on a "Ferret" reconnaissance flight over the Baltic Sea. Intercepted by four Soviet La-11 fighters off the coast of Latvia the PB4Y refused the Soviet's "follow me" commands and was shot down, becoming the first publicized shoot-down of the Cold War. Some aircrewmembers survived the crash. Subsequent reports indicated they were incarcerated by the Soviets but their fate remains uncertain and today Russia contends no Americans are currently being held against their will within the borders of the former Soviet Union.

Shortly after midnight on February 6th, 1968 a VP-26 P-3B was lost off the South Vietnam coast while on a "Market Time patrol mission. There were no survivors. Two months later, on April 1st, 1968, in the same vicinity, a second P-3B came under .50 caliber fire. The number four engine was knocked out and a fire started. Attempts to extinguish the fire failed and being too low to bail out, the crew tried to make it to an airfield 20 miles away. Within sight of the runwway, the starboard wing tore off between the number three and number four engine and the aircraft tumbled into the sea. There were no survivors.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 tridents in Latvia - Wings of Gold, Summer 2001 by Jamiola, Don, Wagner, Daniel..." http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3834/is_200107/ai_n8995447 [28MAR2005]

Fleet Squadron Report

The wind was blowing gently from the sea, and in the distance, the sound of waves crashing and church bells ringing could be heard as 23 Sailors in dress blues stood proudly at attention on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Their executive officer laid a wreath of yellow flowers at the base of a tall memorial dedicated to 10 fellow shipmates, aircrewmen from VP-26 who had taken off on a routine surveillance mission over 51 years ago, never to return.

On April 8th, 1950, a four-engine VP-26 PB4Y-2 Privateer designated "HB7" launched from Wiesbaden Air Base, West Germany. At 1724 hrs, four La-11 fighters took off from a small airfield in Soviet occupied Latvia. The fighters intercepted the Privateer at 1739 hrs, 8km south of Liepaja, Latvia, at just over 12,000 feet above the Baltic. Bracketing HB7, the two lead aircraft rocked their wings and turned to the left, signaling the Privateer to follow them to Latvia. Hoping to escape the Soviet fighters the American plane turned sharply to the right and descended toward clouds. The two trailing fighters opened fire on the Privateer, sending it burning into the sea.

SAR efforts started almost immediately after the plane was reported missing and continued for eight days. Even with 26 aircraft searching over 60,000 square miles of the Baltic Sea, no survivors or remains were recovered. The crew of four officers and six enlisted were thus presumed dead, the first casualties of the Cold War. All were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Latvia declared its independence in 1991. In the spirit of good will, the citizens of Liepaja and sailors from the Latvian Navy unveiled a memorial bronze plaque honoring those aircrewmen lost many years before. It is inscribed with the names of VP-26's Privateer crew and was placed on the Latvian monument which is dedicated to all sailors and fishermen lost at sea.

VP-26 was deployed to NAS Sigonella, Sicily when members learned of the memorial and became interested in visiting it. AM1 Wagner, the squadron's primary researcher of the 1950 incident, was a key player. Plans for the trip developed, involving Latvian citizens, the Latvian Navy, and especially the US. Embassy. Consequently, VP-26's Combat Aircrew Two and selected personnel flew to Riga, Latvia for the visit from April 7-9, 2001.

The group traveled by bus to Liepaja, a coastal town near the site of the shootdown. Dr. James Connell and RADM (Ret.) Boris Novyy of the U.S.-- Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, journeyed with VP-26 for the ceremony and informed the Tridents the investigation into the missing aircrewmen is ongoing. The memorial was breathtaking and the 51st anniversary ceremony inspiring.

The monument stands over 30 feet tall and is topped with a bronze statue of a woman peering out over the Baltic Sea, eternally searching for lost mariners. A large local crowd gathered for the event. Remarks included those by the Latvian Navy CNO, RADM Zeibolts, and CDR Sean Buck, VP-26 XO, who placed a large wreath of yellow carnations at the center of other bouquets. The wreath was augmented by two ribbons, one inscribed with "In memory of lost Tridents," and the other stating "Team Trident. Once a Trident, always a Trident." Other VP-26 squadron members proceeded one at a time to the monument, placing a single yellow rose at the base of the monument and saluting sharply. Squadron plaques were then presented to the citizens of Liepaja and the Latvian Navy in gratitude for their participation in honoring the lost Navy men.

VP-26's visit to the Latvian memorial will serve as a reminder to present and future Tridents of the importance in remembering and honoring those who went before them in the line of duty.

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "...The chief petty officers of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 donned old uniforms to represent the early P-3 Navy as a farewell present for their commanding officer. Photo by PH2(NAC) Lynn Friant..." WebSite: ALL HANDS - October 2001 http://www.mediacen.navy.mil/pubs/allhands/oct01/pg1.htm [22FEB2003]

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Circa 1998

A BIT OF HISTORY: ID: DNSD0308753 - 980717N8955H001 "...Copilot Lieutenant Erik McCarty (right) and Flight Engineer, Aviation Machinist's Mate Chief Mike Lammey, both assigned to Patrol Squadron TWO SIX (VP-26), watch a Maverick missile being fired from their P-3 Orion aircraft. VP-26 is currently deployed to NAS Sigonella, Sicily, Italy. Camera Operator: PH2 NOVIA HARRINGTON, USN Date Shot: 17 Jul 1998..." WebSite: Defense Visual Information Center http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/ [03FEB2006]

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Circa 1996

A BIT OF HISTORY: KefTacEx 96 "...All of the participants in KefTacEx 96 lined up on the transient ramp at NAS Keflavik, Iceland..." Contributed by Baldur Sveinsson BALDUR@verslo.is WebSite: http://www.verslo.is/baldur/ [24DEC2006]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "20OCT96--U.S. Air Force, Navy join to rescue Japanese crewmember. The U.S. Air Force 56th Rescue Squadron and U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 26 rescued a Japanese citizen 24 Oct. after the Icelandic Coast Guard requested assistance from the Keflavik Joint Rescue Coordination Center the day before. The man, who was suffering from internal bleeding and gastric ulcers, was aboard the M/V Shinmie Maru, 768 kilometers/480 miles south of Iceland and outside the Coast Guard's range. Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters launched from the station at 1630 and were refueled by an HC-130 series Hercules. Upon reaching the ship, 30-knot winds and high seas prevented them from hoisting the man aboard, and an attempt was postponed until the next day. During the night, the ship moved to within 320 kilometers/200 miles of Iceland. A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion embarked a Japanese translator assigned to the 85th Security Police Squadron at Keflavik..."http://cellini.leonardo.net/berri/wun/newsletter/v2/n11/military.html

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...01MAR66: BRUNSWICK, Maine (NWSA) -- Patrol Squadron (VP) 26, stationed in Brunswick, Maine, recently marked 250,000 flight hours and more than 33 years without an accident. Thirty-three years and a quarter million flight hours is the greatest aviation safety record of any organization, civilian or military, according to statisticians from the Federal Aviation Administration. The squadron flies P-3C "Orion" aircraft, one of the oldest in the military inventory. P-3C aircraft, a military version of the popular four-engine Lockheed "Electra" airliner of the 1950s, began service with the Navy in the early 1960s. With updated engines and state-of-the-art electronics equipment, the venerable aircraft is still the Navy's primary maritime patrol aircraft. VP-26 predates WWII and has a rich history of involvement in worldwide events during the 20th century. VP-26 was the first squadron into Tokyo Bay at the end of WWII and was one of the most recent to return from operations in Bosnia.." http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/navywire/nwsa96/nwsa0301.txt

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Circa 1995

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Deployments, Change-Of-Command, Awards, Records, Etc. - Naval Aviation News - July - August 1995.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1995/ja95.pdf [12NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards - Naval Aviation News - May - June 1995.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1995/mj95.pdf [12NOV2004]

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Circa 1994

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards, Major Deployments, Etc. - Naval Aviation News - July - August 1994.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1994/ja94.pdf [12NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards, Records, Etc. - Naval Aviation News - May - June 1994.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1994/mj94.pdf [12NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...02MAR94 - NNS139. Orions Ride a Maverick..." http://138.147.50.50/navpalib/news/navnews/nns94/nns94013.txt [09JUL2003]

SIGONELLA, Sicily (NNS) -- In the midst of an early morning on January 28, two P-3c "Orions" of Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26) took off from NAS Sigonella, Sicily, on a seek and destroy mission. The target was an ex-German World War II coastal freighter anchored off the coast of Sardinia. Armed with AGM-65F "Maverick" missiles, the Orions flew in formation toward the target. The ship was spotted and they locked on target. The missiles were fired. Scratch one freighter.

"This was a historical event because it was the first Maverick warshot from a P-3," said LT Chris Ramsden, VP-26 tactical coordinator who targeted the missile and locked it on target. "It is nice to know that we now have such a great ability for surface combat air patrol (SUCAP). The P-3 is an excellent SUCAP platform with its extremely long on-station capability." Some of the missions carried out by the P-3 are maritime patrol and surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and drug interdiction.

With the addition of the Maverick, VP-26 acquired a new weapon for the operation "Sharp Guard" arsenal. The Maverick is an infrared surface-to-ship missile.

The ship was fired upon afterward by the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford (DD 968) and then later sunk by an explosive ordnance demolition (EOD) team. Courtesy NAVEUR News.

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Circa 1993

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 29 DEC 93 - NAVNEWS 088/93 - Behind-Scenes, Navy Aviators Keep Eye on Embargo Cheaters..." [27MAR2005]

NAS Sigonella, Sicily -- While the media spotlight continues to focus on the humanitarian airdrops over Bosnia, another group of U.S. aviators has been working in relative obscurity in support of U.N. policy in the Balkans.

Navy aircrews from NAS Sigonella, Sicily have flown missions day and night for more than a year as part of Operation Sharp Guard, a Naval embargo imposed by the United Nations against Serbian-led Yugoslavia.

"We keep an eye on everything in general and pass information on to the surface ships who do the boarding and direct monitoring," LT Chris Ramsden said.

Ramsden is a member of Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26), the U.S. maritime patrol unit currently participating with similar units from eight other NATO nations in Sharp Guard.

Now about halfway through a six-month deployment to NAS Sigonella, Sicily, from their home base at NAS Brunswick, Maine, VP-26 aircrews have flown more than 100 Sharp Guard sorties.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Change-Of-Command, Records, Etc. - Naval Aviation News - November - December 1993.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1993/nd93.pdf [12NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP Deployments, Change-Of-Command, Etc. - Naval Aviation News - July - August 1993.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1993/ja93.pdf [12NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "28DEC93--SIGONELLA, ITALY (NENS) -- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1993 MARKED ANOTHER MILESTONE IN MARITIME PATROL OPERATIONS AS THE MEN AND WOMEN OF VP-26 CONDUCTED THEIR 100TH AGM-65F MAVERICK MISSILE LOAD." http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/eurnews/eur94/eur94002.txt

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Circa 1991

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...The Pacific Neutrality Patrol - Naval Aviation News - September-October 1991..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1991/so91.pdf [24OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...1990 Patrol Squadron Major Deployments - Page 19 - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1991..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1991/ja91.pdf [23OCT2004]

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Circa 1992

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Change-Of-Command, Safe Flying, etc. - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1992.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1992/ja92.pdf [11NOV2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Squadron Deployments, Operations Desert Shield/Storm, Disestablishment, etc. - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1992.." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1992/ja92.pdf [11NOV2004]

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Circa 1990

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 4, 6 and 34 - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1990..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1990/ja90.pdf [22OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History and Change-Of-Command - Page 6, 29 and 31 - Naval Aviation News - May-June 1990..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1990s/1990/mj90.pdf [22OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Records Safe Flying Time - VP-26: 217,000 hours and 27 years...." Naval Aviation News July-August 1990 Page 32 [10JUL2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Change of Command - VP-26: CDR Kenneth W. Peters relieved CDR Edward C. Wallace..." Naval Aviation News July-August 1990 Page 34 [10JUL2001]

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Circa 1989

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 29, 31 and 33 - Naval Aviation News - November-December 1989..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1989/nd89.pdf [22OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards - Change-Of-Command - Page 26, 29, and 31 - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1989..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1989/ja89.pdf [22OCT2004]

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Circa 1987

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 29 to 31 - Naval Aviation News - July-August 1987..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1987/ja87.pdf [20OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Tracing Squadron Lineage - Page 22 to 26 - Naval Aviation News - January-February 1987..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1987/jf87.pdf [20OCT2004]

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Circa 1985

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) - P-3 Orions from VP-5, VP-8, VP-24, VP-26 and VP-56..." WebSite: It's Your History http://www.its-your-history.com/USS_John_F__Kennedy__CVA-67.383.0.html [25OCT2005]

Underway again on 9 December 1985 for fleet carquals, John F. Kennedy completed tracking exercises for her CIWS and Sea Sparrow systems, cross-decked people from VP-8, VP-24, and VP-26, and qualified pilots from VA-42 and VA-174, VMA(AW)-533, and CVW-3. Beginning two days later, the ship conducted ASW exercises with L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686) and Archerfish (SSN-678) (11-12 December); P-3 Orions from VP-5, VP-24, and VP-56, assisted by the frigate Bowen (FF-1079) generated 51 hours of contact and 30 simulated attacks. A brief visit (13 December) to Mayport preceded the ship’s completing the surface ship torpedo defense system (16 December), after which (19 December), John F. Kennedy returned to Norfolk.

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Circa 1984

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 1, 11 and 30 - Naval Aviation News - November-December 1984..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1984/nd84.pdf [17OCT2004]

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Circa 1983

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 29 - Naval Aviation News - November-December 1983..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1983/nd83.pdf [17OCT2004]

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Circa 1982

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 5, 44 and 45 - Naval Aviation News - December 1982..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1982/dec82.pdf [16OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 44, 45 and 46 - Naval Aviation News - August 1982..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1982/aug82.pdf [15OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...P-3 Orion Twenty Years Young - Page 14 to 18 - Naval Aviation News - August 1982..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1982/aug82.pdf [15OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards - Change-Of-Command - Page 2, 44 and 46 - Naval Aviation News - July 1982..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1982/jul82.pdf [15OCT2004]

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Circa 1981

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Awards - Records - Change-Of-Command - Page 28 to 30 - Naval Aviation News - December 1981..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1981/dec81.pdf [14OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Change-Of-Command - Page 48 - Naval Aviation News - September 1981..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1981/sep81.pdf [14OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 39 to 41 - Naval Aviation News - June 1981..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1981/jun81.pdf [13OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Strangers In Paradise - Page 21 to 23 - Naval Aviation News - June 1981..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1981/jun81.pdf [13OCT2004]

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Circa 1980

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Records - Change-Of-Command - Page 30 - Naval Aviation News - December 1980..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1980/dec80.pdf [12OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 3 and 30 - Naval Aviation News - July 1980..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1980/jul80.pdf [11OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Records - Change-Of-Command - Page 24 and 32 - Naval Aviation News - February 1980..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1980s/1980/feb80.pdf [11OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Nose Art "...Nose art from Lockheed factory. Delivered to VP-26, early 1980, NAS Brunswick, Maine. Not sure of the BUNO - 161010 possibly? LK 01? Photo by AMH1 Ronald Sharpe, FE..." Contributed by SHARP, AMH1 Ronald nadep8251@yahoo.com [25MAR2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Nose Art "...VP-26, LK 7, NS Roosevelt Roads, PR Flight Line, January 25 1980, for harpoon shot, CAC 1. Photo by AMH1 Ronald Sharpe, FE..." Contributed by SHARP, AMH1 Ronald nadep8251@yahoo.com [25MAR2003]

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Circa 1979

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 - Page 36 - Naval Aviation News - July 1979..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1979/jul79.pdf [10OCT2004]

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Circa 1978

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Change-Of-Command - Page 31 and 33 - Naval Aviation News - October 1978..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1978/oct78.pdf [09OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...History - Awards - Page 4, 5 and 31 - Naval Aviation News - July 1978..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1978/jul78.pdf [09OCT2004]

