VP-1 POPs

PatRon One P-3 Orion Pioneers

NEWSLETTER #7 NOVEMBER 2000

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

On the night of August 15th this past sum-mer, VP-40 s crew four was suddenly in-volved in a life-and-death task for which they hadn t been briefed. The squadron, currently deployed, is operating with the Fifth Fleet in the Indian Ocean and Ara-bian Gulf. This night, while crew four was performing surface surveillance in the Ara-bian Gulf, coordinating with the HMCS Calgary, a Canadian Frigate, an ill-fated civilian helicopter was flying from Iran to an oil platform in the Gulf. The Iranian helo went down in the Gulf about 60 miles west of crew four s position. The PPC, Lt. Jeff Hills, and his crew responded immedi-ately, transitioning to search and rescue mode. They assumed the role of scene-of-action commander for the ensuing search and rescue operation. Throughout the night mariners, oil platform personnel, and Navy aircrewmen worked to save the lives of the crash victims. The three people aboard the downed helicopter were rescued and air-lifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Crew four s ability to coordinate Canadian ships, Iranian assets, and merchant vessels from a number of nations, during a night time rescue mission was a significant ac-complishment. Chalk up another success for the venerable P-3 and a dedicated crew. From the NAS Whidbey Island Crosswinds

DidJaNo

The Chinese People s Libera-tion Army

2.1 million soldiers

is the world s largest. It has 75 maneuver divi-sions compared to the U.S. s 10. It has a 1.5 million-man reserve and a 1 million-man armed police force. Its 15th Airborne Army has three divisions (30,000 soldiers) that act as a quick reaction force. ELECTRA / ORION HISTORY

Researched by Jimmy Lee, ADJC

ELECTRA ONE

- Lockheed built a twin engine commercial airliner called the Elec-tra that first flew February 23, 1934. This

Lockheed Electra was a twin engine aircraft that had re-tractable landing gear and two verti-cal stabilizers. This E l e c t r a m o d e l looked similar to the twin-engine, twin-tail, Beechraft of the World War Two

era.

This Electra, the first twin-engine bird to do so, could cruise at 190 MPH. It was the first twin engine plane to be certified by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (the CAA, which eventually evolved into the FAA we know today). It was certified at Mines Field, which is now Los Angeles Interna-tional Airport (LAX). Lockheed had in-vested the huge sum of $139,000 to get this Electra built and into the air. (Recently Lockheed invested over $1 billion to get a major change done to the C-130, hmmm). This original Electra could carry up to ten passengers. Pilots and passengers liked the 1930s Electra for its comfort and viewing ease. It was also used as a sightseeing air-plane.

ELECTRA TWO - The second-generation Electra, Lockheed s L-188, was the prede-cessor to the Navy s P-3 Orion. This air-craft first flew on December 6, 1957. The name Electra was chosen for this aircraft June 8, 1955. This was the first U. S. air-liner to enter commercial service with jet engines. The four-engine turboprop bird was designed to replace DC-3s and Con-stellations. There is an interesting 1960 s

book, The Electra Story, written by a TWA pilot who transitioned from the Lockheed Constellation airliner to the Electra.

The turbojet Electra was designed to carry up to 99 passengers, but could haul as few as 55 and still make a profit. It was also designed to load passengers and fuel on one coast and fly across the country with-out refueling

while able to make nu-merous landings and takeoffs allowing passengers to embark and disembark. It had built-in steps to facilitate speedy pas-senger exiting and boarding. American Airlines was the first commercial airline to order the L-188, but most air-lines even-tually pur-c h a s e d Electras. It b e g a n scheduled passenger service in 1959.

There were some five crashes of the turbo-jet Electra early in its airline service, two of which were identified as Whirl Mode caused. This problem was fixed, and today the four-engine turboprop Electra is still operating though mostly as a cargo carrier. Some of the turbojet Electras in service today have close to 100,000 flight hours. (The Navy s high-time P-3 aircraft have only slightly more than 20,000 hours).

The Electra had many improvements over contemporary aircraft of its day, not only for the aircrew and passengers, but also for maintenance of the reliable bird. Upkeep time and expense were minimized.

