The commanding officer of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 1, Cmdr. Jeffrey Wissel, has been relieved of duty while allegations of personal misconduct are investigated.

A brief statement released by Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet said Wissel was relieved late Monday afternoon by Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers.

Executive officer, Cmdr. David Sauve, has assumed command of VQ-1 pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The responsibility of officers in command of their units, their sailors and their mission is absolute; we take their performance very seriously,” the statement read. “Our standards of conduct and performance for commanding officers are extremely high.”

Wissel took command of VQ-1 in April, 2011.

Original Article: Fate of Silicon Valley icon hangs in limbo – Therese Polettis Tech Tales – MarketWatch.

By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Anyone who has driven through Silicon Valley has seen the strange concrete and steel hangar that looms just off Highway 101 like an above-ground bunker.

Hangar One, on the former Moffett Field military base adjacent to Mountain View, is large in every sense of the word: it is nearly two hundred feet high, longer than the length of three football fields and 308 feet wide. See slideshow of vintage Hangar One images.

To a few it is an eyesore. But to many, the 79-year-old icon represents what helped create Silicon Valley — engineering and technological prowess, important moments in aeronautics and defense history, marred by the vestiges of an environmental mess.

Built to house Navy dirigibles in 1933, Hangar One is endangered again. An ongoing cleanup to remove the hangar’s toxic siding and save it from demolition lacks funding to finish the job properly. In September, the founders of Google Inc.GOOG -0.30% offered to foot the bill of $33 million or more, through a company that runs their fleet of private planes.

But NASA Ames Research, which owns the hangar and the former military base, has let their offer to pay for the cost to “reskin” the hangar dangle like a moored airship, hovering in the wind.

“We are going to have to reconsider our proposal,” said Ken Ambrose, director of operations for H211, which operates the fleet of seven planes owned by Google Chief Executive Larry Page, co-founder Sergey Brin and chairman Eric Schmidt. “I guess trying to be efficient is out of the federal government’s lexicon.”

The caveat of the offer is that the Google founders want to store their fleet in Hangar One, a 10-minute drive from the Googleplex. The fleet includes a Boeing 767-200 jet airliner; the rest are smaller planes. The H211 company is among a small number of companies and federal agencies with permission to use the former naval airfield. Moffett Field is also where Air Force One lands on President Obama’s Bay Area visits.

Chas. Dye

Air Force One on one of the two airstrips at Moffett Field, with a partially unskinned Hangar One in the background, on Sept. 25, 2011.

A spokesman for NASA Ames said the discussions about the hangar’s future “are being worked at the top levels of government,” perhaps meaning that the White House is involved. “We are optimistic we are heading in the right direction and doing what’s best for the local community,” said spokesman Michael Mewhinney. “We hope to reach a decision later this year.”

Both Ambrose of H211 and locals trying to preserve Hangar One, which is part of an historic district on the National Register and a California civil engineering landmark, said a decision needs to happen soon. The Navy, the hangar’s former owners, has contractors now working on a massive cleanup and removal of the old siding to remove asbestos, PCBs, and other toxic contaminants. The job is about half finished. But the Navy doesn’t have to invest in and install a new skin back on the hangar after the removal is finished, which could expose or damage the steel skeleton.

“The fear is that if the building remains uncovered, it will deteriorate,” said Lenny Siegel, who founded the Save Hangar One committee and is a local environmental advocate. “It’s my belief, but I can’t prove it, that the H211 proposal is snagged in bureaucracy. It’s the larger question of the future of Moffett Field as part of NASA. D.C. thinks of Moffett as a nuisance and not part of their mission. It’s useful, but not a necessity.”

On Monday, NASA’s budget for fiscal 2013 was announced. NASA Ames was spared any cuts. In fact, its budget got a slight increase to $711 million from $690 million in 2012, in part due to the costs to maintain its older buildings. The NASA Ames spokesman declined to comment further on Hangar One and said the decision is being made in Washington.