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Circa 1976

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Great Balls Of Fire! - Page 24 to 25 - Naval Aviation News - August 1976..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1976/aug76.pdf [06OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 - Page 26 - Naval Aviation News - January 1976..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1976/jan76.pdf [05OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Training - Page 31 - Naval Aviation News - January 1976..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1976/jan76.pdf [05OCT2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "...Here is a picture from 1976 of a team loading a VP-26 plane for practice flights. Can anyone identify the team members?..." Contributed by SIMON, AO2 Stephen stsimon@adelphia.net [22SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "1975--Excellence in Air Antisubmarine Warfare...Patrol Squadron Twenty Six was selected the 1976 winner of the Captain Arnold J. Isbell Trophy for Airborne Antisubmarine Warfare Excellence..." Contributed by Roger Schorr mgb74coop@hotmail.com [26JUN98]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "1976--Outstanding Aircraft Maintenance Award...Patrol Squadron Twenty Six was selected the 1976 winner of the Chief of Naval Operations Aircraft Maintenance Award for Patrol Squadrons...NOTE: They didn't really enjoy giving Golden Wrenches to AW's since all the techs were frightened to death when they saw us with a screwdriver - all the training we received was BE&E - we were "Operators" only!" Contributed by Roger Schorr mgb74coop@hotmail.com [26JUN98]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "1976--Excellence in Air Antisubmarine Warfare...Patrol Squadron Twenty Six was selected the 1976 winner of the Captain Arnold Jay Isbell Trophy for Airborne Antisubmarine Warfare Excellence..." Contributed by Roger Schorr mgb74coop@hotmail.com [26JUN98]

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Circa 1972

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Aviation Safety Awards Announced - Page 3 - Naval Aviation News - November 1972..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1972/nov72.pdf [27SEP2004]

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Circa 1971

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...On Patrol - Page 19 - Naval Aviation News - June 1971..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1970s/1971/jun71.pdf [23SEP2004]

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Circa 1968

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...NavAirLant E's Are Announced - Page 2 - Naval Aviation News - October 1968..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1968/oct68.pdf [15SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...On Patrol - Page 30 to 31 - Naval Aviation News - September 1968..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1968/sep68.pdf [15SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...On Patrol - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - January 1968..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1968/jan68.pdf [14SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Squadron Awards..." Contributed by Mahlon K. Miller mkwsmiller@cox.net [23APR2001]

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
01 Jan 68 – 28 Feb 68

Armed Forces Service Medal
04 Sep 96 – 01 Nov 96
10 Feb 98 – 01 Aug 98

Joint Meritorious Unit Award
10 Nov 90 – 05 Apr 91
06 Apr 91 – 05 May 91
13 Aug 91 – 11 Oct 91
01 Jan 97 – 31 Jan 97

Meritorious Unit Commendation
09 Sep 70 – 31 Oct 70
01 Jul 76 – 30 Jun 77
01 Oct 77 – 30 Sep 78
21 Sep 87 – 10 May 88
02 Jun 89 – 10 Dec 89
10 May 92 – 10 Nov 92
17 Sep 93 – 20 Feb 94
10 Aug 96 – 10 Feb 97

Navy “E” Ribbon (Battle “E”)
01 Jan 88 – 31 Dec 88
01 Jan 89 –31 Dec 89
01 Jan 96 – 31 Dec 96

Navy Unit Commendation
01 Jan 67 – 31 Mar 68
16 Sep 69 – 07 Nov 69

SECNAV Letter of Commendation
24 Jan 95 – 21 Jul 95
02 Aug 99 – 08 Feb 00

VP-26 Det OF

Meritorious Unit Commendation
11 Jan 76 – 30 Jan 76

VP-26 Participating Aircrew

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
01 Sep 93 – 31 Jan 94

Navy Expeditionary Service Medal
15 Jan 80 – 30 Sep 80

VP-26 Special Det

Meritorious Unit Commendation
18 Sep 78 – 23 Sep 78

VP-26 Special Projects Det

Meritorious Unit Commendation
16 Mar 79 – 12 Apr 79

VP-2644

Humanitarian Service Medal
15 Jun 80 – 27 Jun 80

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Circa 1967

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings - Page 28 - Naval Aviation News - October 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/oct67.pdf [12SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - September 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/sep67.pdf [12SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings On Patrol - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - August 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/aug67.pdf [11SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings On Patrol - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - June 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/jun67.pdf [10SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings On Patrol - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - March 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/mar67.pdf [08SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Squadron Insignia - Naval Aviation News - January 1967..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1967/jan67.pdf [08SEP2004]

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Circa 1966

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Fleet Air Wings On Patrol - Page 28 to 29 - Naval Aviation News - August 1966..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1966/aug66.pdf

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...On Patrol With Fleet Air Wings - Page 22 to 23 - Naval Aviation News - April 1966..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1966/apr66.pdf [05SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Atlantic Air Wings On Patrol - Page 32 to 33 - Naval Aviation News - January 1966..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1966/jan66.pdf [04SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Late 1966 Crew 10...taken from P-3B on patrol from NAF Lajes, Azores, Portugal to NS Rota, Spain. Intercepted by VF-31 (VF-31 Tomcatters http://www.topedge.com/panels/aircraft/sites/lair/history/vf-31.html) ...don't know which carrier..." Andy Monks MonksA@NAVONT3.NAVO.NAVY.MIL

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Circa 1965

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Selective Air Reserve - Page 26 to 27 - Naval Aviation News - July 1965..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1965/jul65.pdf [01SEP2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...On Patrol With Atlantic Air Wings - Page 26 to 27 - Naval Aviation News - March 1965..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1965/mar65.pdf [31AUG2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...TRIDENTS in the Vietnam War - Recollections from a Generation Ago - by A. Scott Wilson, LT USN, Patrol Squadron Twenty-Six, NAS Brunswick ME, June 1965 through May 1968..." Contributed by A. Scott Wilson ASCTWILSON@aol.com [31OCT98]

TRIDENTS in the Vietnam War
Recollections from a Generation Ago
by
A. Scott Wilson
LT USN, Patrol Squadron Twenty-Six, NAS Brunswick ME
June 1965 through May 1968

As a former pilot in VP-26, I was proud to hear about the safety milestone reached by the "Trident" squadron in 1996, namely 250,000 accident free flight hours over 33 years. The early years of than run go way back to when we still flew P2V-5s, and I was part of it. My 1500 flight hours with the Squadron were logged during the period when we transitioned from the oldest Neptunes in the active fleet to the newest Orions, the P3B model. Now I have extra reason to be proud of that record setting achievement, since my son, Lt. Gordon Wilson, was one of the Trident pilots who helped fill it out.But the news of that safety record raised some questions and stirred up vivid memories,... What about the two planes we lost during the Vietnam War? Apparently, they are considered combat losses and not included in the accident statistics. Still it bothers me that not much has been recorded about the circumstances surrounding those incidents,... nor, for that matter, about the Squadron's operations during that fateful six month period. I was a contemporary participant in those events. And as it happened, I was as close as anyone to both the losses we incurred,... just one sortie removed in each case. The direct cause of the first was somewhat obscure, but the next was a clear shoot down. Because of similar conditions and location, reasoned speculation could reach the same conclusion for the earlier incident. But whatever the cause, the complete destruction of two P3's and 24 airmen killed within less than eight weeks is an intense rate of loss under any circumstances. Still, looking back from a historic perspective nearly three decades removed now, it's understandable that except for our own little community, hardly anyone took note. There were plenty of war casualties to fill out news reports of the times. In South Vietnam, hundreds were being killed in action weekly. Over the North, SAM's and AA brought aircraft down daily. And monumental events stunned the world during that very brief stretch of history.... North Korea captured the USS Pueblo on January 23, 1968.... A week later in Vietnam, communist forces launched the TET offensive, the seminal event that turned the tide of public opinion generally against the war.... President Johnson surprised everyone in a broadcast statement to the nation on March 31, that he would not seek re-election.... And four days later, the assassination of Martin Luther King rocked the country. If all is relative, there's little wonder that the combat service record of VP-26 in that protracted war was treated as only an obscure footnote.But prior to our deployment in November 1967, we had no special apprehension about going to Westpac. According to public statements of national leadership at the time, there was 'light at the end of the tunnel'. The war was supposedly entering the mop up and wind down stages. Heck, we were lucky to be getting our tickets punched before it was all over! That summer I had been honored to get my own crew as Patrol Plane Commander of CAC-12, "the Dirty Dozen". Although several other j.o.'s would move up during the deployment, when it started we were the junior crew across the board. But I had also just been named as NATOPS/Standardization Officer for the Squadron, so we planned to get everyone upgraded, starting with PPC quals for my copilot, Lt(jg) Stu McLellan. Stu was a newlywed, recently married to a schoolteacher he met during our last deployment in Argentia. Now, we were all undergoing the usual emotions attendant to an anticipated six-month separation from our families. The Squadron celebrated Thanksgiving that year by flying all twelve of its aircraft half way around the world,... from Brunswick to Moffet Field on the west coast,.. to Barber's Point, Hawaii,... to Guam,... then to Naval Station Sangley Point in the Philippines. That was to be our principal home for the duration, with a detachment operating from U-Tapao air base in Thailand.

ON YANKEE STATION

We arrived at Sangley on November 29th. That night I caught a ride as an observer on one of the last missions for the outgoing squadron so I could get certified for the "Yankee" patrols. These missions conducted surface surveillance during nighttime hours around the perimeter of the attack carriers operating from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. The purpose was to detect any enemy surface craft that might sortie forth toward our floating bird farms. It was strictly a "radar flooding" operation with no attempt at stealth. We wanted the bad guys to know we were watching. The pattern was flown at a restricted (and supposedly reserved) altitude of 1000 feet and below,... up along the coast of North Vietnam, outside a three mile limit,... past Vinh ,... above the 20th parallel to just below Haiphong,... then continuing clockwise around the formation,... staying at least 25 miles from the carriers and 10 miles away from Red Chinese territory on the island of Hainan. There were usually two, sometimes three attack carriers on line. Along with the CVA's, there was a single CVS deployed with its complement of S2F's and choppers. The "Stoofs" would fly the perimeter surface coverage, fanning out into sectors, when the CVS was on station. The VP squadron from Sangley picked up the job whenever the CVS was off line. The typical cycle was fifteen days on,.. fifteen off. Whenever VP took over, one aircraft would report on station by sundown, stay until midnight when a second aircraft relieved them to continue the patrol until 0700. So operations from Sangley stepped up every other fortnight as two crews daily were needed for "Yankee" patrols. It's interesting to note that for all intents and purposes, one P3 aircraft at a time replaced an entire carrier in this role. Another curious aspect of the P3's "Yankee" mission was how we got to and from work. The commute was 2.5 hours each way. We filed an ICAO flight plan with the civilian control in Manila, and flew the international airway at about 20,000 feet from the Philippines to a designated spot east of Danang. Along the way we shared the corridor with Pan Am or China Air, and made the same position reports as the commercial airlines. Then we would simply sign off with the civilian controllers, announce that we were "going operational" and descend into the area while trying to contact the appropriate military control in the Gulf. What a way to go to war!When coming off station we had to file a flight plan by radio through the military controller at Danang and hang out at low altitude until he confirmed our clearance. It was usually granted within minutes. Then we would climb out again to intercept the airway and proceed back home toward the Philippines. One of the more critical parts of our indoctrination to the Philippines was how to deal with Manila air traffic control. They were notorious for ignoring you when asking for clearance to descend toward destination at Sangley Point. So it was advisable to simply cancel your flight plan about a hundred miles out,... just broadcast in the clear and don't expect an acknowledgment,... then switch to the USN controllers at Sangley tower. If you didn't assert yourself in that way, and weather was bad, you could wind up circling at 20,000 feet over Manila waiting in vain for a Philippine controller to talk to you. When VP-26 began flying its first cycle of "Yankee" patrols later in December, we found the most confusing aspect of this mission to be the cacophony of communications necessary to navigate the airwaves. We had VHF and UHF voice radio and single side band HF for teletype messages, with different protocols for all sorts of contingencies. There was even a UHF scrambler,... literally a red phone in the cockpit,... for the pilot to talk directly with the bridge of any ship having compatible equipment. (Most of the times we tried it, nobody answered the phone.)Contact reports were made to "AS" the surface search coordinator, an assignment that moved about among various screening ships. But there were also requirements to check in with "AW", the air warfare coordinator, usually on one of the carriers,... with "Red Crown" when the black shoe's gunline was active,... and even with the Air Force "Big Eye", a Super Connie flying a racetrack pattern at 5000 feet above the 20th parallel. They were the air surveillance equivalent to our surface search. Then there were the North and South SAR destroyers on their appointed stations. It was a far cry from the lonely patrols out on the north Atlantic. Everybody crowded into a relatively small pond, and in the dark they get nervous about any low flying aircraft unless they knew who you were. To top it all off, there were also clandestine missions going on,... highly compartmentalized, so we would have only need-to-know identifiers. When ARVN special forces were operating small boats to infiltrate to the North, they were to shine a colored light pattern at the approaching aircraft, say red over white over green. The colors of the day would identify them as "our side" so we were not to circle that contact on the theory that this would alert the "other side" watching us on their radar screens. On occasion, we would come across a destroyer sized contact hanging around Haiphong all by itself, darkened ship. I never did learn what that was all about, but whenever we reported it to "AS", they told us ..."never mind".

MARKET TIME

CAC-12 flew only one "Yankee" mission before it was our turn to cycle out to Thailand for "Market Time". The Squadron kept a five plane detachment at U-Tapao (pronounced (oo'- tah - pow) on the Gulf of Siam, and we would rotate crews through there for three week stays. U-Tapao was technically a Royal Thai Naval Air Station. (They did have a half dozen S2F's on the ground there,... although I never saw them fly.) But its principal tenant was the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. The single N-S runway was enormous, built by Navy Seabees, but designed to handle bomb laden B-52's in temperatures that rarely dropped below 90 even at night. It was more than 10,000 feet long, (those BUF's needed every inch of it) and so wide it was disorienting to us Navy flyers, especially after a month spent landing at Sangley Point. On the Sangley runway you had to stay real close to centerline or your wingtips would overhang the edge. It was 5000 feet long,.. plenty enough for our P3's, but there were no overruns at all. It terminated in rip rap at water's edge giving the appearance of a carrier deck, albeit rock steady. But here we were on final for landing at U-Tapao, approaching a massive expanse of concrete, heat waves radiating from its white hot surface. When we touched down and looked around, it appeared we could take off sideways on that runway. It was that big. Ground control directed us back to the south along a parallel taxiway until we spotted the Navy's sublet patch of concrete on the most remote end of the base. This was our operating hub,... headquarters for Detachment 72.3.5. We shut down, deplaned, and trundled over to the little trailer that served as our operations center for a mission briefing."Market Time" was a continuous operation involving U.S. Coast Guard cutters, swift boats from the "brown water" Navy, and patrol aircraft all along the South Vietnamese coast. Its purpose was to form a barrier shield against seaborne infiltration from the North. The principal targets were armed supply trawlers and junks that could mingle with the local fishermen, then surreptitiously run to shore and deliver supplies to the VC. Patrol planes roamed the skies, operating at 1000 feet and below out to about 20 miles from the coast. They coordinated with the surface forces in their sector,... directing them to intercept suspicious contacts they could then board to inspect. VP-26 operated aircraft equipped with all the latest anti-submarine detection electronics and weapons capabilities. But this mission, just as the "Yankee" patrols, utilized only the surface search radar and twelve pairs of eyeballs. The "Market Time" barrier was divided into four Coastal Zones. VP-26 was assigned to Zone IV, the southern most sector,... running from the Cambodian border on the west, around the Ca Mau peninsula, then part way along the eastern coast. The other zones were serviced by patrol squadrons operating from the Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon, and from Cam Ranh Bay.The pace of operations at the detachment was constant. We always had a plane in the air patrolling Zone IV, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We relieved on station, and tried to be at the western end of the patrol area to minimize transit time. CAC-12 was on the schedule for the next day, so now we were off to find our quarters,... home, away from home, away from home. The detachment had a couple of pick up trucks and a panel van for crew transport. The trip from our line to the BOQ a few miles away took us around a huge surplus supply yard filled with equipment left behind by the Navy Construction Battalions,... payloaders, bulldozers, trucks. I guess that's where we got the beat up van we were riding in. There were also tons of unopened crates marked "U.S. Air Force". They contained such war fighting essentials as refrigerators, and air conditioning units,... never been used! It's not that our brothers in blue disdained such luxuries,... they already had all that stuff in their units. This was backup, just in case. We passed the personnel housing area for the Air Force flight crews, individual air conditioned mobile homes nearby the O'Club. I decided we would try to eat there whenever possible. The first place I ever had escargot was at an Air Force club in Thule, Greenland,... so they probably ate well here too.Finally we arrived at the Navy BOQ, a two story concrete block structure nestled at the edge of a fetid swamp,... air conditioning provided by screened windows and doors,... with a communal head located at the end of the building nearest the swamp. The most dominant environmental feature of this exotic place, beside the oppressive heat, was the pungent odor that permeated the atmosphere,... a sickly sweet mixture of rotting vegetation and eau de "binjo ditch", the open sewers that served as public sanitation for the local villages. There was some small comfort in having that swamp guarding our perimeter,... if the Commies ever tried to overrun the base, they wouldn't come that way. CAC-12 flew its first "Market Time" patrol on December 23rd. We relieved the returning crew on station near the large mountainous island of Phu Quoc. It lies about 30 miles west of the mainland on a line projecting out from the Cambodia/Vietnam border. At its southern tip was the town of An Thoi that served as the base for Navy swift boats and had a 3500 foot airstrip for small aircraft.Although Phu Quoc was part of Vietnam, it was less than 10 miles from the Cambodian coast to the north, and that country laid claim to its ownership. Cambodia was officially a declared neutral. But Prince Sihanouk was outwardly hostile toward the U. S. In the capital city, he defiantly displayed wreckage from an American helicopter and a transport plane they claim to have downed during border incursions. Many other small, rocky islands in those waters were also in dispute. One cluster about halfway between Phu Quoc and the mainland bore the colorful name, "Isles of the Pirates". We were cautioned not to overfly any of these islands because the natives were known to take potshots with small arms. No one was ever sure whose side they were on. We never felt the effects, but occasionally a flight line inspection by the tinsmiths would reveal a bullet hole in the underside of a wing surface. Communication with "Market Time" surface units was carried on as necessary on UHF and VHF circuits, but we also made hourly position and status reports to our own Ops base in U-Tapao via HF. Likewise, aircraft executed a formal turnover by exchanging an encrypted teletype situation report before departing station. But our most popular radio was the ADF navigation beacon receiver, because it could be tuned to the AM band that picked up Armed Forces Radio out of Saigon. The long, boring patrols were spent listening to the Army disc jockey spinning the latest hits from the Supremes and the Beach Boys.