P-3 ORION - Of course we all know the

Lee

Lockheed Electra Loading Pax

Navy chose the turboprop Electra (Lockheed s L-188) design for its premier anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft to replace the P-2V and P-5M. For the P3V-1, as the original Orion was desig-nated, the L-188 s fuselage was shortened by some 88 inches and a MAD boom was added. Otherwise the Orion looked very much like the Electra. In November 1959 the first redesigned L-188 Electra flew as a YP3V-1. This plane evolved into the P-3 Orion we know, but

it was not the first Lockheed Orion .

ORION ONE - In the early 1930s Lock-heed produced a single engine, high wing, aircraft called the Vega. The Vega quickly became antiquated in the fast-moving

aviation indus-try of the 1 9 3 0 s , s o Lockheed re-designed the aircraft putting the wings at the bottom of the

fuselage, making some other modifica-tions, and renaming the new bird Orion. A new innovation, this 1930s Orion had retractable landing gear. It was the first commercial airplane equipped with wheels that folded-up and tucked themselves in out of the airstream, thereby reducing drag and streamlining the plane for faster, more economical flight. A west coast aircraft company took this Orion fuselage, put on Sirius wings, and added floats to make a special aircraft for Wiley Post. This modi-fied bird later crashed in Alaska with Post at the controls, and both Wiley Post & Will Rogers were killed.

ORION TWO - The Navy s P-3 Orion was initially designated and known as the P3V . The designation was changed to P-3 in the early 1960s when the U. S.

Congress mandated a new standardized designation system for military aircraft. That s when the P3V-1 became the P-3A. The P-3A became operational in the U. S.

Navy in August of 1962

the P-3C in

August of 1969. The P-3C is still going strong. Most of the P-3Cs now in use by VP-1 are now over 20 years old.

DidJaNo

The Chinese People s Libera-

tion Air Force has more than 400,000 per-sonnel and some 4,500 combat aircraft. Trained for modern high-tech operations, it has switched from a defensive to an offen-sive posture.

UPDATE

Submitted by Curt Roberts, AMS2

Ahoy Mates! Just a few lines to say thanks for starting this little project called VP-1 POPs. I ve been wearing out my cruise books trying to match names to faces. Some I remember well

others I d almost forgotten. I m enclosing $11 for my 2000/2001 dues and an updated roster. This is such a small amount of money for such a great amount of memories.

Sorry I was unable to attend the Y2K BIG BASH in Pensacola. Hopefully I ll be able to make our next one in 2003. It depends on what is available when I get to pick my vacation time.

For those who don t remember me, I started my tour with VP-1 at Barbers Point in August 1970 as an AMSAN. At this time I was sent TAD to NAS Supply where I was a supply driver (delivering aircraft parts) until we went on deployment to Sangley Point in the spring of 71. I was then able to work with the squadron. Most of my time was spent in Corrosion Control, but I did work some out of the Airframes Shop. I left the squadron in November 1973 as an AMS2 and went to NAS Whid-bey Island where I spent two years in AIMD. I then obtained a release from ac-tive duty to go home and help my parents who were in failing health. I m now living in my parent s old house, doing some remodeling and fix-up pro-jects. I ve been working on it now for about three years, and I m starting to wonder if I ll ever get finished. I ve been working at Champion International Paper here in Hamilton, Ohio for the last 18 years. The company told us in October of 97 that they were putting the mill up for

sale, but so far there s been no takers. So, lighten-up with all the electronic mailing

push for more paper intensive snail-mail. I need all the work I can get. (Just

kidding

I ve got e-mail myself).

MONTANA SUMMER

From ADCS Jim Spade Cooley

(Regarding this summers forest fires in Montana. Spade & Roberta live in a valley in western Montana, south of Missoula, in the midst of the Bitterroot Mountain Range, with the Bitterroot National Forest all around them).

(8/13)

We ve been in heavy smoke go-ing on two weeks now. It's like a London fog. The mountain across the valley from us is on fire. Many people from up that way have been dis-placed

they had only an hour or less to leave their homes. When the smoke clears a little, we can see the flames. It s sad to see all the burning.