In addition to potential deterioration if the famous hangar is left uncovered with only a coat of paint, another more ominous problem is at stake. “That is only a temporary measure,” Ambrose said. “As the elements wear on the paint, all those contaminants get into the groundwater again.”

The Navy has also set up a multi-million dollar scaffolding system around the giant structure for the removal project that could be efficiently used again to install new, non-toxic siding on the hangar.

A storied past

Hangar One was initially built to house the USS Macon, one of the largest rigid dirigibles, or airships, that used non-flammable helium to keep afloat. Germany’s successful reconnaissance missions with the rigid airships — called Zeppelins after their inventor — during World War I spurred their adoption in the U.S., England, France and Italy in the 1920s. Dirigibles were valued for their speed and ability to travel long distances without refueling.

The Macon arrived at Hangar One in 1933 and was used for surveillance missions until it crashed into the ocean in a storm off the coast of Point Sur in 1935. All but two of its crew were saved.

Two years later, in 1937, the young airship industry, which by then was exploring Zeppelins for passenger travel, would collapse completely with the disastrous explosion of the hydrogen-filled Hindenberg. Today, new designs of safer airships are undergoing something of a revival for alternative transport of goods, terrain exploration, and again, for military reconnaissance.

Moffett Field Historical Society

In this 1934 U.S. Navy photo, the USS Macon arrives at Hangar One.

“It’s an asset that can not be easily re-created,” said Brian Hall, CEO of Airship Ventures, which uses Hangar Two on Moffett Field, for its Eureka airship. His company, which also offers passenger Zeppelin rides, had its airship built in Germany. See previous column on Airship Ventures

If Hangar One is properly restored it could also be used to build, test or maintain other airships in this burgeoning “airship village,” Hall noted, because of its size and steel frame. In 2010, Northrop Grumman NOC +0.59% won a $517 million contract to build three airships for the U.S. Army. “Why is all this business going to the East Coast?” Hall said.

The USS Macon and Hangar One put Moffett Field on the map, the first inklings of the local defense industry that helped create Silicon Valley.

“It’s an imposing structure,” said Bill Stubkjaer, curator at the Moffett Field Historical Society. “This is almost the beginning of Silicon Valley….If Moffett wasn’t here, I don’t think NASA would have been here and if NASA wasn’t here, I don’t think Lockheed would have been here. This has really led the transformation of Mountain View and Sunnyvale from farming communities to a center of high tech.”

As NASA dawdles, the locals stew, and time passes. And who knows how long H211’s offer will last?

“This is a situation that needs a decision,” Ambrose said.

Therese Poletti is a senior columnist for MarketWatch in San Francisco.

Naval Air: Not Fading Away Without A Struggle.

November 11, 2011: The U.S. Navy is upgrading 55 of its 157 P-3C maritime reconnaissance aircraft with new computers, communications and integrated flat-screen displays. More importantly, structural components that are weakened because of old age will be replaced or reinforced. The upgrades will enable the P-3Cs to quickly share data with other aircraft, ships and ground stations. This is considered an upgrade that will prepare crews for the transition, starting in two years, to the new P-8A.

Even as the P-8A is about to arrive, the P-3C remains in great demand. For example, during the last decade, over 60 P-3Cs have also been upgraded to turn them into land reconnaissance aircraft. The P-3Cs are particularly useful for patrolling over Iraq and Afghanistan, looking, and listening, for enemy activity.

Despite all this popularity, the elderly P-3Cs are falling apart. This year, the navy spent nearly $10 million per aircraft to refurbish the wings of 14 P-3Cs. This was part of an effort to keep enough P-3Cs flying until the new P-8A enters service. The wing fatigue is a symptom of age. The P-3 was originally designed to spend 7,500 hours in the air before retirement. But the average of the navy P-3s is 30 years, and, because of lots of refurbishment and diligent maintenance, the average air time is 16,000 hours.