TIME OFF

The detachment handled its own scheduling, and since the only obligation was to have one of our planes on station at all times, the trick was to work out liberty time for the crews. The local town, a rural village named Sattahip (appropriately pronounced: 's - 'at - a - heap?), was a dump. Most of the structures were built of shipping crates, still stenciled with the original USAF markings. But Bangkok was a brief 20 minute flight away. The Squadron agreed to endure a slightly more intense pace so we could free up a single crew every few days for an overnight liberty in Bangkok. It was just the luck of the draw that CAC-12 moved into the liberty slot the day after our first "Market Time" patrol.That next morning, Christmas Eve, we flew up to Don Muong Airport in Bangkok. Its two parallel runways were separated by about a quarter mile of open grasslands. The western side was the commercial area, and the east side was the military airfield, with a USAF contingent holding fort. It had no pretense of operational status, but served as a VIP depot for R & R runs and visiting dignitaries. The U.S. Embassy had an arrangement with a hotel in the city that catered to military and diplomatic personnel. The routine was for us to tie down the aircraft on the USAF ramp, then catch the shuttle bus to the hotel. As we were walking toward the terminal, a bird colonel came bursting out the door demanding to know what we were doing there. “Just up from U-Tapao for an overnight. We'll be leaving in the morning.”“I have no notice of this. Let me see a copy of your orders.”“Look, we operate independently there,... nothing to do with the Air Force. This is a simple liberty run. We know it's Christmas, but we don't need any fuel,.. and we won't need any of your services when we start up tomorrow.” We weren't exactly front-line troops, but compared with this REMF, CAC-12 may as well have been a crew of clandestine commandos. And I wasn't about to cancel their Christmas liberty, -- the only time off we could expect for weeks. But while I debated desperately with the colonel, my flight engineer/plane captain went on a recon mission, armed only with a greenbacked picture of Andrew Jackson. Twenty minutes later, he came back from the other side of Don Muong with a tow tractor for the aircraft (now I know why we called them "Buddha's") and a broadly smiling civilian Thai ally. To hell with the Air Force,... LK-12 would spend that night in the Thai Airlines hangar! When we got back to U-Tapao, the SOP for Bangkok liberty was changed. Instead of leaving an aircraft at Don Muong overnight, we would have a local "training flight" drop off the liberty party, and another to pick them up the following day. The slight up-tick in flight time for a ferry crew was well worth it. CAC-12 got its first extended exposure to the operational pace, as we flew six sorties over the next eight days. These "Market Time" flights were 10 hour patrols. So 'round the clock sequencing meant that your regular diurnal cycle was completely wiped out. Night and day had no meaning,... you were always returning from a full day's work at a different time on the 24 hour clock. The problem was,.. the O'Club followed regular hours. We needed our own, in-house lounge,... something like the "Brass Nut" we had at the BOQ in Keflavik,... operated by the Squadron on the honor system with the boot Ensign in charge of supply and accounting. Fortunately there were some other compatriots relegated to U-Tapao who felt a similar need, but more importantly had the means to make it happen. They were the U.S. field superintendents for the civilian contractor building the facilities there. In exchange for a "membership" to our club, they came over with a crew of local laborers, all the equipment and materials needed,... knocked down the wall between two rooms in the barracks,... and converted it into the "Brass Nut East". Within two days we had a complete wet bar, with foot rails,... indirect lighting and bamboo shades for atmosphere,... and it was always open. But that idyllic facade still had to compete with the local environment and the swamp that was home to some strange flying Siamese bugs the likes of which I've never seen before or since. Every so often they would rise up in swarms and make a nocturnal raid on our barracks. Drawn by the lights, they plastered themselves against the screens attempting to invade a room. The only defense was to darken down. They had a particular affinity for the wet tile in the head where the lights were always on. After such an attack, the shower stalls and urinals were coated with a blanket of lime green winged creatures that had given their all in the defense of their swamp. Interment was conducted by hosing the entire mass down the drain. I suppose the bodies ultimately found their way back to the swamp by way of binjo ditches. Such is the cycle of life. But I digress. Back to the other war....

ROUTINE OPERATIONS

It was quite a spectacle whenever a B-52 "Arc Light" strike was launched from U-Tapao. The grand production was precisely choreographed with the 15 to 20 aircraft taking off at two minute intervals. But, for 30 minutes before the first one rolled, the runway was shutdown and service trucks did a complete FOD sweep. Nobody could land or takeoff once the clock was started on a BUF launch. While the sweep-down was underway, all the B52's were cranked up and assembled in the assigned order. Two standby aircraft were also cranked and in position in case of any pre-launch aborts. With a belly full of iron bombs and more slung in bunches on external pods along the entire length of the underwing, each lumbering juggernaut seemed to take forever on its takeoff run. They roared ponderously down the runway, slowly gathering speed, and barely lifted off before hurtling into the Gulf of Siam. Each one would continue straight ahead, almost out of sight before it gained enough altitude to gingerly bank left and take up its course to the north. We, on the other hand, took off in the other direction no matter which way the wind was blowing. There was plenty of runway even with a brisk tailwind. We figured that the two mile taxiway trip from our ramp to takeoff from the north end of Runway 18 would do more damage to aircraft than the few feet of takeoff roll it would save. In another stark contrast to the B52's, we carried no weapons at all. The only ordnance we handled were the magnesium parachute flares for nighttime illumination of suspect targets. That always made for an interesting diversion. But the flares themselves presented a distinct hazard on board and we were always alert to the danger. They were launched by hand from the sonobuoy chute, and if it hung up in there and ignited, the fire could not be controlled. The routine for checking targets at night was to make an initial pass while seeking out the contact with the million candlepower searchlight on our starboard wing. That alone could shake up a sleepy fisherman in the dead of night. If something appeared suspicious, we could climb to about 1000 feet, deploy a paraflare to illuminate the area, then spiral down below it for a more careful inspection of the target. Such was how we would while away our "Market Time". By mid-January we rotated back to Sangley and one relatively easy week before picking up the "Yankee" cycle again. We had time for a few training flights, and finished up Stu's PPC quals. There was a seat opening up soon on the XO's crew due to some personnel transfers, and he was going to move over there as the designated plane commander. (Both the CO and the XO had another fully qualified PPC on their crews to take most of the operational flights while they attended to whatever it is that CO's and XO's do.) After that short breather, CAC-12 went back into the fast track mode,... five "Yankee" patrols over a ten day period. The on-station period was only seven hours, but with the round trip from the Philippines, these missions normally clocked a total of 12.5 hours or so. Add to that the interminable briefing and debriefing by the base "IO" and it made for a long, long, day. The old joke about military intelligence being an oxymoron was borne out almost every time we flew a mission. Among other things, the IO would give us all the day's codes and assigned frequencies. But they were almost always the wrong ones. It became routine for the first plane out each night to try once through on each band when approaching station, then just broadcast on fleet common. Someone monitoring the net could give you the right frequency for "AS" and you were in business. The relief flight at midnight knew they could get the correct frequencies from the first shift. Our squadron call sign then was "Hurdy Gurdy", a vestige of the time when such things were done to defy easy imitation by the oriental tongue. Once when we called in our initial report, identifying ourselves as "Hurdy Gurdy 12", we got back in reply, "Hey guys, how are things back in Brunswick?" So much for security.

Tedium and boredom became the norm after the first few of these patrols, and we were already counting the days until we returned home. Then came news of the Pueblo capture. A carrier and other forces were being moved up toward Korea, and all of Westpac was put on alert. Suddenly, the possibility that we could be extended, or even reassigned, became a serious consideration. But after a few days the prospect for any immediate action on that front died down. Meanwhile, the Squadron also flew routine ship rigging patrols over the South China Sea. These OSAP (ocean surveillance and patrol) flights were used whenever possible to transfer crews to the Det, originating from Sangley and terminating in U-Tapao. By month's end we were due to rotate back. And now there was an increased awareness that things might be heating up in Vietnam. The siege of Khe Sanh had been underway for ten days with no apparent let-up.

THE LOSS OF CAC-8
See: See Memorial to Crew 8 "Lost at Sea"

Departing from the Philippines on January 31 with a new copilot, while Stu McLellan stayed back to pickup the XO's crew, CAC-12 flew an OSAP mission and landed in U-Tapao with more than 130 hours logged that month. It was at our debrief that we first heard reports about the communist attacks on cities throughout South Vietnam. What came to be known as the TET offensive had begun. Even the relatively docile "Market Time" forces became unusually active then. (As it turned out, four armed trawlers were intercepted during that month of February, although only one reached as far south as Coastal Zone IV before being destroyed near shore.) It was somewhat surreal listening to the morning show on AFRS Saigon as we droned along during that first week of TET. Sounding just like the school closing announcements during a snow storm back home, they told different support units not to report in until further notice, and gave commuter traffic reports. “Avoid the Cholon district, as fighting there picked up at dawn and heavy back-ups persist.” Only a few days later, on February 6, 1968, the surreal became suddenly all too real for us. CAC-12 was scheduled to relieve CAC-8 on "Market Time" that morning. Instead, we were awakened abruptly during the wee hours to launch early on an SAR mission -- one of our planes was missing! There had been no radio contact with CAC-8 for two hours now. We took off sometime around 0400. I recall it was still pitch dark, but we were also still hopeful that this was only an equipment malfunction and would soon be resolved. So we proceeded to their last known position and initiated an expanding square search while calling through the entire spectrum of radio frequencies trying to raise them. --- No joy. Sun rise revealed only emptiness over that vast expanse of water and we began to think of the worst case -- they may really be gone. Reorienting our search, we flew a ladder pattern along the projected route based on our knowledge of the routine in the patrol area. By midmorning, an Air Force C-130 from the SAR unit in Saigon had arrived on scene. Being properly equipped and fully crewed for this purpose, they took over command and control of the mission. It was official now, CAC-8 was missing and presumed down. We were free to leave, but nobody on board wanted to give up yet. Each of us had friends and people we knew well on that crew. Lcdr. Bob Meglio, the PPC, headed the Squadron's Maintenance Department. He was a good pilot and well experienced. Tom Jones, the TACCO, a first tour lieutenant, was also well qualified and seasoned. My best recollections of Tom were from the intramural basketball league back at Brunswick. An unabashed Celtics fan, his idol was John Havlicek, and he could shoot the lights out from long range. Too bad we didn't have the 3-point rule then. Those thoughts of friends in trouble kept the adrenaline pumping despite the somber circumstances and lack of sleep. We still had plenty of fuel, so I decided to go freelancing up into the area of the small rocky islands near the Cambodia/Vietnam border. Still nothing. Should we go inland? Why not! Who's to know and maybe we'll find something. Everyone on the crew agreed it was worth a try. After a brief and wholly unauthorized excursion into Cambodia, we realized it was fruitless. Having exhausted every other possibility, we went back to the area between the coast and Phu Quoc. There we kept looking while the Air Force prosecuted the official, controlled search well to the south. Then around mid-afternoon one of the crew thought he spotted something. Banking slightly to port and descending in the direction he indicated, it took a few seconds before those of us in the cockpit could discern what he saw -- the distinct orange color of a life raft. Overflying, we could confirm that's what it was,... but it appeared empty. Some small, indistinguishable debris was also visible. Nothing else. We called the Navy's small boat base at An Thoi a short distance to the west, and they dispatched some swifts to the location as we orbited overhead. Within 30 minutes they were approaching the position we marked with smoke, and began collecting wreckage. From their descriptions we could confirm that this was what we were looking for. The life raft was partially deflated and had probably been ejected by the impact when the plane came down. Before we departed station late that afternoon, two bodies that had risen to the surface were recovered, and all reasonable hope that there were any survivors was extinguished. It would be several weeks later before a Navy salvage vessel recovered enough body parts from the wreckage on the seabed to positively identify all on board. To my knowledge, nothing more was done to retrieve significant components of the aircraft itself, nor am I aware of any comprehensive investigation into the incident. I can firmly state that neither I nor any of my crew was interviewed by an investigative board, so we can assume that none was convened. I do remember vividly how insignificant that life raft appeared, and how difficult it was to locate even on a calm sea in clear weather. It's still difficult for me to imagine how any downed airmen, far out at sea, could be found without benefit of a beacon or much more sophisticated detection equipment than was available to us then.

KEEPING UP THE PACE

After the loss of an entire aircrew, the flight schedule was compressed while a new crew was assembled from VP-10 personnel in Brunswick for transfer to VP-26. This would bring us back up to full strength when they arrived a few weeks later. Meanwhile., CAC-12 was among the crews at U-Tapao that had to pick up the slack as we continued flying "Market Time" patrols through the third week in February. And sure enough, we arrived back in Sangley just in time to start a new "Yankee" cycle on February 23rd. It was a busy time overall. My log book reveals that we flew a total of 265 hours in February and March. Right in the middle of that, on March 1st, VP-26 conducted a Change of Command and the XO, Cdr Alex Wasilewski, relieved Jim Cochran who rotated out on schedule. My former copilot now had the skipper's crew that was redesignated from CAC-7 to CAC-1 in recognition of their newly elevated status. This whole period remains a kaleidoscope of jumbled memories, but as I recall it, the prevailing attitude within the Squadron was “let's just press on and get the job done”. And, I'm proud to say, CAC-12 did its job well,.... unorthodox perhaps, but effective nonetheless. Some incidents still stick in my mind. Once, while approaching Yankee Station to relieve at midnight, the AT's were firing up the radar and it failed. The only mission-downing gripe was the loss of forward radar, and we always check it out immediately after takeoff, then shut down until going on station. Sure enough, it worked then,... but now it was out! Here we were, already taking the status report from the crew we were about to relieve, so I asked my guys what they could do to fix it. “The only thing we can do up here is swap out with the magnetron from the rear radar.” “How long?” “Well, the maintenance guys allow half a day to replace a magnetron in the hanger. But we could probably do it in an hour.” I had no clue as to the odds on that, and no idea how you go about changing a magnetron. But we were already 10 minutes late accepting the turnover. So, I got on the radio to the other crew, deliberately leaving the speakers on so everyone aboard could hear what I was saying. I asked the other PPC if they could extend another 45 minutes, and he agreed to delay their departure until 0100. Nothing more was said as the crew turned to, bouncing along at Angels 1 in the pitch dark with only red lens flashlights for illumination. At exactly 0059, they fired up the forward unit and we were in business. These guys weren't too interested in their spit and polish grades, but no way would they let anybody beat the "Dirty Dozen" when it really counted! On another "Yankee" patrol we were nearing the end as dawn approached, when "Big Eye" called us with a possible surface contact they were showing. (The Gulf of Tonkin was notorious for false radar images, a phenomenon that has since been acknowledged as a probable factor in the Maddox and Turner Joy incidents of August 1964 that got all this madness started.) The Air Force controller directed us to the spot generally north of our location. As he counted off the closing yardage we were down at about 100 feet over a glassy sea,... eyeballs trained straight ahead trying for a clear visual through the morning mists,... when suddenly ..... Whooooosh! Sweeping across our nose from right to left was an A4 Skyhawk--- one of our own. It seems another controller back in the tube of that Air Force Super Connie had talked somebody else onto the same false target. Never mind. There was always a more heightened tension about "Yankee" patrols, not so much because of proximity to the enemy, but due to the real danger posed by the ever-changing gaggle of friendlies, hurtling around in the same airspace, with a Byzantine command and control system that must have been an early experiment in the development of "Chaos Theory". Another example of how that worked occurred in mid-March when the CVS was due back on-line. CAC-12 was scheduled to take the early shift on that last night of our "Yankee" cycle. The usual briefing at base ops loaded us up with the code books, assigned sector commanders, frequencies, and call signs for the day. Then, properly prepped with all the up-to-date intel, we were sent off to work. As always, we flew the airway to the zone, signed off to go operational, and descended into a dark overcast night while going through the routine check-in procedure. Suddenly, a nervous voice came up on the net --- “What are you guys doing here ?!” It seems the CVS was already operational with its Stoofs busy boring holes through the same clouds that we occupied. Needless to say, we firewalled those four big Allisons and climbed out of there ASAP! With that kind of coordination, we didn't need an enemy to justify combat pay. A few days later we were back on our way to the Det via an OSAP mission on March 19th. All of us looked upon a return to U-Tapao as a chance to recover. The atmosphere was more relaxed on "Market Time", and no brass was around except the "Brass Nut East".