The fire south of us, at the pass, is a mess too. The highway that runs north and south through our valley

U.S. 93

is closed up there. They shuttle traffic through twice a day, if possible. I talked to a lady whose husband and father-in-law were working up near Sula doing some private excavat-ing around the ski resort. Of course the private work has stopped, and they are now using their backhoes and front-end loaders to help firefighters. Anyway, it s very bad up there. That s the area you re hearing a lot about on the TV news.

The fire southeast of us is burning in the Sapphire Mountains. It s burning at a pretty good clip too. Families up that way are on alert. That's the Skalkaho area. (Skalkaho Pass on SR 38 is 7,260 feet high and Chief Joseph Pass just south of Sula is 7,264 feet high, so the Cooley s have some pretty hefty mountains around them). State Route 38 is now closed to all traffic

no shuttling of vehicles at all.

Hamilton, where our daughter lives, is four miles south of our home here at Corvalis. So far the towns of Hamilton and Corvallis

(continued on page 4) are not in immediate danger, just verrrrrry smoky. Ash is everywhere. Some great big

Know what this is?

Spade Cooley

Vega

2

DUTY OFFICER OF THE YEAR LT(JG) KENNETH

DidJaNo

The Chinese People s Liberation Navy has 260,000 personnel, and more than 160 mostly modern seagoing ships compli-mented by several hundred smaller patrol vessels. It is expanding its submarine fleet using Russian technology, and training for of-fensive operations.

DidJaNo Russia is the chief foreign supplier to China of advanced military equipment and technology, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, advanced SU-27 fighter planes, and Kilo-class submarines.

HOT DUTY

Submitted by Lt(jg) Ken Sherman

In February of 1970, we deployed to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, in support of Operation Market Time with the 7th Fleet. Iwakuni can be cold in the winter and early spring, with morning temperatures typically near freezing. At that time, the duty office was a small, wood-framed building separate from the hanger, sitting on a slight rise next to the flight line. In the spring of 1970 we stood the watch there in tropical white long (today s summer whites) that were plain cotton and not too warm. Jackets were not author-ized, so the small pot-bellied stove in the corner of the duty office was an essential piece of equipment.

I was standing the SDO watch there one cold day. A quick check of the stove showed that the flame was out. Lifting the flat cast-iron top by its handle, I peered in and saw that the flow valve had been left open and a small pool of fuel had filled the bottom of the stove. The stove burned JP-5, fed through a line from a 55-gallon drum mounted on a cradle outside the building.

As luck would have it, my ASDO that day was an ADJ which, in my mind, made him

the on-scene expert on propellants. After he advised me that the pool of JP at the bottom of the stove would not explode if lit, I

tentatively ignited a piece of paper, tossed it through the hatch, and watched a bit apprehensively as a small blue-orange flame slowly spread across the puddle of JP. A moment later it was clear that no explosion was likely and we both went back to work.

Some time later (I m not sure just how much time), I realized that I was no longer cold. In fact, I was positively toasty. A glance over my shoulder at the stove made my heart lurch up into my throat. The top of the stove was now glowing a bright cherry red and it was giving off bundles of heat. The air shim-mered and danced between the top of the glowing stove and the ceiling. Making my way quickly (but professionally) over to the stove, I grabbed the office broom and, using it as a lever, lifted the stove lid up by its handle.

As soon as the lid had been lifted, a huge, angry flame roared up out of the opening, reaching almost to the plywood ceiling. The heat was fierce. I felt my eyebrows crackle. The flame was al-most instantly accompanied by a tremendous cloud of boiling black ash that fountained energetically out of the stove top, rip-pled across the ceiling, and then rained down on everything and everyone, billowing out the windows for that special total doo-fus effect.

Being a highly-trained, cool Navy flier, I immediately sprang into my NATOPS training dealing with Fire, Duty Office Stove, Measures Dealing with Extraordinary Stupidity in Use Of. Re-leasing the broom handle with a dignified yelp, I nimbly stum-bled backwards, tripping over my feet as I turned, and, in my most professional command croak, yelled Fire! Evacuate the duty office! The ASDO and I then hastily exited onto the flight line. From outside, the duty office looked like one of those glass snow storm globes one shakes to get all the fake snow flying

around, except that this snow was all black.