Keeping the elderly P-3Cs flying has not been easy. Four years ago, the navy grounded a quarter of its P-3Cst because of age related metal fatigue in the wings. This sort of thing is common with older aircraft, especially those that spend most of their time flying over salt water. The navy believes that it would have all, or most, of the grounded aircraft back in service by now. But not all the work was done, and about a third of P-3Cs still in service are unavailable because of these age-related repairs. The aircraft have to be partially disassembled for replacement parts or reinforcing elements to be installed, and the process can take nearly a year per aircraft.

The P-3 entered service in 1962. The current version (the P-3C) has a cruise speed of 610 kilometers per hour, endurance of up to 13 hours and a crew of eleven. The 37.4 meter (116 foot) long, propeller driven aircraft has a wingspan of nearly 33 meters (100 feet). The P-3C can carry about ten tons of weapons (torpedoes, mines, or missiles like Harpoon and Maverick).

The 63 ton aircraft is based on the 1950s era Lockheed Electra airliner (which first flew in 1954). Only 170 Electras were built, plus 600 P-3s. About 40 Electras are still in service. The last P-3 was built in 1990. Likely replacements for these elderly search planes, are UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), like Global Hawk or smaller aircraft like Predator. These UAVs typically stay in the air for 24 hours, or more, at a time. What maritime reconnaissance aircraft need, more than anything else, is endurance or, as the professionals like to put it, “persistence.”

But before the UAVs take over, there is the new P-8A Poseidon. About a hundred of these aircraft will replace the P-3C. The P-8A is based on the widely used Boeing 737 airliner. Although the Boeing 737 based P-8A is a two engine jet, compared to the four engine turboprop P-3, it is a more capable plane. The P-8A has 23 percent more floor space than the P-3, and is larger (118 foot wingspan, versus 100 foot) and heavier (83 tons versus 61). Most other characteristics are the same. Both can stay in the air about ten hours per sortie. Speed is different. Cruise speed for the 737 is 910 kilometers an hour, versus 590 for the P-3. This makes it possible for the P-8A to get to a patrol area faster, which is a major advantage when chasing down subs first spotted by sonar arrays or satellites. However, the P-3 can carry more weapons (9 tons, versus 5.6.) This is less of a factor as the weapons (torpedoes, missiles, mines, sonobouys) are pound for pound, more effective today and that trend continues. Both carry the same size crew, of 10-11 pilots and equipment operators. Both aircraft carry search radar and various other sensors.

The 737 has, like the P-3, been equipped with hard points on the wings for torpedoes or missiles. The B-737 is a more modern design, and has been used successfully since the 1960s by commercial aviation. Navy aviators are confident that it will be as reliable as the P-3. The Boeing 737 first flew in 1965, and over 5,000 have been built. The P-8A will be the first 737 designed with a bomb bay and four wing racks for weapons. The P-8 costs about $275 million each.

Original news article located HERE

Community Update: October 28, 2011

The following is a community update distributed by Rear Admiral Rear Admiral Michael W. Hewitt, Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group.

Admirals, leaders, friends of the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF):

The MPRF community remains on course and our squadrons continue to excel at home and abroad. Our aircrews continue to improve in all areas of combat readiness and our leaders continue to lean forward despite ever present budgetary challenges. I am confident that MPRF is in perfect alignment with CNO’s three main tenets; 1) War fighting First; 2) Operating Forward; and 3) Be Ready. These tenets guide us each and every day and even as we paused this year to recognize the Centennial of Naval Aviation and the unique contributions of patrol aviation, the force achieved significant milestones in its ongoing transition to the P‐8A Poseidon and Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV.

The Airspace in Pax River is full of P‐8’s with four currently flying test and evaluation events, and another two aircraft set to deliver to VX‐1 before the end of the year, we are on pace for initial fleet introduction to VP‐30 in March 2012. The Fleet Introduction Team (FIT) is at full speed and receiving initial P‐8 training with VX‐1. FIT aircrew and maintenance personnel will augment operational test events to gain valuable experience ahead of

VP‐16’s transition, which is slated to begin in JUL 2012. P‐8 is scheduled to achieve its Initial Operational Capability in DEC 2013. To this end, construction on a new 168,000 sqft Integrated Training Center (ITC) in Jacksonville is entering its final phase with the installation of the first of ten OFT’s and seven WTT’s. We look forward to officially opening the ITC building and rolling out the first fleet P‐8A during this year’s ASW fleet challenge and MPRF symposium scheduled for March / April in Jacksonville. We will lock in the dates soonest but please plan on attending this monumental week in our community’s history.