CAC-1 SHOT DOWN

It was the end of the month, with CAC-12 looking forward to its turn at Bangkok liberty. We were near the end of a nighttime patrol and planned to get a ride up to Don Muong shortly after landing around 0800 that morning. Coming out to relieve us was Stu McLellan with CAC-1. They were well within radio contact so we transmitted the turnover message without delay, and started on course to U-Tapao. Through clever and efficient management of our patrol pattern, coupled with precise navigation, we made sure to be at our closest point of approach as soon as they arrived on-station. No time to waste when liberty calls. The morning was bright and sunny, so we could see them passing off to starboard while the radio operator received their acknowledgment assuming the duty. Immediately afterward, the teletype started clacking out a "PS" from CAC-1. "Be advised your trip to Bangkok canceled." A brief collective moan of disappointment still echoed through our flight deck when, after a brief pause, the teletype continued,.. "PPS- April Fool!" Yes, it was. We had launched before midnight on March 31, but today was April 1, 1968. That little joke was just our good friend Stu, still one of the "Dirty Dozen" at heart, giving the needle to his old crew. So we were all in an upbeat mood when we grabbed our civvies and climbed onto the "Trident shuttle" for the short flight to Bangkok. While the training crew went through the preflight checks on the apron at U-Tapao, the radio was tuned to AFRS so we could all listen to a live broadcast from the White House. President Johnson was about to deliver a televised speech to the nation. It was still prime time that evening of March 31 on the other side of the dateline back in Washington DC. Johnson's announcement of a partial bombing halt in the North caused some ears to perk up a little. But when we heard that deep-pitched drawl go on to say, "I shall not seek, nor shall I accept the nomination of my party..." , everybody was stunned. The light at the end of the tunnel had long gone dark,... a bombing halt made no sense while more than half a million US military still engaged the enemy over here,... and now the Commander-in-Chief decides it's all too much for him to take. It's hard to describe the feelings that pronouncement evoked --- resentment? ...bitterness?... relief?... maybe just confusion. To Hell with it all anyway. We were going on liberty! Takeoff. Landing at Don Muong. Deplane. The shuttle crew flies back to U-Tapao, and we catch a military bus to the hotel. Upon arrival there, a message awaited. "Call your squadron ops office immediately". Over an unsecured phone line, they couldn't say much. But the gist of it was ominously clear -- CAC-1 was in serious trouble, and we were to get back NOW,... by any means possible. We spent the next several hours bumping along overland on a rented "baht bus". By the time we got back, it was all over. I've never seen, nor am I aware of, any written account describing the details of this episode, contemporaneous or otherwise. So here is mine, as I heard it then, from those who were involved or monitored the radio traffic.

Soon after starting their patrol, CAC-1 went into the area near the Cambodian coast. There they located a suspicious target and proceeded to investigate. It was a steel gray vessel that appeared to be some kind of landing craft. (As it turned out, it was a W.W.II vintage LCM, built in the US, given to the French, and acquired by Cambodia when France pulled out of Indochina in 1954.) While making a low pass, the unarmed P-3 was fired on by the LCM with its .50 caliber antiaircraft gun. Several rounds ripped into the outer portion of their starboard wing, knocking out #4 engine and starting a fire. They pulled the emergency handle and succeeded in feathering the prop, but could not extinguish the flames. It was unclear whether the fire originated from the engine nacelle or from within the wing itself. They were too low to bail out. And with fire raging on a crippled aircraft, it was impractical to climb high enough for the entire crew to get out successfully. A ditching at sea appeared inevitable, but they hoped to distance themselves somewhat from the hostiles before putting her down. So CAC-1 flew outbound from the coast, while preparing for a forced landing. Flames were still visible, but the fire didn't appear to be extending. Then, realizing they were headed directly for Phu Quoc, with its small airfield less than 20 miles away, Stu apparently thought they could make it there. Approaching the island on a southwesterly course, they had a broadside view of the 3,500 feet of steel matting that comprised the runway. The landing could be made by passing over and executing a 270 left-hand turn. That would keep them on top of the good engines on the port side, just the way you want it with an engine out. Across the runway OK,... banking to the left, they reached the 90 turning onto final. Suddenly,... abruptly,... the wing tore off between #3 and #4 engine, and the aircraft tumbled uncontrolled as it plunged into the sea. Immediately afterward, second-guessers would harbor an unmentionable question. Why didn't he elect to ditch sooner while they still had control? I myself, carry a piece of the burden for Stu's decision. He trained as second pilot under me,... it was I who qualified him for designation as plane commander. And we had covered all the contingencies he faced that day, except one --- the lure of that island sanctuary so seductively close at hand. On that,... I cannot second guess him. But the shooting down of CAC-1 also compelled some renewed thinking about what had happened two months earlier. Now it was beginning to sink in. The attack by the Cambodians took place in the very same waters where CAC-8 went down.

SHORT TIMER

There is little to distinguish events during the final two months of our deployment. Perhaps emotions were cauterized by what had gone before. We continued the same tedious routines to the end, but that sense of duty was permeated by a persistent overhanging cloud of cynicism. Those of us accustomed to launching on Soviet nukes in the North Atlantic, thought of these patrols as a serious misapplication of our mission capabilities. Of course there was no sub threat in this conflict, and this was probably the only way the powers that be could get VP a piece of the action. And we certainly did, having expended the lives of two complete crews in the process of fulfilling our assigned tasks. Still, this job could have been done by any slow moving transport fitted out with a surface search radar and plenty of window seats. For my part, I had become a short timer in more ways than one with orders to detach from VP-26 on May 30 when the squadron was due to return from deployment. By then, the "Dirty Dozen" had logged 700 flight hours in Westpac and every last man had earned his aircrew wings. Those achievements topped all the other crews in the Squadron and were my main source of satisfaction when I left CAC-12 in the Philippines. All checked out with orders in hand, I flew out on a military charter carrying the advance party of ground personnel. “Trans International” brought us back on a DC-8 all the way to Brunswick. There we were met at the ramp by the Wing commander and a small delegation from the base staff. My status for this unexpected reception was somewhat ambiguous since I was officially in-transit on permanent change-of-station orders. But I was senior ranking passenger. So I led the returning Trident sailors down the access stairs, rendered the Commodore a snappy salute, and then simply continued on my way. Next time I came through the gate at NAS Brunswick, it was a generation later.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Among all that's been written about the Vietnam War, you'll find little mention of VP activity. Other than a passing reference in connection with Market Time operations, there wasn't much to tell. Compared with all the other blood and guts spilled in the field of battle, our losses meant next to nothing in the overall equation, because they accomplished nothing of consequence. We did all we were assigned to do there. Still,... just think about what we could have done. The raison d'etre for VP aviation may have been to track submarines, but we also possessed another mission capability --- aerial mining. Many historians have come to agree that Vietnam represented a general failure of the political leadership to use its military options wisely. For instance, they could have stopped the enemy cold by blockading and mining Haiphong harbor. Instead, they permitted regular, unfettered passage of freight into the port. There, heavily laden ships could freely disgorge all the supplies, equipment and munitions needed to carry on the war. Then the U.S. military was sent in to chase it all down --- from bombing railheads and bridges in the North,... to attacks on truck parks and storage depots,... to interdicting the Ho Chi Minh trail,... to search and destroy missions throughout the South,... even to maintaining the Market Time barrier. Conducted at the direction of the leadership in Washington, virtually all those operations constituted an ongoing effort, over all those years, to stanch the flow of materiel, --- the very stuff that those same policy-makers allowed to be poured into the mouth of the funnel in the first place. What if ? -- How much blood and treasure would have been spared if VP squadrons had been used instead to mine Haiphong harbor early on ? And would it have cost us more than twenty-four KIA to do that job? I don't think so.

A. Scott Wilson
Plandome, New York
April 15, 1997 Contributed by A. Scott Wilson ASCTWILSON@aol.com [31OCT98]

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1964 - 1972
Operation Market Time

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Article from Wikipedia about Operation Market time. It was written by VP-17's Capt. Brian McGuiness and mentions LT Norm Cook (VP-17). It not only mentions VP-17 but all the other "VP" squadrons that participated in Operation Market Time from 1964 - 1972..." Contributed by McLAUGHLIN, LT Bob banddmcl1964@msn.com [07JAN2009]

Operation Market Time
Wikipedia
Operation Market Time

Operation Market Time was the U.S. Navy's effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was one of four Navy duties begun after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, along with Operation Sea Dragon, Operation Sealords and naval gunfire support.

When a trawler was intercepted landing arms and ammunition at Vung Ro Bay in northern Khanh Hoa Province on 16 February 1965 it provided the first tangible evidence of the North Vietnamese supply operation. This became known as the Vung Ro Bay Incident.

Navy destroyers, ocean minesweepers PCF's (Swift boats)and United States Coast Guard cutters performed the operation. Also playing a key role in the interdictions were the Navy's patrol gunboats (PGs). The PG was uniquely suited for the job because of its ability to go from standard diesel propulsion to gas turbine (jet engine) propulsion in a matter of a few minutes. The lightweight aluminum and fiberglass ships were not only fast but highly maneuverable because of their variable pitch propellers. Most of the ships operated in the coastal waters from the Cambodian border around the south tip of Vietnam up north to Da Nang. Supply ships from the Service Force, such as oilers, would bring mail, movies, and fuel.

Of the many vessels involved in Operation Market Time, one of the more notable was the USCGC Point Welcome (WPB-82329) which, on 11 August 1966, was brought under fire by a number of US Air Force planes. This incident of blue-on-blue killed two members of the cutter's crew (one of whom was the commanding officer) and wounded nearly everyone on board. A full account of the incident, along with the entire story of the Coast Guard's Market Time involvement, is related in Alex Larzelere's book, The Coast Guard at War: Vietnam, 1965-1975 (1997), available from the Naval Institute Press.

Operation Market Time was established by the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff after the 1965 Vung Ro incident to blockade the vast South Vietnam coastline against North Vietnamese gun-running trawlers. The trawlers, usually 100-foot-long Chinese-built steel-hulled coastal freighters, could carry several tons of arms and ammunition in their hulls. Not flying a national ensign that would identify them, the ships would maneuver "innocently" out in the South China Sea, waiting for the cover of darkness to make high-speed runs to the South Vietnam coastline. If successful, the ships would off load their cargoes to waiting Viet Cong or North Vietnamese forces. To stop these potential infiltrations, Market Time was set up as a coordinated effort of long range patrol aircraft for broad reconnaissance, discovery and target following; and U.S. and allied surface combatants to intercept suspect ships that crossed inside South Vietnam's 12-mile coastal boundary. On the aviation side, some of the patrol squadrons that were involved and flying from South Vietnam, Thai, or Philippine bases were: VP-1, VP-2, VP-4, VP-16, VP-17, VP-26, VP-28, VP-40, VP-42, VP-46 and VP-50. The most significant action of Market Time occurred on Feb. 29-Mar. 1, 1968, when the North Vietnamese attempted a coordinated infiltration of four gun-running trawlers. Two of the four trawlers were destroyed by allied ships in gun battles, one trawler crew detonated charges on board their vessel to avoid capture, and the fourth trawler turned tail and retreated at high speed into the South China Sea. Lt. Norm Cook, the plane commander of a VP-17 P-2H Neptune patrol aircraft operating from Cam Ranh Bay, was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for discovering and following two of the four trawlers in the action. Market Time, which operated day and night, fair weather and foul, for eight and a half years, succeeded in denying the North Vietnamese a means of delivering tons of war materials into South Vietnam by sea.

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Circa 1964

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Advanced Base Ready On Demand - Page 26 - Naval Aviation News - October 1964..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1960s/1964/oct64.pdf [30AUG2004]

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Circa 1963

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 P2 BUNO: 131525 "...VP-26 aircraft taken at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico in Dec. 1963. They were in for debrief after ASW patrol for SOSUS contact at US NAVFAC Ramey. I snapped the photos while stationed there. As I recall, their call sign was ("Hurdy-Gurdy 9"). On the forward wheel access door was painted a black aircraft and the words "Black Knights"..." Contributed by Tom Hutter rum.cay@verizon.net [12SEP2003]

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Circa 1960

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...(VP-5, VP-7, VP-8, VP-10, VP-11, VP-16, VP-18, VP-21, VP-23, VP-24, VP-26, VP-44, VP-45, VP-49 and VP-56) - Naval Aeronautical Organization OPNAV NOTICE 05400 for Fiscal Year 1960 dated 1 February 1960 is: DECLASSIFIED per Office of Chief of Naval Operations on 1 February 1965 by Op-501 - Atlantic Fleet Support Stations..." WebSite: Naval Historical Center http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/nao53-68/fy1960-feb60.pdf [13MAR2007]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...(VP-7, VP-10, VP-11, VP-21, VP-23 and VP-26) - Naval Aeronautical Organization OPNAV NOTICE 05400 for Fiscal Year 1960 dated 1 February 1960 is: DECLASSIFIED per Office of Chief of Naval Operations on 1 February 1965 by Op-501 - Atlantic Fleet Support Stations..." WebSite: Naval Historical Center http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/nao53-68/fy1960-feb60.pdf [10MAR2007]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...The U.S. Navy/U.S. Coast Guard Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument, will be located on the Council International Sport Military Field on the US Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, CA. This monument will be a personal detailed, and heart-felt tribute to all Naval & Coast Guard personnel who died serving their country in the South East Asia Theater of the Vietnam War from 1960-1975. A few of the military squadrons represented are: VP-1, VP-2, VP-4, VP-6, VP-17, VP-26, VP-40, VP-42, VP-48, VP-50, VAH-21, VAP-61, and VO-67. WebSite: Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument..." Contributed by BAILEY, AO3 Bob sta3855@msn.com [Updated 21DEC2000 | Updated 02JUL2000 | Updated 14APR2000 | 03APR2000]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...During the Summer and Fall of 1956 while deployed to Argentia, Newfoundland, with detachments at Thule, Greenland, and Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island, VP-26 flew each of its aircraft to the North Pole and back. This was a first for a P2V squadron. As a junior pilot in the squadron, I was navigator on EB-10, BuNo 131526..." Contributed by Theo Elbert AseiTheo@aol.com..." [Updated 18MAY98]

"...I could not help but notice BUNO: 131526. I know a little of the history of this particular aircraft. I served on NAS Brunswick, Maine from from August 1960 to December 1962. During this time period I flew as a crew member on the NAS Brunswick, Maine P2V on this particular plane, at that time called "Gunsmoke". We were doing developmental sonobouy evaluations on a daily basis for a company called Vocaline. We worked off the Pemequid, ME lighthouse with a small "boat" in the water creating noise sources, and then monitored and evaluated all audio criteria from the air, via "Julie" and Jez". While I'm not sure without looking it up in my service jacket, I believe all of my P2 flight hours during this time fram were on this aircraft...Chuck Walker chuck.walker@eds.com..." [21NOV2002]