By this time people were yelling, running, shouting, and carrying or dragging fire bottles from all over. I sud-denly realized that I was about to have a very bad FITREP day, ( Ltjg Sherman is a personable young officer whose performance this reporting period would have been even better had he not managed to single-handedly burn the duty office to the ground. )

Quickly the valve on the JP barrel outside the duty office was shut off, the stove fire was extinguished, and slowly, Career Sui-cide Day came to a merciful end. When I was sure all was safe, I dismissed the fire bottle brigade and made a trip to the head. A glance in the mirror showed a young man with all the hair on the front of his head burnt to ash, the end of his nose cooked a crispy second-degree red, and wearing the new Summer Soot uniform. It was humiliating. I finished my watch and then got the CO s permission to clean the duty office myself. Completing the day s log pre-sented a bit of a challenge. My whites were way, way past cleaning.

Aftermath: I learned a whole new respect for JP-5; I learned that heating should be left to professionals; and from that day on my flight crew refused to let me do any of the cooking.

Ken Sherman

3

DUTY OFFI CER OF THE

YEAR

ashes! We sneeze a lot

even the dog!

Our eyes itch & burn.

Bob Giddings called to ask about us. It s always good to hear from him. After we talked about the fires, he told me about the Pensacola reunion. Wish we could've been there, but we had some very important things to do with our family.

I managed to break two ribs and crack an-other about a month ago! I went to sit down on a kitchen chair, grabbed the back of it, and it tipped over just as I sat down. My left side hit the chair leg with all my weight behind, and that's how it happened. Went to Convenience Care at the hospital in Hamilton and X-rays showed the broken ribs. I am on the mend though

feeling better every day.

Hope all is well with everyone. More at a later time.

DidJaNo

What U. S. Navy Patrol and Reconnaissance aircraft were lost due to attacks by the Chinese and Soviets during the Cold War?

8 Apr 50 Soviet fighters shot down a VP-26 PB4Y-2 over the Baltic Sea near Latvia, 10 killed in action (KIA).

6 Nov 51

Soviets shot down a VP-6 P2V over the Sea of Japan, 10 KIA.

18 Jan 53

Chinese shore batteries shot down a VP-22 P2V over the Formosa Strait, 6 KIA.

9 Apr 54

Soviets shot down a VP-19 P2V over the Sea of Japan near their Sibe-rian coast, 1 KIA.

22 Jun 55

Soviet MIG-15s shot down a VP-9 P2V over the Bering Strait, 3 WIA. (Crash-landed on St. Lawrence Island).

22 Aug 56

Chinese shot down a VQ-1 P4M off the Chinese coast near Wenchow, 16 KIA.

15 Apr 69

Soviets shot down a VQ-1 EC-121 over the Sea of Japan near the coast of North Korea, 31 KIA.

And Now The Rest of the Story . . .

The VP-22 P2V Neptune crew shot down in the Formosa Strait, between Taiwan and

the Chinese mainland, (Taiwan used to be called Formosa ), by the ChiComs in January of 1953, had taken-off earlier that day from Okinawa. The VP-22 crew had been photographing a Chinese anti-aircraft artillery installation on China s southeast-ern coast. The Neptune was hit by ground fire and had to ditch in the South China Sea.

The Patrol Wing at S a n g l e y Point re-ceived their distress signal and within minutes the Coast Guard air/sea rescue crew at Sangley was manning their bird preparing for take-off. The Coast Guard PBM-5A seaplane roared into the air shortly after noon with Lt. John Vukic at the controls. They poured on max power and sped to the scene of the ditched Neptune.

It was close to dusk when the rescuers sighted the 11 survivors in the cold water below. Lt. Vukic landed his aircraft in the rough 12-foot seas, and guided his plane close enough to the survivors so his crew-men could fish them from the ocean. Dazed and shivering after hours of clinging to a single life raft the VP-22 crew was worn out and needed maximum assistance getting aboard the rescue aircraft.