Of particular interest and to further reduce risk in our transition efforts, CNO has designated CPRG as lead for MPRF collaboration with U.K. on Maritime Patrol issues including support of P‐8 introduction. Following the cancellation of the U.K. MRA‐4 program, the US and U.K. began collaborating on a non‐reciprocal personnel exchange agreement to bring 2 experienced NIMROD crews to the US to support the MPRA community for a period of at least three years. The RAF personnel will consist of approximately 20 aircrew (4 pilots, 6 NFOs, 5 AWs and 5 EWs), and could start arriving early next year. These highly qualified NIMROD aviators will consist of fleet experienced instructors and test personnel to support the generation of tactical doctrine and participate in operational test events at the MPR Weapons School and VX‐1. This exchange agreement, dubbed project SEEDCORN by the UK, enjoys the full support of both Navy and RAF and will ensure the RAF maintains critical Air ASW skills.

The transition to P‐8 is complex and challenging but bolstered by recent improvements in the health of our P‐3 force. Navy’s investment in sustainment of legacy P‐3 aircraft is paying dividends. The Fleet has benefited immensely by the efforts of PMA‐290 and industry partners to grow the available number of mission aircraft to an inventory of 80 war birds on the ramp today. As a result we increased forward deployed aircraft last OCT and will forward deploy four squadrons in DEC 2011. This is a return to the 2 to 1 deployment model we all grew up with and is in alignment with QDR and CNO Maritime Strategy. Based on current NAVAIR projections we are on glide path to a P‐3 sundown that will allow us to fulfill MPRF requirements through transition to P‐8 FOC in 2019. The increased availability that comes with deployment of P‐8 will increase the MPRA capacity to the COCOMs with the same, or even fewer, total number of aircraft. With the continued support of Navy and OSD leadership, the MPRF community will be out of the legacy P‐3 by the end of this decade.

In support of this transition and to preserve operational resources, our two VPU and two VQ squadrons will consolidate into single VPU and VQ squadrons in FY‐12. The consolidation is well underway and will leverage efficiencies in manpower and material readiness. Leadership is working closely with PERS to ensure opportunities are available for our VPU and VQ warriors during this transition. Looking toward the future, we are partnering with NAVAIR to explore options to field a Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) in P‐8A. VQ will populate with 12 “best-of‐breed” spiral 3 EP‐3’s and 15 combat aircrews. Most notably, VQ will transition to a deployment model for the first time ever, ensuring that a reasonable OPTEMPO/PERTEMPO is maintained while a planned 75% aircraft availability rate ensures a robust IDRC and contingency capability. Navy is very focused on how best to recapitalize our EP‐3’s.

The future is indeed bright as we work to replace legacy platforms with P‐8 and BAMS, which when joined with the TOC/MTOC make up the future MPRF Family of Systems.

I have included some detailed programmatic updates below. I recognize much of it is more detail than most of you desire but many of you asked for specific program updates, so here goes:

P‐3C Orion ‐ Planned legacy aircraft mission system obsolescence upgrades are progressing and will mitigate risk on P‐8A. C4‐ASW achieved full functionality with FITs complete on VP‐5 and VP‐8. On the acoustic front, APTR/MAC operational test is progressing with next test flights scheduled in mid‐OCT. These systems will provide the baseline capability for P‐8. The class desk also remains engaged with NAVSUP addressing Fleet logistics issues, which will become more acute as we move toward sundown. Of note, we recently achieved a significant Fleet Synthetic & Distributive Training milestone after the first successful connection of two Jax based TORT’s in support of a major FST‐J exercise with the Abraham Lincoln CSG, including H‐60R aircraft.