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Circa 1958

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Argentine VIP's Visit Brunswick - Page 30 - Naval Aviation News - September 1958..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1958/sep58.pdf [13AUG2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...'Springboard' 1958 Opens - Page 30 - Naval Aviation News - April 1958..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1958/apr58.pdf [12AUG2004]

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Circa 1957

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Mug "...1/2 liter porcelain Naval stein from "Patrol Squadron Twenty Six. This stein features the winged anchor and shield, which is the symbol for the united States Navy and "Patrol Squadron Twenty Six Det. Alfa Maroc 1957-1958." The pewter lid has a 3-D finial of the Eagle, shield and anchor symbol. The thumblift has a button sized relief eagle as well. The left side shows a scene of a P2V Navy plane flying over a world map showing Port Lyautey, Maroc. The opposite side shows a scene of a Compass superimposed over a similar world map, with crossed bombs and a skull in the center..." WebSite: EBay http://cgi.ebay.com/ [09JUN2008]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Radioman Leaves VP-26 - Page 10 - Naval Aviation News - February 1957..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1957/feb57.pdf [10AUG2004]

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Circa 1956

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 History "...P2V-5F EB-2 May 1956 - Photo taken in 1956-1957 while I was stationed at NAS Brunswick, Maine. I served as an AE with FASRON-108 and later with VP-7..." Contributed by Art Van Buskirk basshorn@nep.net [12MAR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Ice Floes Ahead! - Page 1 to 5 - Naval Aviation News - October 1956..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1956/oct56.pdf [09AUG2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 is Proud...Service News Vol. 2 No. 4 April 1956 Page 13-14..." [02NOV2002]

In the January issue of Service News we reported the award of the coveted Navy "E" to the VP-26 Patrol Squadron for the best operating record of the patrol squadrons in the Atlantic Fleet. A detailed account of the excellent record compiled by this squadron on its way to gaining its second successive award is outlined in a letter from Commander L.D. Moyers, VP-26 commanding officer. An excerpt from that letter follows:

"VP-26 was deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, from 10 March, to 10 August 1955. While there they averaged 1100 hours per month most of which was under instrument conditions. In the month of May the squadron set their Atlantic Fleet Record of 1320 hours while engaged in extensive search operations, a NATO exercise, and normal patrol commitments. Each squadron has twelve aircraft, and 100 percent utilization is considered to be sixty hours/plane/month, or 720 for the squadron. The cold and otherwise inclement weather worked against starting and other maintenance problems. b1 spite of this, the squadron maintained an average availability of over 90 percent and utilization of 153 percent for the entire Iceland tour, and there was not a single day during the tour that our aircraft were not launched. This performance resulted in special commendations from General Hutchinson, USAF, Commander Iceland Defense Force, and Captain Perkins, USN, Commander Naval Forces, Iceland.

"The above record, coupled with other outstanding marks, and including competitive scores which were almost phenomenal, won the award of the Navy 'E' for the second consecutive year. While it is not known whether or not another squadron has ever won the award two years in succession, it is unusual to say the least, and all hands are very proud of their double 'E' or 'E' with a hash mark."

The squadron deployed to Puerto Rico in November and again in February. In both cases the trips down and back were made with all twelve aircraft which we believe speaks highly of the reliability of both the engines and the aircraft.

"During the fifteen day deployment to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, last month, we flew about 775 aircraft hours, consisting of about 250 separate flights. There were practically no cancellations or aborted flights. Availability was near 90 percent and utilization was over 200 percent for the period. Our overall average for competitive scores was over 93 percent hits. This consisted of each of our twelve crews making a given number of scored runs in low altitude bombing, low altitude radar bombing, rocket firing, and night search light runs on a sub- marine. Five of our crews made perfect scores across the board. All competitive exercises are scored by observers assigned from outside the command.

"Maybe the above sounds just a little boastful, and I don't mind too much if it does. We think we have good airplanes, flown by the best crews in the fleet, and supported by the best qualified ground personnel that can be found anywhere."

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Picture of our float taken 11/1956 and was our entry for the Thanksgiving Parade (I believe it was at NAS Brunswick, Maine) See BP-26 for details re "Commodore Bobs Little Rascals"..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 Home After 5 Month Deployment - Thursday, November 5, 1966..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Award of "E" and article and photo while on beach in Aguadilla, PR (Ramey AFB TDY) Left to right: Ens Lee M. Holland, Lt unknown, Emil Flores, YN2, unknown, Frank Deneu, YN3, Lt unknown ..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

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Circa 1955

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...This picture was taken 11 June 1955 @ Prestwick, Scotland en route to our base at NAS Keflavik, Iceland..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Newspaper article from Keflavik Airport, Iceland..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...This was the final stop on our "Fam Hop" . When we were stationed there Iceland was a communist country and our skipper convinced COMPACFLT it would be a good idea to familiarize all Pilots and Crews to be familiar with Airports within fuel distance in case we had to evacuate: Hence the Fam Hops, a few planes at a time would eventually cover Europe (usually a 6 day trip). Note our vintage "Poopy Suits". From L to R in Photo Koelling, Tobler, Deneu. VP-8 is in the background..." Contributed by DENEU, YN3 Frank fwden@yahoo.com [14OCT2001]

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Circa 1954

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 Record Is Compared - Page 16 - Naval Aviation News - August 1954..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1954/aug54.pdf [02AUG2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Squadron Tops 1000 Hours - Page 17 - Naval Aviation News - May 1954..." WebSite: http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/1950s/1954/may54.pdf [02AUG2004]

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Circa 1952

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-22 "...VP-26 - September 23, 1952 - Navy Pilots Sighting of Flying Objects...Publication Number: T1206 - Publication Title: Project Blue Book, 1947-1969 - Publisher: NARA - Year: 1952 - Month: September - Month Season Number: 09 - Location: Portland, Maine - Incident Number: [BLANK] - Page: 49 - WebSite: http://www.footnote.com/..." Forwarded by Stephen Miller miller.s@adelphia.net [14AUG2008]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 "...VP-26 - September 23, 1952 - Navy Pilots Sighting of Flying Objects...Publication Number: T1206 - Publication Title: Project Blue Book, 1947-1969 - Publisher: NARA - Year: 1952 - Month: September - Month Season Number: 09 - Location: Portland, Maine - Incident Number: [BLANK] - Page: 51 - WebSite: http://www.footnote.com/..." Forwarded by Stephen Miller miller.s@adelphia.net [14AUG2008]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 "...VP-26 - September 23, 1952 - Navy Pilots Sighting of Flying Objects...Publication Number: T1206 - Publication Title: Project Blue Book, 1947-1969 - Publisher: NARA - Year: 1952 - Month: September - Month Season Number: 09 - Location: Portland, Maine - Incident Number: [BLANK] - Page: 50 - WebSite: http://www.footnote.com/..." Forwarded by Stephen Miller miller.s@adelphia.net [14AUG2008]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...FAETULAN, FAW-3, FAW-5, FAW-11, VP-3, VP-5, VP-7, VP-8, VP-10, VP-11, VP-21, VP-23, VP-24, VP-26, VP-34, VP-44, VP-45, VP-49, VP-661, VP-741 and VP-861) - Naval Aeronautical Organization OPNAV NOTICE 05400 for Fiscal Year 1953 dated 1 October 1952 is: DECLASSIFIED per Office of Chief of Naval Operations on 1 February 1965 by Op-501..." WebSite: Naval Historical Center http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/nao53-68/fy1953-oct52.pdf [14MAR2007]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Joined VP-26 directly out of flight school just as it was transferred to Patuxent River MD from NAS Port Lyautey, French Morocco. As a junior ensign I replaced the "Publications Officer" who was one of ten who had been lost when one of the squadron's PB4Y-2s had been shot down over the Baltic Sea by the Russians. In early September, 1950, the squadron received it's first P2V-type aircraft and in the next six months converted, first to P2V-3s, and then to P2V-4s. I was designated Patrol Plane Commander in early July, 1952, and assigned to aircraft No. 7 - EB 124241. The squadron was rotated to Keflavik, Iceland, late September, 1952, while we were having many problems with the new 3350-30W engines with the power recovery turbines. In Iceland my aircraft, No. 7, being flown by the executive officer, L.T.Cdr. Rogers, lost an engine shortly after takeoff and barely made it back to the field. It scraped to a stop on the lava on the edge of the runway and completely burned. Fortunately, all the crew escaped unharmed. I was transferred from VP26 in Brunswick ME in June, 1953, to the Navy's All-Weather Flight School in Corpus Christi TX...Richard S. Coy (Rapid Richard)" Coymanor@aol.com

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Circa 1950

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...08 APR 50 - A PB4Y Privateer of VP-26, with 10 men on board, was lost over the Baltic Sea after being attacked by Soviet aircraft..." http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PART07.PDF [28MAY2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...08APR50 - Soviet La-11s, piloted by Boris Dokin, Anatoliy Gerasimov, Tezyaev, and Sataev shot down a USN PB4Y-2 Privateer (BuNo 59645) of VP-26, Det A. Based from NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco, the Privateer was on a patrol mission launched from Wiesbaden, West Germany. According the to the American account, this happened over the Baltic Sea off the coast of Lepija Latvia. The Soviets claimed the aircraft was intercepted over Latvia and fired on the Soviet fighters when it was intercepted. After the fighters engaged the Privateer, the Soviets report that it descended sharply before crashing into the sea 5-10 kilometers off the coast. Wreckage was recovered, but the crew of John H. Fette, Howard W. Seeschaf, Robert D. Reynolds, Tommy L. Burgess, Frank L. Beckman, Joe H. Danens, Jack W. Thomas, Joesph Jay Bourassa, Edward J. Purcell and Joesph Norris Rinnier Jr. were presumed killed..." Website: Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter http://www.silent-warriors.com/shootdown_list.html [20FEB2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VQ-1 and VQ-2, commissioned in the mid 1950s, were preceded by specially equipped aircraft and trained crews in small detachments with an Officer in Charge (OIC) administratively attached to other squadrons and units under operational control of the local theatre commanders, CINCNELM and CINCPAC, and responsible to the Special Project Division OP-922Y in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Some of these squadrons were VC-11, VP-26, VW-1 Detachment A, VW-2 Detachment A, NCU-32G, and NCU-38N. Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadrons One and Two (FAIRECONRON) are VQ-1 and VQ-2, initially designated Electronic Countermeasures Squadrons (ECMRON) until re-designated in 1960. I have compiled a list of the personnel who died in VQ aircraft accidents, and will provide it upon an email request...Chuck Huber charles379@webtv.net..." [16JAN2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "00XXX50--When I was in Brunswick in the late '50s, VP-26 lost 2 or 3 aircraft. They were all (or both) LK-8. Rumor had it, that they were going to skip 8 in the crew numbers. In retrospect, I don't think the Navy would proliferate or condone superstition in that manner, but it was the scuttlebutt. Can anyone corroborate, or is my memory way off? Charles A. Joseph cjoseph@eagle1.eaglenet.com

A BIT OF HISTORY: "08APR50--A PB4Y Privateer of VP-26, with 10 men on board, was lost over the Baltic Sea after being attacked by Soviet aircraft." http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/avchr7.htm

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Circa 1948

A BIT OF HISTORY: UNIT: VP-26 PREVIOUS DES: VP-HL-6 NAME: Tridents TAIL CODE: HA/LR ACTIVATED: 9-8-48 DEACTIVATED: TYPICAL LOCATION(S): NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii
"Title: Lockheed P2V Neptune An Illustrated History by Wayne Mutza wmutza@wi.rr.com...A Schiffer Military History Book...ISBN: 0-7643-0151-9...286 pages full of pictures and history!

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Circa 1946

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...USS Salisbury Sound (AV-13) - Circa 1946. Squadrons Mentioned: VP-21 and VPB-26..." WebSite: USS Salisbury Sound http://www.salisburysound.com/index_Page555.htm [07JAN2007]

Salisbury Sound got underway from San Pedro on 27 December 1945 for training out of San Diego. She cleared port on 12 February 1946 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 20th. After final exercises in the Hawaiian area, she sailed on 1 March to load 6 fighter planes and a torpedo bomber at Guam (13-15 March), then reported for duty to Commander Air Wing One at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, 19 March 1946. After conducting familiarization flights and gunnery tracking drills for planes of VP-21, she got underway on 8 June for tender service of VPB-26 at Shanghai (11 June-5 July); Tsingtao (6-17 July), returning to Buckner Bay on 10 July to resume duties at that base. She again sailed on 13 September to tend planes of Patrol Bombing Squadron Twenty-Six at Tsingtao, returning to 6 October 1946. Having repaired some 26 planes and directed several air-sea search and rescue missions which saved the life of a number of men, she put to sea on 4 November 1946 for return to the United States. Steaming by the way of the Philippines ports of Puerto Princessa, Manila and Guiuan, she arrived at San Diego on 23 December 1946. After upkeep and local training exercises, she cleared San Diego on 29 March 1947 again bound for Buckner Bay, Okinawa. She arrived at the latter base on 18 April 1947 to commence a second tour of duty as a mobile repair and seadrome control unit for the maintenance of patrol planes at that port, Tsingtao, China and Apra Harbor, Guam. She departed Buckner Bay on 27 July for another stay of service at Tsingtao until 30 August, then loaded planes and aviation cargo at Manila for delivery to Apra Harbor on 9 September 1947. She then set course for return to San Diego, 22 September 1947.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...20FEB46 - While on a training flight, a US Navy PBM-5 from VP-26, based in Tsingtao China, made an unauthorized flight over Dairen (Port Arthur) Manchuria. As a result, Soviet fighters fired warning bursts at it, but no damage was inflicted..." Website: Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter http://www.silent-warriors.com/shootdown_list.html [20FEB2003]

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Circa 1945

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Capt Dan Colburn..." WebSite: Aviation Heritage http://www.aviationheritage.com/biography.cfm/a> [13NOV2005]

VPB-26 History Capt Dan Colburn entered service, September 18, 1942, at the age of 19 in Minneapolis Minnesota.

He attended the Naval aviation progran, V-5, for Civil Pilot Training at St Mary's College, Winona, Minnesota, flying J-3 Cubs. In the spring of 1943 he was sent to the University Of Iowa, in Iowa Cit, IA. From there, in July of 1943, he went to primary flight training at Ottumwa, Iowa. He flew the Stearman, "Yellow Peril" for about seventy five hours. Ottumwa was one of about twenty Primary bases called "E" bases, the "E" in this case stood for Elimination. It's where they washed out pilots that they didn't think could complete the program.

VPB-26 History In Sept. '43 he went to NAAS Ellyson Field, Pensacola, Florida , where he received advanced training in the low winged Vultee "Vibrator"BT-13. He also flew the SNJ (AT-6) and had instrument training in the "Link" Trainer. Returning to Pensacola, Main Side, in November of 43, for training in the PBY. Here is where the split was made,sending some pilots to fighter bases and the multi engine pilots to either Bronson Field or to remain at Main Side for the PBY. Only Bronson and Main Side had seaplane facilities. Main Side had a preponderance of foreign student pilots. At the time Dan went, there were British, French and some South American students. There were only about twenty Americans. Again this was intense training, lots of flying and lots of ground school.

January 15th, 1944, Graduation day!! In dress uniform, he shook the Admiral's hand and received those "Navy Wings Of Gold." It was a wonderful day but sad as well, as he remembered friends who lost their lives in training accidents. When he said that the training was intense, He meant every word of it, since during that period, the Navy was losing more pilots in combat than they were graduating.

After receiving fight training in Pensacola, Florida he was shipped out to the Pacific. Assigned to the VPB-26 squadron he flew missions in support of the invasions of Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

VPB-26 History He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and three Air Medals. Dan married his wife, Marlowe, in 1944, 12 days before leaving for the Pacific. After the war he became a pilot for Minneapolus Honeywell, from 1946 through 1948. After leaving Honeywell, he flew for Braniff Airlines until 1956. Between 1965 and 1987 he flew for Douglas Aircraft as a test pilot. Finally, flying for Scenic Airlines until 1991. Dan and Marlowe have two children.

In the audio section of the web page, Dan talks about an extraordinary story of how he and his crew and providence dealt with a particular problem that arose during what he thought would be a “milk run” flight:

On June 27, 1945, they were scheduled to fly to NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands for an engine change to their PBM . They welcomed the chance to get some R&R away from the constant harassment of Japanese Kamikaze attacks and the noise of General Quarters alerts. Take off was routine from Retto, Okinawa as they started their 1211 mile trip to NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands .

VPB-26 History At almost midpoint of the flight a crew member announced that they were losing the top cowling on the left engine. They were faced with 3 options. Continue their flight to NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands and hope the cowling would stay on, (they could finish the flight on one engine if necessary), return to Okinawa and forego their much needed R&R, or attempt a landing in the open sea to reattach the cowling. The latter alternative was accompanied by a strong possibility of an accident either on landing or during takeoff. They elected to continue the flight to NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands. As they flew on the cowl situation worsened but the left engine continued to run.

After a few minutes however, a miraculous thing happened. The sea activity stopped and the water seemed smooth as glass in all directions. They elected to take advantage of the almost unbelievable situation and landed the aircraft on the smooth sea. After shutting down the engines they immediately got to work on the left engine cowling. After assuring that the cowling was firmly attached they took off without incident and completed their trip to NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands. They really enjoyed their R&R which consisted of clean bed sheets, showers, clean uniforms and plenty of satisfying beer.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Commissioning Ceremony - 8 Jan 1945..." WebSite: USS Norton Sound http://www.ussnortonsound.com/html/history1.htm [02SEP2005]

Originally built to tend seaplanes, USS Norton Sound (AV-11) carried out this duty during the closing months of World War II by operating in support of her "Flying Boat" squadron at Kerama Retto, Okinawa, Japan. During this time Norton Sound and her sister ships fought off attacking enemy aircraft (Including Kamikaze suicide planes) during 150 air raids. While all of this was going on, VPB-26, assigned to USS Norton Sound (AV-11) was conducting some 412 missions consisting of: anti ship and submarine, and long range reconnaissance patrols; mounting attacks against enemy shipping and shore facilities; and conducting air/sea rescue missions. The final combined tally for USS Norton Sound (AV-11) and VPB-26 was: 16 ships sunk and 31 ships damaged; 1 aircraft destroyed and 2 damaged; 2 docks and facilities destroyed; and 3 radio stations damaged. For much of her time at Okinawa, USS Norton Sound (AV-11) served as flagship for Commander, Fleet Air Wing 1 (FAW-1), who had the responsibility for supporting and operating 17 squadrons of land based and seaplanes from various air stations and up to 15 seaplane tenders, which were assigned to FAW-1 for operational control. FAW-1's area of responsibility extended over millions of square miles of the pacific theater of operations. In time, her activity stretched from Pearl Harbor (where her units were badly mauled during the attack) through final victory (VJ Day). Units of FAW-1 sunk or damaged over 1009 enemy ships and craft, destroyed or damaged well over 213 enemy aircraft, and inflicted incalculable damage on enemy shore installations during 39,179 patrol and combat missions.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Chimu Wan Base Terminal / Tengan Pier Okinawa, Japan - The seaplane base at Chimu Wan was established in July 1945 during the buildup of forces on Okinawa for the invasion of the Japanese home islands. On 14 July 1945, VPB-208 (PBM-5 Mariners) departed Kerama Rhetto for Chimu Wan, supported by USS Hamlin (AV-15). They were followed by VPB-26 (PBM-5 Mariners) on 15 July, VPB-22 (PBM-3D Mariners) on 16 August and VPB-205 (PBM-5 Mariners) 25 on August. USS St. George (AV-16) provided additional tender support. The last wartime operational flights for the squadrons were made from the location by VPB-208 and VPB-16 on 11 August 1945. The base was disestablished after it was destroyed by typhoons in September and October 1945..." WebSite: GlobalSecurity http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/tengan-pier.htm [27APR2005]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...From 1945 to 1969, U.S. Navy aircraft were involved in a number of aerial incidents with forces of the Soviet Union, People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and Czechoslovakia. These incidents resulted in the loss of eight Navy aircraft and one Coast Guard aircraft, eighty-one Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviators and crewman, and several aircraft damaged and crewmen wounded and injured. The list below, compiled from official and unofficial sources, does not include aircraft lost in direct action in the Korean and Vietnam wars, nor aircraft shot down by Chinese forces in the vicinity of Vietnam in connection with that war..." Naval Historical Center, Department Of The Navy, Washington, D. C http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/dictvol2.htm [06MAY2001]

15 Nov 1945 PBM-5
While on a routine patrol mission, this aircraft was attacked by a Soviet fighter 25 miles south of Dairen (Port Arthur), Manchuria while investigating six Soviet transport ships and a beached seaplane in the Gulf of Chihli in the Yellow Sea. No damage inflicted.

20 Feb 1946 PBM-5 VP-26
Based from Tsingtao, China, during a training flight this aircraft made an unauthorized flight over Dairen (Port Arthur), Manchuria. As a result, it was fired upon by Soviet fighters firing warning bursts for twenty minutes. No damage inflicted.

8 Apr 1950 PB4Y-2 VP-26
Based from NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco, while on a Det A patrol mission launched from Wiesbaden, West Germany, this aircraft (BuNo 59645) was lost when attacked by Soviet aircraft over the Baltic Sea off the coast of Lepija, Latvia. Wreckage was recovered, but unconfirmed reports stated that the missing ten crewmembers were taken prisoner.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Air-to-Air Shoot Downs by Navy and Marine Corps Patrol Type Aircraft During World War II - This Squadron Mentioned...Naval Historical Center ADOBE Download File: http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Appen4.pdf [12FEB2004]

Air-To-Air Shootdowns 118KB

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Circa 1944 - 1946

A BIT OF HISTORY: " CD-ROM: Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons Vol. 2 Stock No. 008-046-00195-2 The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL), and VP(AM) Naval Historical Center, Department Of The Navy, Washington, D. C...." [15JUN2000]

CHAPTER 3 Patrol Squadron (VP) Histories VP-26 553B

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Circa 1944

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Rehoboth Seaplane Tender - A city on Delaware's Atlantic Coast. The first Rehoboth retained her former name...(Squadrons Mentioned: FAW-7, VH-1, VH-6, VPB-20, VPB-26 and ZP-14)..." WebSite: Naval History Center http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r4/rehoboth-ii.htm [23DEC2005]

Rehoboth

A city on Delaware's Atlantic Coast. The first Rehoboth retained her former name.

II

(AVP - 50: displacement 2,800 (full load); length 310’9”; beam 41’2”; draft 13’6”; speed 18 knots; complement 215; troop 152; armament 2 5”, 8 40mm., 8 20mm., 2 depth charge tracks; class Barnegat)

The second Rehoboth (AVP-50) was laid down 3 August 1942 by Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Wash.; launched 8 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. R. P. McConnell; and commissioned 23 February 1944, Comdr. Robert Crawford Warrack in command.

Following shakedown off San Diego, Rehoboth transited the Panama Canal 25 April 1944 and reached Norfolk 14 May. Three days later she sailed for Casablanca carrying men and cargo of ZP-14. Returning to Norfolk 9 June, she carried cargo and personnel for FAW-7 in Britain, 8 July to 9 August, then sailed south to Recife reporting to ComFAirWing 16 for duty 31 August. She transported passengers and cargo between various Brazilian ports until 15 January 1945 when she departed Natal for Bristol, England, carrying personnel and cargo for ComFAirWing 7. On 14 February she returned to Norfolk, whence, until mid-June, she carried men and equipment to Bristol and Avonmouth in England.

Rehoboth retransited the Panama Canal 18 August, and after calls at San Diego and Pearl Harbor she arrived off Okinawa 2 October. There for 2 weeks she tended planes of air-sea rescue squadron 6 (VH-6), then steamed to Jinsen, Korea, where she took command of a seadrome, and tended planes of VPB-20. In mid-November she crossed the Yellow Sea, and from 18 November-21 December tended a detachment of VH-6. On Christmas Day she arrived at Shanghai to tend VH-1 and VPB-26 planes. On 25 January Rehoboth got underway for Nagoya, Japan, thence proceeded to Kobe 17 February where she set up an auxiliary seadrome area. On 24 March she arrived at Sasebo where she assumed seadrome control.

Rehoboth continued to serve in Japanese waters until August when she returned briefly to the Chinese coast, then operated off Australia and in the Philippines. In November she returned to Japan whence she sailed east in 1947. Arriving at San Diego 18 March, she continued on, transited the Panama Canal at the end of the month, and reached Philadelphia, 9 April. Decommissioned 30 June 1947, she commenced conversion to a survey ship the following year.

Reclassified AGS-50, she recommissioned 2 September 1948, and commenced oceanographic survey work under the direction of the Hydrographic Office. Equipped with a small laboratory and machinery to take Nansen casts, which provide the oceanographer with the temperature and samples of sea water at different depths, and drill for core samples, she traveled over 300,000 miles in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas during her first 6 years of operation.

In February 1952, while crossing the Atlantic, she discovered and accurately positioned an underwater mountain range with heights up to 12,000 feet above the ocean floor. In March 1952 she discovered and charted a 7,000-foot mountain near Bermuda and in August 1953 Rehoboth became the first ship to anchor in over 2½ miles of water.

Employed on special projects in 1953 and 1954, she returned to oceanographic survey work in the Atlantic and Caribbean in 1953. Transferred to the Pacific in 1956, she departed Philadelphia 15 February. Transiting the Panama Canal 22 February, she was diverted to an area northwest of the Galapagos Islands to search for the raft "Cantuta" which she found after 4 days. On 9 March Rehoboth reached San Francisco, and for the next year operated off the west coast. On 4 March 1957 she proceeded to Pearl Harbor for 3 months work in Hawaiian waters. For the next 9 months she operated in the eastern Pacific. In April 1958 she extended her range to the Marshalls and in 1960 to the western Pacific. In October 1960 she also added operations off the South American coast. For the next 4 years her missions spanned the Pacific from equatorial to arctic climes.

In September 1965 Rehoboth completed operations in the northern Pacific and in November commenced survey operations in the South China Sea, conducting in December a hydrographic survey of the South Vietnamese coast from the Mekong Delta to Cape Padaran.

After completing survey operations in the South China Sea in February 1966, she sailed east, arriving at San Francisco 23 March. Overhaul and west coast operations followed. In 1967 she conducted operations in the northern and western Pacific. In California waters from December 1967 until 14 March 1968, she then departed San Francisco for Yokosuka. She undertook survey operations in the Philippine Sea until August, returning to San Francisco 26 September where she remained for the balance of the year. She operated off the California coast in early 1969 until deploying to the Far East in August, returning in December to San Francisco. She decommissioned and was struck from the Navy list 15 April 1970.

23 September 2005

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...[Global Security] WebSite http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/vp-26.htm..." [04JAN2002]

Patrol Squadron 26, a member of Patrol Wing FIVE, is a Maritime Patrol Squadron with a worldwide theater of operations. Although the "TRIDENTS" are homeported at U. S. Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, their reputation is known throughout the world. As a result of the squadron's versatility and mobility, the men and women of VP-26 have made friends everywhere they have traveled.

The squadron's history may be traced back to August 26, 1943, when Bombing Squadron 114, flying the PB4Y Liberator, was tasked with convoy protection duty during World War II. Our squadron directly protected the Allied Fleet from U-boats during the Normandy invasion in June 1944. In 1947, VP-26 actively participated in the Berlin Airlift, flying tons of medical supplies to the isolated Berliners. In 1948, the designation was changed to Patrol Squadron 26 and the squadron was based in Port Lyautey, Morocco until 1950. In 1951 the squadron received its second type of aircraft, the P-2V Neptune, and subsequently moved from Patuxent River, Maryland to Brunswick, Maine. While deployed at Thule, Greenland in 1956, all of the squadron's twelve Neptunes flew over the North Pole, making it the first Navy unit to accomplish this.

Some of the highlights in the 1960's include support of the Quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis, transition to the P-3 Orion in 1966, and operations in Southeast Asia where several members earned Air and Campaign Medals and the squadron earned the Fleet Air Wing THREE Battle Efficiency Excellence"E" Award. VP-26 played an integral role in the VietnamWar, participating in Operation Market Time and surveillance of hostile traffic at sea and ashore. Two aircraft and their crewmembers were lost in combat. We will never forget their ultimate sacrifice in the name of duty. A college scholarship established by the squadron memorializes them.

The Tridents participated in numerous North Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments from 1968 to 1980. VP-26's outstanding performance throughout these extensive operations earned the squadron the Navy Unit Commendation, two CNO Safety Awards, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Captain Arnold J. Isbell Trophy for excellence in ASW, and designation as the Navy's only active duty Bicentennial Squadron.

In 1979, VP-26 transitioned to the P-3C Update II. In 1980,the squadron deployed to Kadena, Okinawa where the Tridents received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for activities in the Indian Ocean. In May 1981, Patrol Squadron 26 introduced Harpoon Missile Capability to the Mediterranean theater. In the remainder of the 80's, VP-26 deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, Rota, Spain, Lajes, Azores, and various other countries to include England, Turkey, Africa, and the Ascension Islands. In 1989, the squadron received its second consecutive Battle "E".

As the world scene changed in the 1990's, Patrol Squadron Twenty-Six faced new challenges. With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, VP-26 saw three consecutive deployments to Sigonella, Italy. While at Sigonella, squadron employment ranged from the traditional to the cutting edge. Detachments were sent to Saudi Arabia to monitor the United Nations embargo against Iraq. Over the Adriatic Sea, VP-26 enforced the embargo against the former Yugoslavia in the first continuous armed patrols in theMediterranean since World War II, carrying live torpedoes and Maverick missiles. The squadron also was among the first to conduct electro-optic surveillance patrols overland and to visit emerging Eastern European democracies.

In January 1995, the Tridents began an intense seven month transition to refit P- 3C Update III aircraft. This transition was completed in February 1996.

VP-26 continued to set records during their 1996-97 tri-site deployment to Iceland, Puerto Rico, and Panama. They cued the highest drug interdiction rate ever and set a record for"real world" submarine contact. VP-26 was awarded the1996 COMNAVAIRLANT Battle Excellence "E" Award.

The squadron's most carefully guarded achievement continues to this day -- more than 35 years (1997) of mishap-free flying -- a worldwide record which encompasses all types of aviation.

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...I'm writing to you on behalf of my father. He wrote to you about some history of VPB-26. My father never really said much until recently about the war. I began asking him a lot about it after I met a Mr. John Martocci, whom my father flew with. John told me a couple of things and I stumbled upon one of my father's old flight logs. My dad was referred to as Tex Emerson and was in combat aircrew eight. There are a couple of stories I've sent that refer to him. I did see in one of his flight logs an entry that took place sometime in 1945 about a night they "got the hell shot out of them." VPB-26 apparently dates back farther than naval records indicate. Having served in the navy myself I know sometimes records don't always show historical fact. My dad sent me a "memory" book from VPB-26..."

VPB 26
Our Squradron History

FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE "MARINER" ABOARD THE USS NORTON SOUND (AVII) IN AUGUST, 1945.

Patrol Bombing Squadron 26 was commissioned 1 May, 1944 at Norfolk with Lt. Cdr. R.S. Null as commanding officer and Lt. Cdr. D.C. Coy as executive officer. Attached to Fleet Air Wing FIVE, "It commenced an intensive three and a half months of shakedown at Charleston, S.C. prior to Joining the Pacific Fleet.

On 3 September, the planes with skeleton crews proceeded on a transcontinental flight to Alameda, Calif. No mishaps occurred other than CAC l's forced landing in Monterey Bay due to a serious leak in one engine.

On 15 September, ground and excess flight personnel departed from San Francisco on the USS THETIS BAY for Oahu, T.H. Departure of crews and planes for Kaneohe commenced on 28 September. Upon arrival all planes of the Squadron were assigned to Fleet Air Wing TWO for further ground and flight training...air bombers were given an extensive course ABTU; survival lectures were given at the Bishop Museum at Honolulu; CAC's attended Gunnery school; radiomen received additional training in the use of special equipment and flight training included bombing practice, searches and patrol, simulated mine laying, fighter evasion tactics and night patrols. All crews experienced tender operations with either the USS BERING STRAIT or the USS CUMBERLAND SOUND at Hilo, Hawaii.

During November, new black PBM-5's replaced our PBM3-D's and CAC's 8,10,11 and 16, ferried some of the older planes to the forward area.

Beginning 25 January, 1945, the Squadron departed Kaneohe for Parry Island, Eniwetok, in the Marshalls-Gilberts. For nearly two months the Squadron conducted convoy coverage, searches, reconnaissance and "Dumbo" flights to the Jap-held islands of Wake and Ponape, and special missions such as the search for the B-24 lost between KwaJalein and Johnston Is. which was carrying Lt. Gen. Harmon back to Washington.