But, the story doesn t end here. By now it was dark and the waters of the strait were getting rougher. As Lt. Vukic attempted takeoff the PBM s port engine failed. The aircraft slammed back into the sea killing four of the just-rescued VP-22 crewmen, and five of their Coast Guard rescuers.

The remaining men survived a long, cold night in rough waters and were picked up the next day by the destroyer, USS Halsey Powell.

Some of the survivors needed lengthy hos-pital stays, but all the men picked up by the destroyer survived their ordeal.

LEGEND FROM THE PAST

By Paul Eschenfelder

Don, my check is in the mail

ship me

over for two more years in VP-1 POPs. I appreciate all the hard work you and the others have done.

Just to show that VP-1 people are every-where in the world, and turn up at the least expected places, I ll share this event .

About two years ago I was upgrading to the A-320. The Airbus is an all glass, fly-by-wire, computer driven airplane, as different from the D(irect) C(able) 9 that I had been flying for 20 years as it is possi-ble to be. To say the course was challeng-ing would be very modest.

One of the first officers in this class was a pilot by the name of Jane Bonney. She happened to live in Houston also, not far from where we reside. She and I vowed that, if we "survived the Airbus marathon", we would get together at a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate. Later we gathered for that celebration with our families. Her husband was Ross Bonney.

In the course of conversation it turned out that he had been in VP-1 also! He had de-parted the squadron about the time that I arrived. Not only that, he was famous!

When I checked-in to VP-1 as a JO, all JO s were instructed that we had to be ready to go any where

any time

no advance notice. The overarching example used was "one poor JO who was grabbed right after he arrived in Hawaii and shipped out to Midway with just the clothes on his back. His wife never knew where he was for days". All us new JOs smiled at this warning and example

it was good advice but a bit overdrawn.

Nope. Wasn t. Ross was the guy. Right after he and Jane checked into TLA quar-ters in Hawaii, on one of his first days in the squadron, he was swept up from the hangar, shoved onto a P-3, and launched out to Midway to serve as duty officer dur-ing some 'top secret' ops staging from Mid-way. Since the ops were 'top secret', he was allowed no phone call and nobody in the squadron would confirm there was even a DET at Midway. Jane sat quietly in her TLA apartment in downtown Honolulu, roast in the oven, not a friend for 2,000 miles, awaiting her miss-ing husband. Being a good Navy wife, also a new Navy wife, she had no idea what had happened. Finally, after a couple days, she was able to learn he was "not on the is-land". Needless to say the roast was ruined.

4

I was stunned as the tale was related, and it wasn't the margaritas. The old warning example was true! I was confronted by a legend from my past

25 years ago.

Anywhere. Any time. No notice. Here was the guy! Which means . . . as this squadron legend has proven to be true

might

there be something to all those Foots Huston stories after all? Sorrowfully, we must report the passing of Virgil Pattin s wife, Joanne. After a lengthy bout with cancer Joanne passed away this past September. Hand Salute!

Two!

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Don Hanson, Cdr

We had a good time! I said that in the last newsletter, and judging from the com-ments coming into VP-1 POPs Central (secretary Don Grove), the others who

attended also had a good time.

In the last newsletter, I requested each of us to step up and contact one, two, or even three shipmates, and tell them that we d like to see them at the next reunion. Now,

I d like to add to a few remarks offered by Don Swendsen. He com-mented that the majority of reunion attendees were senior personnel. He s right. Many of us were career types, and have large Navy mem-ory boxes where VP-1

memories fit.

How about the younger shipmates that Don mentioned? Some did only one, or maybe two enlistments, then returned to civilian life. They don t have much to at-tach their VP-1 experiences to. But, as Don said, they did their job, and they did have experiences. Let s pull in these younger shipmates for at least these two

reasons: give them a chance to receive the attaboys they deserve; and give us a

chance to hear of their successes since leaving the Navy.

Now, for them, and for us, cost is a factor when attending the reunions. Many are

still working, raising families, and/or send-ing kids through college. For our part we ll strive to avoid fancy, expensive reunions. Our gatherings will always feature two key elements: PLACE

for cost, activities,

and memories; and PEOPLE for provid-ing max time for visiting and reminiscing.

