WATCH: The Providers Make the COD Look Famous

When You’ve Been Around as Long as VRC-30 You’ve Made Some Memories

The Grumman C-2A Greyhound flew for the first time on 18 November 1964. Since then, the aircraft and its crews have supplied deployed aircraft carriers with high priority logistics around the globe. Fleet Logistics Support Squadron THREE ZERO (VRC-30) Providers is based at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island and operates five detachments. VRC-30 is one of only two active, carrier-capable, Fleet Logistics Support squadrons, the other being VRC-40 Rawhides. This video was produced to celebrate the Greyhound and its service to the Navy and the country. So enjoy In COD We Trust- 50^h Anniversary of VRC-30 CODs  uploaded to YouTube by PropBroChill17.

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Historical Beginnings

VRC-30 can trace its ancestry to Air Transport Squadron FIVE (VR-5) which was commissioned 24 June 1943 at NAS Seattle. At the time the squadron was tasked with flying the Douglas R-4D (C-47) Skytrain, R-5D (C-54) Skymaster, Beechcraft SNB (C-45) Expeditor and the Noorduyn JA-1 (C-64) Norseman aircraft to destinations like Oakland, San Francisco, the Aleutian Islands, and Fairbanks and Point Barrow on the Alaskan Mainland. In 1948, the Naval Air Transportation Service and Air Transport Command merged and became the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). VR-5 was placed under the command of Fleet Logistics Support Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The First Dedicated CODs

In 1950, VR-5 transferred to NAS Moffett Field near San Francisco in California but maintained detachments in Seattle and at NAS North Island in San Diego, California. VR-21 was the first squadron to fly the TBM-3R Codfish, the first dedicated Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) aircraft. On 15 July 1957 VR-5 was decommissioned and recommissioned as VR-21. VR-21 maintained its detachment at NAS North Island and established a second detachment at NAS Atsugi in Japan. VR-21’s NAS North Island detachment made the first COD arrested landing with the Grumman C-1A Trader onboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) on 26 June 1958. The NAS North Island Detachment relocated to NAS Alameda in 1960.

First Aboard With the Heavy Stuff

VR-21 was decommissioned on 1 October 1966. The former VR-21 Atsugi Detachment was re-established as VRC-50. The former VR-21 Alameda Detachment was re-commissioned as VR-30 and equipped with Convair R4Y (C-131) Samaritan and C-1A Trader aircraft. VR-30 made its first COD arrested landing in the C-1A Trader aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) on 9 November 1966. VR-30 was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for exemplary service from 1 January to 30 November 1967. Between 1968 and 1973, VR-30 COD detachments operated aboard various aircraft carriers and supported recovery operations for Apollo X, XI, XII, and XVI.

Jets and Beyond to Today

In 1969, VR-30 C-1A Traders and their crews began operating from Danang in the Republic of Vietnam supporting the aircraft carriers of CTF-77. VR-30 also joined the Jet Age in 1971 when they began operating two North American CT-39 Saberliners for high-speed executive airlift. In May 1973 the squadron began operating the McDonnell Douglas C-9B Skytrain II. The Navy’s first female Aviator, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Barbara A. Allen, reported for duty with VR-30 on 12 March 1974. VR-30 was decommissioned and recommissioned as Fleet Logistics Support Squadron THREE ZERO (VRC-30) at NAS North Island on 1 October 1978. VRC-30 accepted their first Grumman C-2A Greyhound COD aircraft in late 1981 and have operated Greyhounds ever since. Today VRC-30 Providers operates five detachments:  Detachment 1 Hustlers, Detachment 2 Roughnecks, Detachment 3 Crusaders, Detachment 4 Pure Horsepower, and Detachment 5 We Deliver.