While at Eniwetok, Lt. Cutet with CAC#2 and Lt(Jg) Cornish with CAC#12 were detached from the Squadron on temporary duty to participate in the invasion of Iwo Jima. These two crews performed "dumbo" missions'for B-29's and B-24's north of Saipan. Lt Cutet, on 11 February spotted seven survivors of a B-29, dropped supplies and directed surface craft to the life rafts. These crews performed the first "Aerial Press Service" in the war by flying mail and photographic material from Iwo during the invasion and dropping them at NAS Agana, Guam to be returned immediately to the States.

On 24 March, the Squadron moved to Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, where it conducted search and night anti-submarine patrol flights until 27 April when it proceeded forward to Kerama Retto in the Ryukyus. On 19 April, the Squadron became tender-based and ground and excess flight personnel left Saipan aboard the tender while the planes flew to Kerama a week later.

Up to 7 June the Squadron conducted anti-submarine patrols and from 7 June to 1 July, Participated in anti-shipping sweeps and searches within sight of Formosa, China, Korea and Japan. The period of search patrols left no doubt the VPB-26 was a fighting squadron composed of as aggressive pilots and aircrevmen as any PBM squadron in the Pacific Fleet. These pilots and men were not only able and willing to go out and accomplish things, but were able to return safely. The following crews were responsible for a great amount of punishment inflicted upon the enemy;-CAC's 7, 11, 15, 8, 12, 17, 16, 13, 2 and 1. The following pilots lead these crevs;-Lt. Cdr. Coy, Lt. Turner, Lt. Bach, Lt. Clews, Lt(jg) Cornish, Lt. Walker, Lt-. Hoffman, Lt(Jg) Cieslinski, Lt. Cutet and Lt(jg) Whitman.

The Squadron has set a record for every officer and man to be proud of and one for relief crews to attempt to emulate.

Some of our crews are leaving the area for a well deserved period of rest back home and others will be following very shortly. Let's hope that all of you who may return to duty In the Pacific may find a berth as pleasant as the one in "26."

VPB-26
SQUADRONIS FINAL SCORE

The cover on this veek's "Mariner" is the squadron's "Mission Board." It represents, for the most part, damage Inflicted upon the enemy within a period of three weeks of search operations.

The total assessment was; sixteen ships sunk, thirty-one ships damaged, two shipyards destroyed, one plane destroyed and three radio stations damaged. In addition to the above, four survivors were rescued by the pilots of the squadron, one within less than a mile of enemy shore batteries that fired upon the plane.

The squadron feels that it has reason to be proud of the above record, Particularly since it did not suffer a single casualty or loss of aircraft.

Credit is also due to the excellent work of the maintenance crews of the Air Department. Without their cooperation and constant labor'in keeping the planes in commission,, the squadron would not have built up the enviable it has. To them, the "Unsung Heroes," the pilots express their thanks.

In bidding us farewell on leaving for their new assignment, the Squadron expresses the wish that the Norton Sound were going with them.



Source: "Crews News,," USS Cumberland Sound AV-17, Sept. 15, 1945.
VPB-26 OKINAWA VETERANS NOW ABOARD AV-17
HAVE IMPRESSIVE RECORD

As the climax of an outstanding record, Patrol Bombing Squadron 26, flying Mariner flying boats, has. become the first seaplane squadron to land in Japanese home waters, where it will operate in connection with the occupation forces, on the afternoon of August 30th, Tokyo time, the Ist planes of the squadron, led by the squadron skipper, Lt. Cdr. R.S. Null, USNR, of Rushon, La., landed in Tokyo Bay.

Two days earlier, the USS Cumberland Sound, the Seaplane Tender to which the squadron Is attached, had arrived in Tokyo Bay with the first group of ships of the occupation forces. Some of the crews not making the trip by plane, together with administrative and ground personnel of the squadron, were aboard the tender.

The honor of being the first seaplane squadron to arrive in Tokyo Bay is well merited by VPB-26, which has achieved an impressive history. The squadron was commissioned May 1, 1944 and after operating successively in the Hawaiian area, Eniwetok, KwaJalein and Saipan, It was ordered to Kerama Retto, Okinawa Gunto, in April 1945.

At Okinawa, the squadron executed a wide variety of missions, reaching to the China Coast near Formosa and up to the tip of the Shantung Peninsula, along the shores of Korea, into the Japan Sea and along the eastern shores of Japan as far north as Honshu.

It's record shows 19 Japanese merchant ships sunk, 31 damaged, 1 Jap fighter shot down and 2 others damaged, 2 Japanese shipyards destroyed, several docks and piers damaged and several lighthouses, radio stations and weather stations bombed and strafed.

A great variety of Japanese shipping was encountered and attacked off the shores of China and Korea. Valuable information as to the movement of Japanese warships from China and Korea to Japan was obtained on the long range searches.

Dick Warner (CAC11) sent the above story which was printed In Crews News aboard the Cumberland Sound AV-17 after they had entered Tokyo Bay. Dick was with the squadron from Its inception at Norfolk, May 1944, until he returned home in November, 1945. He has a good collection of squadron related photos and a squadron insignia which was sewn on his flight Jacket, along with the Chinese flag which was sewn in the lining. our thanks to Dick for his contribution to our squadron history.



UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET
PATROL BOMBING SQUADRON TWENTY SIX
Important Dates In Our Squadron History

May 1, 1944 Squadron VP-26 commissioned, NAS Norfolk, VA.

Oct 1, 1944 Squadron designation changed to VPB-26.

May 15, 1946 Designation changed back to VP-26.

Dec 14,1946 Squadron decommissioned.

May 1944 Squadron formed at NAS Norfolk and were assigned 15 PBM-3D Mariners & 16 Combat Air Crews.

May 11, 1944 Squadron started moving to NAS Charleston, SC.

Sept 2, 1944 Started trans-continental flight to NAS Alameda,CA.

Nov 2, 1944 First planes arrived NAS Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Nov 1944 Squadron received all new PBM-5D planes. Color black.

Jan 25, 1945 Planes started departing Kaneohe for Eniwetok, with a stop at Johnston Island and a brief stay at Kwajalein.

Jan 28, 1945 Squadron based ashore at Parry Island, Eniwetok Atoll.

Jan 30, 1945 Planes started departing Parry Island, Eniwetok, for Saipan. Two planes flew from Saipan to participate in the Iwo Jima invasion.

March 21, 1945 Squadron based ashore at NAB Tanapag Harbor, Saipan.

March 24, 1945 Started search and night Anti-Sub Patrols from Saipan.While at Saipan, Squadron boarded the USS Norton Sound, (AV-11), the newest of Seaplane Tenders.

April 26, 1945 Norton Sound arrived at Kerama Retto.

April 27, 1945 First planes started arriving at Kerama Retto.

May 28,1945 Squadron missions were changed from anti-sub to sector searches and anti-shipping missions. Flights were along the coasts of China, Korea and Japan.

June, 1945 Total damage for three weeks operation were: 16 ships sunk, 31 ships damaged, 1 plane destroyed, 2 planes damaged, 2 shipyards destroyed, 2 docks destroyed and 3 radio stations-damaged.

July 15, 1945 Due to enormous swells at Kerama Retto, squadron and the Norton Sound moved to Chima Wan, Okinawa.

July 31, 1945 CAC's 7 & 13 were replaced by relief crews and detached. Aug 5, 1945 CAC's 3, 4 & 17 were detached and headed home. Squadron continued Anti-Sub Patrols.

Aug 15, 1945 At 0800 word received that President Truman had announced the war was over. The Norton Sound made an evening departure for Tokyo Bay.

Aug 16, 1945 Orders were changed, Norton Sound returned to Okinawa.

Aug 17, 1945 Four flight crews aboard the Cumberland Sound (AV-17) and headed once again for Tokyo Bay. During period of readiness for flights to Tokyo, CAC's 10, 12 & 8 were detached and departed for home.

Aug 28, 1945 Cumberland Sound arrived at Tokyo Bay.

Aug 30, 1945 VPB-26 planes led by our skipper Lt Cdr Null landed in Tokyo Bay. They were the first planes to land there. A distinct honor for VPB-26.

Oct 1, 1945 Change of command for VPB-26. Lt Cdr Campbell new skipper.

Oct 14, 1945 The remaining "original" crews of VPB-26 were detached. This completed 17 months of duty with no serious injury or death to personnel, or loss of aircraft due to enemy action.

THANKS FOR THE HELP

The many personal experiences and stories of the personnel of US Navy-Patrol Bombing Squadron Twenty-Six would have been lost forever had it not been for the cooperation of its members and those associated with them. This "Memories Book" represents the writings of our personnel which we have accumulated since the Chicago reunion in 1988. In addition there are bits of our history, original rosters and short stories that are part of the VPB-26 History.

Our thanks to all for their help. Without your cooperation, this book would not have been possible. Harold Radugge and Harold Radugge Jr. designed and provided the covers for each book printed. And then there are the artists,Peter and Mary Ann Glover and Rick Brodeur fox the sketches of various Squadron incidents throughout our tour. Contributions from young artists Patrick Brodeur and Christopher Young helped to illustrate a couple of events we heard so much about. The Brodeur Group of Boscawen, NH have offered the services of their facilities and staff for any VPB-26 projects since we took over the publication of the newsletters in 188, courtesy: Ed & Sandra Brodeur. We are grateful for everyones cooperation and help.

The "Memories Book" was printed by Town Country Graphics, Concord, NH, (the same printers who prepare our newsletters.) They were handed a folder full of paste-ups, typed pages and loose photos. They managed to put together the "Memories Book" which you have before you. we appreciate their assistance and interest in our VPB-26 publications.

I am hopeful that this accumulation of the bits & pieces that made Patrol Bombing Squadron 26 the unique flying boat squadron that it was, will preserve our history of WWII for generations to come.

Our many thanks to all who in any way helped to make this book possible.

Sincerely
Dick Brodeur
Newsletter Editor
52 Center Street
Penacook, New Hampshire
03303-1640
Contributed by R. Bruce Emerson, Active duty 1976 to 1986 emersonr@inreach.com [12JAN99]

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Circa 1943

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...The squadron's history may be traced back to August 26, 1943. When Bombing Squadron 114, flying the PB4Y Liberator from the NAF Lajes, Azores, Portugal, was asked with Convoy protection duty in the Atlantic during WW II. On 1 October 1944 was designated VPB-114, and on 15 November 1946 VP-HL-6 with HB as tail code on its PB4Y-2 Privateers. Successively the squadron adopted the code EK and in 1947 was based in NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco, with temporary detachments at Hal Far, Malta. On 15 September 1948 the squadron was designated VP-26. One of its PB4Y-2 was shot down in the Baltic Sea by Soviet fighters in 1950. In 1951 the squadrton received the P2V-3 Neptune and subsequently moved from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland to NAS Brunswick, Maine. in 1953 the code was EB. In 1958 the VP-26 passed to the P2V-5, with code LK. Some of the highlights..." Contributed by Claudio Antonelli clantos@tin.it [24DEC2000]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Patrol Squadron 26, a member of Patrol Wing FIVE, is a Maritime Patrol Squadron with a world wide theater of operations. Mission areas include: anti-submarine warfare; anti-ship warfare; offensive and defensive mine delivery; sea surveillance and maritime intelligence collection; coastal and overland reconnaissance; targeting for strikes; counterdrug detection and monitoring; electronic warfare; battle damage assessment; and search and rescue. Although the "TRIDENTS" are homeported at U.S. Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, their reputation is known throughout the world. As a result of the squadron’s versatility and mobility, the men and women of VP-26 have made friends everywhere they have traveled. The Squadron's history may be traced back to August 26, 1943 when Bombing Squadron 114, flying the PB4Y Liberator, was tasked with convoy protection duty during World War 11. In 1948, the designation was changed to Patrol Squadron 26 and the squadron was based in NAS Port Lyautey, French Morocco until 1950. In 1951 the squadron received its second type of ascot, the P-2V Neptune, and subsequently moved from Patuxent River, Maryland to Brunswick, Maine. Some of the highlights in the 1960's include support of the Quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis, transition to the P-3 Orion in 1966, and operations in Southeast Asia where several members earned Air and Campaign Medals and the squadron earned the Fleet Air Wing THREE Battle Efficiency Excellence "E" Award. The Tridents participated in numerous North Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments from 1968 to 1980. VP-26's outstanding performance throughout these extensive operations earned the squadron the Navy Unit Commendation, two CNO Safety Awards, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Captain Arnold J. Isbell Trophy for excellence in ASW, and designation as the Navy's only active duty Bicentennial Squadron. In 1979, VP-26 transitioned to the P-3C Update 11. In 1980, the squadron deployed to NAF Kadena, Okinawa, Japan where the Tridents received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for activities in the Indian Ocean. In May 1981, Patrol Squadron 26 introduced Harpoon Missile Capability to the Mediterranean theater. In the remainder of the 80's, VP-26 deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, Rota, Spain, Lajes, Azores, and various other countries to include England, Turkey, Africa, and the Acsencion Islands. In 1989, the squadron received its second consecutive Battle "E". In November 1990, VP-26 commenced a unique tri-site deployment to NS Roosevelt Roads, PR , and Lajes, Azores performing Detection and Monitoring Operations while several crews and an administrative and maintenance detachment remained in Brunswick, Maine. In November 1992, Patrol Squadron 26 completed a Mediterranean deployment to Sigonelia, Sicily, during which they again forged history. This time they were the first P-3 squadron to fly missions in the Adriatic Sea during Operation Maritime Monitor. VP-26 flew in support of Operation DESERT CALM and UN sanctions against the former Republic of Yugoslavia, earning the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. In February 1994, the squadron completed an historic Mediterranean deployment to Sigonelia, Sicily, highlighted by a P-3 record setting 165 live Maverick missile loads and execution of the first live Maverick missile firing an operational P-3 squadron. The Tridents flew over 4800 hours in support of Operation SHARP GUARD in union with NATO forces in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, in addition to supporting Operation DESERT CALM in the Red Sea and numerous multinational exercises. In October 1994, VP-26 magnificently demonstrated the concept of "fly and train as you would fight" by flawlessly executing a formation Mining Readiness Certification Inspection (MRCI). This was the first MRCI flown in close formation by any VP squadron in the previous five years. In November 1994, VP-26 conducted its third Maverick missile shot at the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Test Facility near Puerto Rico. This superb event was conducted during the time the squadron was vigorously preparing for several aircraft transfers and its upcoming Operational Readiness Exam. In December 1994, Team Trident was called upon to conduct a SAR effort 950 miles off the coast of New England. A 450 foot Ukrainian freighter had been taking on water in stormy seas. VP-26 flew over 85 hours in 6 days in support of this effort, during which two people were rescued after their vessel had sunk. In January 1995, only days after their arrival in Sigonella for their third consecutive Mediterranean Maverick deployment, the Tridents received COMPATWING FIVE's nomination for the Patrol Wings Atlantic Battle "E" award. VP-26 flew over 5,000 hours and 300 armed missions in support of operations Sharp Guard and Deny Flight in addition to numerous NATO exercises. In July 1995, the Tridents returned to Brunswick, Maine, to begin and intense seven month transition to the newer P-3C Update III aircraft. This transition was completed in February 1996. In March 1996, the Tridents celebrated a record-breaking 250,000 mishap-free flight hours in 33 years, a milestone achieved by no other operational squadron in the U.S. Navy. VP-26 continued to set records during their most recent tri-site deployment to Iceland, Puerto Rico, and Panama. They had the highest drug interdiction rate ever with more than 1.9 billion dollars in cocaine and marijuana busts. Cocaine busts alone were in excess of 38 metric tons which is equivalent to over 20% of estimated U.S. consumption. The crews in Iceland had the highest total contact time on "real world" submarines of any U.S. MPA squadron in the last four years. They participated in such exercises as NATO CJTFEX NORTHERN LIGHTS/ BRIGHT HORIZON 96, Keftacex 1-96, RN Joint Maritime Course 2-96 (which included 9 nations' MPA), and were the first-ever U.S. military unit invited to participate in Norwegian national exercise FLOTEX 96. The diverse service of Maritime Patrol requires that we perform many specific tasks. In all these tasks, and as VP-26 sharpens its focus on the future, one thing remains constant. Our fundamental mission: "We Hunt" Contributed by George Sherwood GSherwood@compuserve.com WEBSITE: http://shell.ime.net/~georges/index.htm