This will be a real challenge. These younger shipmates will be hard to find.

Some of them didn t leave a big footprint. They were young, mobile, and probably searching for their niche in life. Use what-ever means you re good with. Keep Don Grove in the loop, and also Jack Bachhof-fer, who we have designated as our inter-net information coordinator.

Encourage the ladies to attend. As Bob Giddings said, bring your better half . Wives, widows, detached or whatever, will always be welcomed.

And, finally, it has been a treat to see how some of our people have stepped up to the plate. First, Rich Hunt and the Northwest gang; then Willie and crew with the Pen-sacola gathering; and now

Mike Tay-lor s team is up to bat, leading us on to Memphis. See y all in Tennessee

in the fall of oh-three.

MEMBERS

SPEAK

Lt. Charlie BUDENZ (9/30)

Howdy Don, my thanks to you. Just know how much I enjoyed the reunion

and look forward to Memphis in 03. Really appre-ciate it. (Charlie sent me a very enjoyable article from the November 2000 issue of

Aviation History about P2V Neptunes entitled

Forgotten Warbird ).

Lt. Spence CLOSSON (8/20

I spent an eve-ning with Tom Van-derhorst in New York

City last month and got an extensive de-brief of the Y2K Pensacola reunion. Sounds like I missed a good one. I'm afraid I had too many irons in the fire at the time. It seems like poor planning on my part, however it was largely beyond my control. Anyway, I look forward to seeing you guys in Memphis. Keep in touch.

Lt. Mike GARRICK (10/5)

Enclosed are my dues for membership in the VP-1

P-3 Orion Pioneers. I m currently residing in the United Kingdom. Retired from the Navy as a Cdr in October 1990. As the economy slid into recession and the mili-tary downsized, retired naval officers be-came a dime-a-dozen . I trained in a local university and qualified to teach at an Eng-lish school, (biology, chemistry, and phys-ics). Received my MA from the University of London. I m currently teaching at St. Clement Danes school. I began teaching as I wanted to stay in the UK, but needed a job. The pay isn t great, but it s a living.

Leree & AT3 John GAUKEL (8/21) We just got the latest newsletter and sure ap-preciate all the time and effort that you guys put into it. It means a lot to hear about some of the old gang. Sorry we couldn't make it to Pensacola, but we hope to make the next one. Is it possible for you to send me the e-mail addresses of the guys that you have? Especially the old tweet-shop guys. I haven't read any news of Doyle Hudson, Hal Wiseman or Rusty Hamil. Has anyone heard from them? Hope to hear from you soon and thanks in ad-vance. (We sent John an electronic update of our master roster containing all the latest e-mail addresses

Hudson, Wiseman, and Hamil haven t yet been located).

Jan & AMH1 Bob GIDDINGS

The hats, T-shirts, key chains, and refrigerator magnets at our last reunion were a great idea. The memorial ceremony for our de-parted squadronmates was heart tugging

a wake up call from the past. I hope there is a pool at our next reunion inn, as the evening poolside gatherings at Pensacola were very enjoyable. We hope to see a lot more of the younger folks at our next ren-dezvous. You people that are still gainfully employed

plan ahead so you can take a few days off from work. You now have three years advance notice on the when and the where. Hopefully the mid-section

Don H

AN AERO CORP. P-3 FIRE FIGHTER Sent in by Mike Cole, AMS2

John Gaukel

5

VP-1 P-3 ORION PIONEERS MEMBERSHIP as of 11/1/00

Jerry ADAIR, Jack ADAMS, Jack BACHHOFER, Jeff BARCLAY, Marty BECKER, Gary BENNER, John BERGER, Jack BERRY, Dave BETZ, Dave BEVINGTON, Gary BLOCKER, Ross BONNY, Gene BRENNAN, Tom BROWNING, Charlie BUDENZ, Al BURCHI, Cotton BURDEN, John BYCZEK, Mike CALLIHAN, Bruce CARPENTER, Steve CARY, Tom CHAM-BLISS, Ernie CHIUCCHI, Ron CLAGGETT, Spence CLOSSON, Jackie COBB, Lex COBB, Mike COLE, Tex COLEMAN, Spade COOLEY, Bob COONS, John COY, Mike CREGER, Doug CROWE, Bill CROWLEY, Lois DAUBE, Mark DEICHERT, J. V. DeTHOMAS, Doug DEVINEY, Bob DEVRIES, Pete DREES, Jim DUDLEY, Jim DVORAK, Jim ELLIOTT, Don