EP‐3 Aries ‐ On the EP‐3 side of the house, the current inventory of sixteen aircraft will reduce to twelve by FY 14. Early last spring the EP‐3 community chalked up tremendous success with the early operational test of the first JCC Spiral 3 aircraft. The JCC Spiral 3 program was approved for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) in the spring of 2011 authorizing the modification of three additional aircraft. Recently the JCC Sp3 program was approved for Full Rate Production (FRP) authorizing the modification of all EP‐3 aircraft.

MPRF Family of Systems (FoS) ‐ The MPRF & Air ASW Community of Interest (COI), led by CPRG and closely supported by PMA290, continues to provide an active forum for evaluation, leadership and action on significant MPRF acquisition issues. MPRF FoS Planning and Development Team produced the first detailed MPRF Tier 2 Roadmap. The Tier 2 Roadmap includes capability roadmaps for all MPRF FoS platforms, including ASW Rotary Wing, to beyond 2020. The FoS Team completed a detailed requirements analysis based on the P‐8A Increment 2/3 CDD providing refined requirements definition and representative solutions. INC 3 requirements areas include ASW improvements, upgraded Net Enabled Architecture, Net Enabled ASuW Weapons integration, Sensors and Targeting upgrades, and Communications upgrades. Furthermore, MPRF prototyping will continue to support TOC OPCON Watch Floor efforts to provide Service Oriented Architecture in support of all future programs.

P‐8A Poseidon ‐ One year out from a successful AUG 2010 Milestone C decision, P‐8 remains on track with all six test aircraft delivered or in the production line. The 1st LRIP lot of P‐8’s are under contract and the LRIP II contracts that provide P‐8A trainers, spares, training courseware, and integrated logistics support including support equipment, technical pubs and interim tech support have been approved. The Test and Evaluation schedule remains pressurized after some initial delays but expects to enter IOT&E as scheduled in FY‐12. In a tactical first, the P‐8 recently localized and tracked its first real submarine and T&E aircrew operators stated that the aircraft performed as well or better than advertised. P‐8 also dropped its first test Torpedo! Make no mistake; the P‐8A Fleet transition is underway and funded for success. Despite budgetary pressures we are tracking toward IOC in late 2013.

Broad Area Maritime Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) ‐ The MQ‐4C BAMS UAS program is in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (aircraft and systems development) stage of the program and is progressing toward Integrated Test (IT), which combines developmental & operational test. Subsystems are undergoing lab testing right now at vendor locations, and system‐level testing at the contractor’s Systems Integration Lab will commence this winter. The production of the first two aircraft continues to progress at the production facility located in Palmdale, CA, and the rollout ceremony is scheduled for March 2012. We anticipate ground testing on the first air vehicle with the Mission Control System to start this winter, with first flight and commencement of flight testing occurring in mid-2012. The program continues to meet all cost and schedule targets set at program inception in 2008. Milestone C, which authorizes entry into the production and deployment phase of the program, is scheduled for mid-2013. Initial Operational Capability, which is defined as the 1st orbit and support system fully operational, is scheduled for first quarter of FY16.

BAMS Demonstration (BAMS‐D) ‐ This program, which was intended to be a six month demonstration, continues to provide ISR critical to Combatant Commanders. 2011 marks the third year of deployed operations where BAMS‐D flew its 5,000th hour in support of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). BAMS‐D has flown over 6,500 total program hours, with the remaining flights conducted at NAS Patuxent River to train and qualify additional BAMS‐D pilots and sensor/payload operators. BAMS‐D greatly benefits from the continuous support and operational experience of Fleet aircrew via Individual Augmentee (IA) billets. These IA tours provide these individuals, and the overall MPRF community, an early look at persistent maritime UAS capability in real‐world operations. We intend to further explore BAMS‐D potential through support of fleet exercises in the very near future. Bams‐D is bridging the MPRF to BAMs.