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Patrol Squadron 26, a member of Patrol Wing FIVE, is a Maritime Patrol Squadron with a worldwide theater of operations. Mission areas include multi-sensor intelligence collection, surface surveillance, over-the-horizon targeting, undersea warfare, mining, drug interdiction, communications relaying, command and control, and search and rescue (SAR). Although the "TRIDENTS" are homeported at U.S. Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, their reputation is known throughout the world. The squadron's history may be traced back to August 26, 1943 when Bombing Squadron 114, flying the PB4Y Liberator, was tasked with convoy protection duty during World War II. In 1948, the designation was changed to Patrol Squadron 26 and the squadron was based in NAS Port Lyautey, French Morocco until 1950. In 1951 the squadron received its second type of aircraft, the P-2V Neptune and subsequently moved from Patuxent River, Maryland to Brunswick, Maine. Some of the highlights in the 1960's include: support of the Quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis; transition to the P-3 Orion in 1966; and operations in Southeast Asia where several members earned Air and Campaign Medals and the squadron earned the Fleet Air Wing THREE Battle Efficiency Excellance ("E") Award. The Tridents participated in numerous North Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments from 1968 to 1980. VP-26's outstanding performance throughout these extensive operations earned the squadron the Navy Unit Commendation, two CNO Safety Awards, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Captain Arnold Jay Isbell Trophy for excellence in ASW, and designation as the Navy's only active duty Bicentennial Squadron. In 1979, VP-26 transitioned to the P-3C Update II. In 1980, the squadron deployed to NAF Kadena, Okinawa, Japan where the Tridents received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for activities in the Indian Ocean. In May 1981, Patrol Squadron 26 introduced Harpoon Missile capability into the Mediterranean theater. In the remainder of the 80's, VP-26 deployed to Keflavik, Rota, Lajes, England, Ascension Island, Sigonella, Turkey and Africa. In 1989, the squadron received its second consecutive Battle "E". In November 1990, VP-26 commenced a unique tri-site deployment to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, and Lajes, Azores performing Detection and Monitoring Operations while several crews and an administrative and maintenance detachment remained "deployed" to Brunswick, Maine. In November 1992, Patrol Squadron 26 completed a Mediterranean deployment to Sigonella, Sicily, during which they again forged history, this time as the first P-3 squadron to fly missions in the Adriatic Sea during Operation Maritime Monitor. VP-26 flew in support of U.N. sanctions against the former Republic of Yugoslavia and Operation Desert Calm. In February 1994, the squadron completed a historic Mediterranean deployment to Sigonella, Sicily, highlighted by a P-3 record setting 165 live Maverick missiles loads and execution of the first live Maverick missile firing by an operational P-3 squadron. The Tridents flew over 4800 hours in support of Operation Sharp Guard in coalition with NATO forces in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, in addition to supporting Operation Desert Calm in the Red Sea and numerous multinational exercises. In October 1994, VP-26 magnificently demonstrated the concept "fly and train as you would fight" by flawlessly executing a formation Mining Readiness Certification Inspection (MRCI). This complex training evolution was the first MRCI flown in close formation by any VP squadron in the last five years. In December 1994, Team Trident was called upon to conduct a SAR effort 950 miles off the coast of New England. The 450 foot Ukrainian freighter, Salvador Allende had been taking on water in stormy seas. VP-26 flew over 85 hours in 6 days in support of this effort, during which two people were rescued after their vessel had sunk. In January 1995, only days after their arrival in Sigonella for their third consecutive Mediterranean Maverick deployment, the Tridents received COMPATWING FIVE's nomination for the Patrol Wings Atlantic Battle "E" award. VP-26 flew over 5,000 hours and 300 armed missions in support of operations Sharp Guard and Deny Flight, and numerous NATO exercises including Dogfish, Sharem 111, Royal Delta, Juniper Falconry, Destined Glory and Dogu Akdeniz. In July 1995, the Tridents returned to Brunswick, ME, to begin an intense seven month transition to the newer model update three aircraft. This transition was completed in February 1996. In March 1996, the Tridents celebrated a record-breaking 250,000 mishap-free flight hours and 33 years, a milestone achieved by no other operational squadron in the US Navy." http://flightdeck.airlant.navy.mil/public/chvp26.htm

---

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...VP-26 History 1940 - 2004...MISSION: Patrol Squadron TWENTY-SIX is a diverse element of the United States Navy that performs many assignments. We are the hunters who serve as the eyes and ears of the Fleet. By patrolling in advance of the Fleet's arrival or in its surrounding environment, potential enemies are located, tracked and if necessary, neutralized. Maritime patrol aircraft also serve as a strategic deterrent to conflicts. Team TRIDENT will hunt at great distances and with long endurance, often from remote sites with little support..." WebSite: VP-26 Official Site http://www.vp26.navy.mil/ [06MAR2008]

VP-26 History Circa 1940 - 2004 690KB

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Circa 1940

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Why no mention of original VP-26 which was part of Patrol Wing TWO at Pearl and which went to Subic (Olongapo) in fall of 1940 and became second squadron (VP-102) of Patrol Wing TEN. VP-21 had come out year earlier and became VP-101 at Cavite. LT J. J. Hyland, USN, was Engineer Officer of VP-102. As Admiral, USN, and either CINCPAC or COM7thFLT he flew last flying boat war patrol in Viet-Nam. Deceased 25 Oct 1998. Both top notch pilot (he served 18 months as Admiral E. J. King's pilot during WWII and if he hadn't been good wouldn't have lasted a week) and fine officer - he was first OIC of USN detachment at Geraldton, Australia (north of Freemantle) in 1942 and my brother (AOM1c at the time) remembers him with respect and admiration..." Contributed by Allan LeBaron alebaron@HiWAAY.net [24JAN99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Circa 1940 AIRCRAFT SCOUTING FORCE - Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol - HULBERT (AVD-6) - LCDR J. V. Carney..." Contributed by John Lucas john.lucas@netzero.net [15DEC98]

PATROL WING ONE - CDR W. K. Harrill

TENDERS

USS HULBERT (AVD-6) - LCDR J. V. Carney
USS PELICAN (AVP-6) - LT H. J. Dyson
USS AVOCET (AVP-4) - LT R. E. Dixon

SQUADRONS

VP-11 - LCDR J. W. Harris
VP-12 - LCDR C. W. Oexle
VP-13 - LCDR S. B. Cooke
VP-14 - LCDR W. T. Rassieur

PATROL WING TWO - CAPTAIN Patrick N. L. Bellinger

TENDERS

USS WRIGHT (AV-1) - CDR J. M. Shoemaker,
USS WILLIAM B. PRESTON (AVD-7) - LCDR F. J. Bridget
USS SWAN (AVP-7) - and LT A. R. Truslow, Jr.

SQUADRONS

VP-22 - LCDR W. P. Cogswell
VP-23 - LCDR G. Van Deurs
VP-24 - LCDR D. C. Allen
VP-25 - LCDR A. R. Brady
VP-26 - LCDR A. N. Perkins

---

Circa 1939

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Circa 1939 AIRCRAFT SCOUTING FORCE - Rear Admiral A. B. Cook - MEMPHIS (CL-13) - CAPTAIN S. A. Manahan..." Contributed by John Lucas john.lucas@netzero.net [15DEC98]

PATROL WING ONE - CAPTAIN C. P. Mason

TENDERS

USS WRIGHT (AV-1) - CDR W. K. Harrill
USS PELICAN (AVP-6) - LT H. J. Dyson
USS AVOCET (AVP-4) - LT J. M. Carson

SQUADRONS

VP-11 - LCDR F. T. Ward, Jr.
VP-12 - LCDR A. C. Olney, Jr.
VP-13 - LCDR S. H. Ingersoll

PATROL WING TWO - Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol

TENDERS

USS LANGLEY (AV-3) - CDR A. C. Davis
USS CHILDS (AVP-14) - LCDR H. F. Fick
USS SWAN (AVP-7) - LT J. F. Greenslade

SQUADRONS

VP-21 - Cmdr. S. L. LaHache
VP-22 - LCDR W. P. Cogswell
VP-23 - LCDR G. Van Deurs
VP-24 - LCDR D. C. Allen
VP-25 - LCDR A. R. Brady

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Circa 1937

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Lest We Forget..." U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings January 2001 http://www.usni.org

Patrol Squadron 102 (VP-102) originally was established on 1 September 1937 at NAS Seattle, Washington, as VP-18, which received its first P2Y-3 and PBY-1 flying boats in January 1938. VP-18 moved to NAS San Diego, California, in September 1938 and traded its aircraft for new PBY-4 Catalinas, as well as one 02U-3 Corsair observation aircraft. The squadron was redesignated VP-13 on 1 July 1939.

VP-13 transferred to NAS Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in September 1939, and was redesignated VP-26 on 11 December 1939. VP-26 was redesignated VP-102 on 16 December 1940 and transferred to Patrol Wing 10 at Cavite.

In the months prior to the 8 December 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. forces in the Philippines, VP-102 and its sister squadron, VP-101, rotated operations out of Olongapo, on Subic Bay. When hostilities began, the two squadrons dispersed their aircraft in the Philippines. On 12 December, seven of VP-102’s 14 PBY-4s were destroyed by a Japanese air raid on Olongapo. The remaining VP-102 Catalinas joined with VP-101’s surviving aircraft and moved to Ambon in the Netherlands East Indies.

On 26 December, six VP-102 and VP-101 aircraft conducted a bombing strike on a Japanese naval force near Job in the Philippines. Four PBYs were shot down, though some crewmen later were rescued.

Patrol Wing 10 strengthened itself by acquiring five PBY-5s from the Dutch Navy, and in January 1942 was augmented by VP-22 and its 12 PBY-5s. By 17 January, however, only eight of the original 28 PBYs remained. After flying combat missions from bases scattered across 1,300 miles in the East Indies, the wing moved on 14 February 1942-with only four remaining PBYs-to Darwin, Australia, where Japanese aircraft destroyed one more PBY. The wing moved its three remaining PBYs to Perth, Australia, in April, by which time more than 60% percent of the wing’s personnel had been killed in action or taken captive-including more than 140 in the surrender of Bataan. Of the wing’s 45 PBYs, 14 were shot down, 24 were destroyed by air raids, and 3 were lost in mishaps.

VP-102 was disestablished at Perth on 18 April 1942.

-Lieutenant Commander Rick Burgess, U.S. Navy (Retired)

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Circa Old Man Of The Sea

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Air Classics Volume 18, Number 1 January 1982 "Old Man Of The Sea" By Robert L. Trimble...." "Old Man Of The Sea" By Robert L. Trimble (Squadrons mentioned: VP-6, VP-17, VP-22, VP-26, VP-28, VP-42, VP-47, VP-48, VP-731, VP-772, and FAW-1) [15JUN2000]

Air Classics Volume 18, Number 1 January 1982 4,064KB

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P2 Neptune Deployments to NAS Keflavik, Iceland

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Neptune Deployments to NAS Keflavik, Iceland..." WebSite: The Lockheed P2V Neptune http://www.verslo.is/baldur/p2/kef_p2s.htm [21MAR2001]

The information here has been updated from my old list with additional information from the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL AVIATION SQUADRONS—Volume 2.  Available from the Naval Historical Center at this address: http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/dictvol2.htm. It is believed to be fairly complete as to actual deployments, but may be lacking in details as to short time detachments and exercises. All comments welcome. Send any comments to: Baldur@verslo.is

VP-3
00AUG53  -  00APR54

VP-5
00JUL53  -  01DEC53

VP-5
00MAR57  -  00SEP57

VP-5
00APR59  -  00JUN59

VP-5
00AUG61  -  00JUL62

VP-7
00JUN52  -  00OCT52

VP-7
00JUN56  -  00NOV56

VP-7
00JAN59  -  00JUN59

VP-7
00MAY64  -  00OCT64

VP-8
00JAN52  -  00MAY52

VP-8
00DEC52  -  00JUL53

VP-8
00AUG53  -  00JAN54

VP-10
01SEP51  -  07JAN52

VP-10
00OCT54  -  00MAR55

VP-10
00JAN61  -  00JUN61

VP-11
25JAN60  -  17FEB60

VP-11
00AUG60  -  00JAN61

VP-11
00FEB63  -  02JUL63

VP-16
00MAY54  -  00SEP54

VP-16
10NOV56  -  01APR57

VP-16
00FEB58  -  00JUL58

VP-16
09DEC61  -  13FEB62

VP-16
10SEP62  -  00FEB63

VP-18
15SEP55  -  15FEB56

VP-18
00OCT59  -  00MAR60

VP-18
00JUL63  -  00AUG63

VP-21
00MAR59  -  00AUG59

VP-21
02MAR59  -  10AUG59

VP-21
02MAR60  -  10AUG60

VP-21
00AUG65  -  01FEB66

VP-23
05JAN56  -  00JUN56

VP-23
00APR58  -  00MAY58

VP-23
16JUL58  -  00SEP58

VP-23
04OCT64  -  10MAR65

VP-24
01MAY59  -  05OCT59

VP-24
28NOV63  -  08MAY64

VP-26
30SEP52  -  00FEB53

VP-26
00MAR55  -  00AUG55

VP-26
05SEP57  -  05FEB58

VP-26
22NOV58  -  04MAY59

VP-26
01SEP60  -  02OCT60

VP-26
02JUN61  -  00NOV61

VP-56
00APR62  -  00SEP62

VP-56
00MAR65  -  00AUG65

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Circa Unknown
Can you identify the Month and or Year?

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 P2 "...VP-26 P2 in Hanger - U. S. Official Photograph..." [26DEC2009]

A BIT OF HISTORY: Contributed by John Lucas john.lucas@netzero.net [30JUL2002]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "......VP-26 was the first U. S. Navy patrol squadron assigned airborne electronic intelligence missions on a routine basis, used the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer aircraft...to eavesdrop on Soviet emissions..." [FOUNDATION Volume 18 Number 2 Fall 1997 Page 9] WEBSITE: http://www.naval-air.org/

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Mentions VPB-19 and VPB-26, both PBM squadrons..." NARA - Record Group 9NS-313-94-01 32175? Box 6 of 21, Folder 126 http://www.pby.com

A BIT OF HISTORY: "..We had the P2V-4 models when I first reported aboard, then swapped them in for newer P2V-5Fs when we relieved another squadron in Iceland. Glad to see the recent safety record for the squadron as they had lost a couple just before I reported aboard, and we crashed two on landings while I was in the squadron. The Buro Nos for the 12 original P2V-4s in the squadron were: EB-1 - 124218, EB-2 - 124232, EB-3 - 124238, EB-4 -124213, EB-5 - 124231, EB-6 - 124233, EB-7 - 124217, EB-8 - 124230, EB-9 - 124221, EB-10 - 124237, EB-11 - 124220, and EB-12 - 124224. I understand that Lockheed only produced a total of 52 of the P2V-4s. The replacement P2V-5Fs we acquired in Iceland were: EB-1 - 131534, EB-2 - 131528, EB-3 - 131533, EB-4 - 131531, EB-5 - 131525, EB-6 - 131527, EB-7 - 131532, EB-8 - 131529, EB-9 - 131523, EB-10 - 131526, EB-11 - 131530, and EB-12 - 131524. I understand Lockheed produced 424 of this model. We later got 131457 to replace one of the lost aircraft, I don't have a record for the 2nd replacement, or which of the originals were written off. I also have some 35mm negatives of most of the crews taken at the nose of their aircraft in Iceland if these are of any interest. Norman Kratfel" nkratfel@enter.net

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Another history note: VP-23 was the second squadron to transition from P-3B to P-3C Update II following VP-44 who was first. VP-23 was the first Harpoon equipped squadron in the Navy as the Harpoon gear was not ready in time for VP-44 when they made the first Update II deployment to Keflavik, Iceland in 1979. As a result of all this, when VP-23 relieved VP-44 in Keflavik in September '79 they were still the only Harpoon equipped squadron of any kind in the Navy. On New Year's Eve the squadron was tasked to provide a four-crew, three-plane detachment to NSF Diego Garcia as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. We were extended on deployment for a month and made the remainder of the deployment a split Keflavik - NSF Diego Garcia deployment! We used to say: "If they were any farther away they'd be closer." In the end VP-26 relieved the Diego detachment while VP-46 came over and relieved the Keflavik portion. Oh by the way, we smashed all previous sub contact records with only 2/3 of a squadron in Keflavik!" Contributed by AWCS(AW/NAC) Jeffrey S. Morris yankeesfan@suscom-maine.net

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Patch Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [05SEP2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Patch "...NAF Kadena, Okinawa, Japan made version..." Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [14JUL2003]

A BIT OF HISTORY: [23NOV99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VP-26 Patch Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [05SEP2003]

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"VP-26 Summary Page"

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