ELOWER, Doug ELSTON, Swede ERICKSON, Paul ESCHENFELDER, Bill FIELDING, Freddy FINK, Jack FORTE, Russ FREDRICK, Cliff FREUND, R. Don FRNKA, Stan FROSBUTTER, Bob FULLER, Ray FUNK, Charlie GARDINER, Greg GARDNER, Mike GARRICK, Dan GARRISON, John GAUKEL, Vance GAY, Pat GESLING, Bob GIDDINGS, Todd GIL-BERT, Mark GILSDORF, Jon GISLASON, Mike GLENN, Rocky GMEINER, Gus GOLDENPENNY, Bob GRAY, Earl GREEN-MAN, Bob GREGOR, Jim GROMELSKI, Don GROVE, Ray GROVE, Dick HAGLUND, Jim HAMILTON, Don HANSON, Jim HARVEY, Phil HAWKINS, Chuck HIGHTOWER, Billy HILL, K. C. HILL, Bill HOLMAN, Mike HOLPUCH, Bert HOW-ARD, Bill HOWARD, Carson HUNT, Rich HUNT, George HUNTER, Ricky HUNTER, Foots HUSTON, Bill JOHNSON, Ben JOHNSON, Gary JOHNSON, Paul JOHNSTON, John JUNK, C. K. KAUAHI, Grant KEELER, Mike KELLEIGH, Dave

KIASKI, Ron KLIMECKI, Mel KOSSEN, Bill LANSING, Dave LARSON, Jack LAUTENSCHLAGER, Jimmy LEE, Rob LERSCH, Mardy LEWIS, Roland LILLYBLAD, Steve LINN, Cliff LOY, Jim LUPER, Paul LUSK, Larry MANARO, Dave MAR-ZOLA, Jim McCALLISTER, Mac McCOMAS, Bob McCOY, Van McCULLOUGH, Bill McDONOUGH, Paul McFARLAND, Donn McKINNON, John McLAURIN, Jim McNINCH, Mike McQUAID, Jim MELTON, Jim MILLIGAN, Tom MITCHELL, Ron MONTGOMERY, Poncho MORALES, Shark MORASCH, Walt MORSE, Doug MURDOCK, Burt MYERS, Dave NASS, Bob NEDRY, Tom NUNNO, Bob OLIVER, Tom OLSON, Peter OLSSON, Joe OSANI, Steve PALMER, Virgil PATTIN, Larry PERDUE, Johnny PEREZ, Reisse PERIN, Vic PESCE, Greg PIERCE, Gene POOLE, Pat POTTER, Keith PRITCHARD, Dave QUAYLE, Jim RADIGAN, Frank RAYNOR, Harry RECTOR, Barkley REED, Rick REIDHEAD, Mike RELLO, Larry RICK-MAN, Ed RISINGER, Curt ROBERTS, Rich RUNDLE, Gary RYAN, Rick SALAS, Bill SARVER, Jake SCANLON, Rich SCHANTINI, Bob SCHOONOVER, Don SEGUR, Ken SHERMAN, Rod SKOGE, Freddy SMART, Don SMITH, Ward SMITH, Greg SMOCK, Dave SRITE, Stu STEBBINGS, Jeff STINSON, Tom STRUTZ, Don SWENDSEN, Ron SWITZER, Lou TAFOYA, Mike TAYLOR, John THOMLEY, Jerry THORNBURG, Dan TORFIN, Richard TOWNER, Dan TRUAX, Dan TURBEVILLE, Ron VANDERGRIFT, Tom VANDERHORST, Jerry VON RONNE, Dan WALDROP, Rick WATSON, Don WAUGH, Lance WEDELL, D. R. WHITE, Willie WILLIAMS, J. B. WILLIAMS, Ken WILLIAMS, Dave WITT, Jim WOOTEN, and Mike ZINS. (If I ve missed anyone who should be listed here, please notify me).

of our nation will be closer and more af-fordable for many. Jan and I hereby issue a standing invitation for anyone who passes nearby to drop in for a visit. The door is always open! Be glad to see ya!