TOC/MTOC ‐ TOC Jacksonville and MTOC 1 are preparing to receive delivery and installation of the first P‐8 mission support network and gear set in November of 2011. The TacMobile Increment 2.1 network brings the P‐8 mission planning construct (MPC) and P‐8A Media Interfaces. It also delivers significant Tactical Mobile Acoustic Support System (TACMASS) upgrades for P‐8A, to include multi‐static active modes that will support P‐8 and legacy P‐3 ASW missions. The 2.1 network delivers new situational awareness tools that enable effective tactical picture management as well as network mass storage/content management. On the communications front, 2.1 delivers Link‐16, robust SHF satellite terminals and new tactical common data link nodes and ROVERs. Successful completion of 2.1 IOT&E is the keystone to a successful P‐8A IOT&E. As such, the TacMobile Increment 2.1 is on schedule to conduct Initial Operational Test and Evaluation beginning in mid‐JAN 2012 in Jacksonville. Once complete, TOC Jacksonville and MTOC 1 will be ready to support P‐8A IOT&E in the spring of 2012.

Retirements: We bid a fond farewell to a stalwart in the MPRF community this fall with the well deserved retirement of CAPT Ken Seliga. Ken and his wife Kim are two of the most dedicated Americans you will ever meet and have been completely devoted to the United States Navy family for over 26 years. Having logged a distinguished career by any standard, Ken’s impact as Commanding Officer of the Screaming Eagles of VP‐1 and Commodore of CPRW‐10 will reverberate for years to come. Most recently serving as my Chief of Staff, I could not have asked for a better officer and advisor to keep us on track and the entire MPRF community owes him a great debt. We all wish him and Kim the very best as they transition to civilian life. We also said goodbye to Gregory “Scotty” Hanson this month. After a 17 year run on the CPRG staff, Scotty is taking a well deserved sabbatical to travel the USA with his wife, Nellie. Scotty joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 and performed as a P‐3B AAW aircrewman and ASWOC analyst before retiring from active duty. He first joined CPRG in December 1994 and performed brilliantly as the IRAS Program Manager and Senior Analyst, Assistant Training Officer/ Readiness, Deputy Director, Future Plans, Policy and Integration, Director Future Plans, Policy and Integration. We wish him, Fair winds and Following Seas.

MPRF Symposium/Fleet ASW Challenge / ITC Dedication and P‐8A Rollout / MPRA 50th Anniversary ‐ Building on the successes of the last two years, we will come together again for a professional symposium in Jacksonville, FL in March 2012. This year we will proudly mark the 50th anniversary of the P‐3 Orion by rolling out the first Fleet P8A, hosting an ASW competition for our best USN and international aircrews, and dedicate the new Integrated Training Center building as it readies to accept the first class of P‐8A Fleet aviators.

As we close out the first 100 years of Naval Aviation and celebrate the rich heritage of the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, I look forward to a bright future with the P‐8A Poseidon and BAMS UAS. Now that we have begun the complex transition from a legacy aircraft that has served us well for over fifty years, it is more important than ever to bring together our past, present, and future warriors. I want to thank those that have made the new Maritime Patrol Association a reality. The synergistic efforts between those great Americans assigned to our squadrons, the organizations that support them, and our many dedicated industry partners will continue to deliver unmatched capability to the Fleet. Continuing communication and collaboration between Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force and our civilian partners is vital to our overall success. Be sure to mark your calendars and look for future details on www.mprfreunion.org and www.maritimepatrolassociation.org as these professional gatherings promise to be the best yet. You can also see the many photo’s from this year’s CoNA events along with the latest on P‐8.

That is all for now. Thanks to so many of you out there ‐ active, reserve, civilian and retired ‐ thank you for your service, support and sacrifice. Keep the lines open and I look forward to seeing many of you in Jax for the MPRF symposium next Spring. Fly Safe.

v/r
Mike

If you haven’t seen the Maritime Patrol Association (MPA) PowerPoint slides we have them posted up here your your review.

Posted by: “Marco P.J. Borst” mborst@p3orion.nl marco_pj
Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:24 pm (PDT)

From Barents surveillance to pirate hunting
2011-09-28

The Norwegian Orion aircraft with crew before take-off to Africa from Andøya air base.

