Market Timing in the Tonkin Gulf
Operation Market Time was the squadron’s primary mission, aimed at stopping the supply of equipment and munitions from the North Vietnamese to Viet Cong guerillas in South Vietnam as well as preventing supply of the North Vietnamese by sea. VP-1 suffered casualties and several damaged aircraft when based at Tan Son Nhut during an attack on the base on 13 April 1966. 1972 saw VP-1’s last WestPac deployment, this time to Cubi Point with a six aircraft detachment based at U-Tapao.
At the End of the Orion Pipeline
VP-1 also began their transition to yet another Lockheed maritime patrol aircraft- the Lockheed P-3B Orion, during the late 1960s, completing transition on 1 October 1969. Better late than never- VP-1 was the actually the last active-duty fleet squadron to transition to the Orion. VP-1 was transferred to NAS Barber’s Point in Hawaii on 30 June 1970. Throughout the 1970s VP-1 gradually received newer and more capable P-3 variants but seemed to be at the end of the line for them. When in December 1976 VP-1 deployed to NAS Agana on Guam they were the last active duty P-3 squadron to deploy with the standard P-3B Orion.
Screaming Eagles Forward
In 1980 the Fleet’s Finest P-3B TAC/NAV MOD Orions saw heavy involvement with the search and rescue (SAR) effort for Vietnamese “boat people” refugees (more than 4,000 of them) while deployed to Cubi Point- earning the squadron a Humanitarian Service Medal. A three-aircraft detachment of VP-1 Orions was based at NAS Diego Garcia (Dodge) in the Indian Ocean. In 1985 VP-1 changed their name to Screaming Eagles. VP-1 then flew Bravos and early Charlies until 1991 when they received their first P-3C Update IIIs in February of that year.
Been There Done That Got the T Shirt
VP-1 saw plenty of Dodge as well as Masirah in Oman and Jeddah in Saudi. The remainder of the 1990s saw VP-1 moving back to NAS Whidbey in 1995 and temporarily inhabiting strange places such as Howard AFB in the Canal Zone and a Mexican Air Force base as well as NAS Adak and Eielson AFB in Alaska. VP-1 also returned to old haunts like Kadena, Misawa, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Oman, South Korea, and Thailand along with Manama, Masirah, Doha, and others. They sure got around.
Non-stop Lockheed Users for 76 Years
Highlights of VP-1 exploits in the 21st century include more Dodge time and deployments to Australia, Guam, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei, the Marshall Islands, and Thailand. VP-1 also celebrated 135,000 hours without a mishap over 23 years of operations. TheVP-1 finally retired the last of their Lockheed P-3C Orion aircraft and transitioned to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon in 2019 after 76 continuous years of flying Lockheed maritime patrol aircraft.
There’s a skeeter on my peter, whack it off!