Norway has sent one of its P3-N Orion surveillance plane to hunt for pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The plane is normally based at Andøya airbase in northern Norway from where it flies on missions to watch for illegal fishing and Russian submarine activities In the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.

The surveillance plane with staff is stationed at the Seychelles as part of Norway’s contribution to the NATO led anti-pirate operation Ocean Shield, reports the Norwegian armed forces.

The plane will fly regular surveillance missions off the coast of east Africa until it returns to northern Norway after December 15th.

In August 2009, Norway contributed to the pirate hunting outside Somalia with the navy’s new frigate “KNM Fridtjof Nansen” for a six months period. The naval vessel was then a part of the EU led Task Force Atlanta.

Russia has also participated in anti-pirate operations off the coast of Africa with vessels from its Northern Fleet that normally sails the Barents Sea. The destroyer “Severomorsk” will later in October arrived back to her home port on the Kola Peninsula after a three months mission in the Gulf of Aden.

Text: Thomas Nilsen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2011

Maritime Patrol Association Launches Official Plank Owner Membership

MILITARY: Decorated Navy air squadron to reunite at its Miramar roots.

When the airmen of Navy Patrol Bombing Squadron VPB-117, known as the Blue Raiders, were training at Naval Air Station Miramar nearly 70 years ago, the area was almost nothing like it is today.

The base was then Camp Kearney, a Navy station, and the sprawl of San Diego had yet to reach the breezy plateaus where young pilots were preparing for intense combat over the South Pacific.

“At Camp Kearney, there wasn’t much out there at that point,” said Robert Owens, one of the surviving members of the heavily decorated squadron that carried out key missions in the Pacific during World War II. “It was pretty much out in the sticks.”

On Wednesday, the veterans of VPB-117 who can make the trip will reunite where the unit began, at what is now Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Organized by four children of the men who served in the unit, the reunion is the latest —- and perhaps the last —- for a tight-knit squadron that received the Presidential Unit Citation in 1947 for its bravery during World War II.

Mary Mount, whose father-in-law was a member of the squadron, said that she and her husband, Glenn, became involved with the annual reunions when they started looking into the unit’s history.

“They are scattered all over the United States —- the ones who usually attend the reunions now are from Florida, New Jersey,” Mount said of the unit’s veterans. “We’ve got three in California —- in fact, one lives in San Diego —- and they’ll all be at the reunion.”

While the veterans are touring the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum off Miramar Road on Wednesday, Mount said she and the other organizers hope to surprise them by unveiling a display of the unit’s most prized honor, the presidential citation, which was once assumed to be lost.

“The squadron has been trying to locate the plaque for years,” she said. “One day, I got a hold of Steve Smith at the museum, and he said, ‘You know, I remember seeing that plaque. I think it’s in our warehouse.’ A couple of days later he called me, and he had found the plaque.”

Mount said it will be on display outside the museum, and added that “the whole tour was (organized) to get them there, so they can see the plaque.”

In the June 1947 edition of Naval Aviation News, a reporter wrote that “VPB-117 destroyed thousands of tons of (enemy) shipping, damaged shore installations and shot down 63 enemy planes.

“It ran 1,000-mile searches, patrols for the Third Fleet, shore bombardment spotting missions, night shipping strikes and sub protection.”

In his personal, written recollection of serving in the unit, Owens recalled how the squadron’s “war-weary” PB4Y-1 Liberators (the Navy’s version of the B-24) were still in use, flying 10- to 14-hour patrols over Vietnam.

For Owens, who joined the Blue Raiders in the Pacific near the end of the war as a fresh, 19-year-old replacement gunner, the sights and sounds of aircraft in Miramar next week will be nothing out of the ordinary.

“I fly that every chance I get —- at least once a week,” he said. “At age 85, I figure that’s doing pretty good.”

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_60d5a7a3-706d-5017-8abb-c284b3b6e10c.html#ixzz1Yni5ykvq