AWC Mike GLENN (10/3)

I m leaving the Pacific Northwest! I m pulling up stakes and leaving my digs just north of Seattle. I ll be hitting the trail in mid-October heading east and south. Haven t decided yet whether I ll cross the continen-tal divide on I-80 or I-70. They ve already had traffic stoppages on I-80 in Wyoming due to snow, but maybe I can sneak through. I m looking at residing down along the Gulf Coast

possibly the Pensa-cola area. I ll let everyone know when I get settled again.

Shirley & AEC Bill HOWARD (8/28) - How did we wind up in Tennessee, you asked? In 1962 we bought a house in Mari-etta, GA, planning to reside there after retiring from the Navy. My in-laws were going to live there until my retirement time came around. After completing AVC-7 school at NATTC Memphis I became an

instructor in the same school. After being here for awhile we came to like the local area. By the time I retired, 1979, metro-politan Atlanta had crept out pretty close to the house in the country that we had pur-chased. We decided we didn t want to put up with all the traffic, noise and congestion that had brought, so we built a house here in Tipton County, Tennessee. We like it here

and Grumpy Taylor s pizza parlor is close by.

Lcdr Foots HUSTON (8/19)

Greetings from 106° Dallas! That's a little warmer than normal. We've now been 50 days without rain! Okay, summer's almost over! Hope everything's going well with y'all. I've been lucky . . . the hip/knee pain I had in P'cola turned out to require a total hip replacement. The surgery was last week (early August) and I'm feeling great, get-ting around better than before (hope to give up the walker next week) and sleeping a lot better. Ain't titanium grand! Pass along my BZ's to all the Whidbey folk. It's sure nice to have friends like you up there keeping us up to date.

Lcdr Foots HUSTON (10/5)

I m al-most embarrassed to say how well the hip is doing. It has been 8½ weeks since the surgery. I used a walker for the first three weeks, then a cane for three weeks. I ve been walking unassisted for over two weeks now. I still have a slight limp, especially when I m tired. And I get some sympathetic pain in my left hip and knee when I overdo it. But I have not had any pain from the new hip from the first day. I m waiting for the first real cold day

I ve heard that I ll really feel that titanium then! But, as for now, I m doing great, and I m flying again after six months. I took a King Air to Nas-sau last week. It was great to be back in the air!

Shirley & AVCM Mac McCOMAS (9/24)

When you update the roster again, please remove the "work" info from my entry. I sold my insurance agency when I got ready to retire last year. Both Shirley and I are now retired. We appreciate all

Foots

6

7

you're doing with POPs, even though I haven't been able to make either reunion. The nerve to my lung seems to be healing. I m getting stronger and will make the next get-together in Tennessee.

Ella & ADJ2 Paul McFARLAND (8/28)

Enclosed is a check for $20

$10 for

membership dues and another $10 to help defray the cost of sending out newsletters, postcards, etc., to people (like us) who had not already joined the VP-1 POPs organi-zation. We have very fond memories of our tour in VP-1 and often talk about the people we knew and the friends we made. We have wondered what ever happened to all of them. We did know about both of the VP-1 POPs reunions, but unfortunately we were in Europe both times. We will defi-nitely keep an open date for the Memphis reunion. We look forward to receiving a VP-1 P-3 Orion Pioneers roster, and hope-fully, through that, we will be able to con-tact some of our old friends.

Amy & AT3 Jim MILLIGAN (8/20) We just received the latest newsletter (another great edition, by the way) and were glad to hear of the successful Pensacola reunion. We re really sorry that we couldn t make it. We tried like hell, but just couldn't pull it off. Believe me we were thinking of you all and wishing we were there to share in the joy of renewing old friendships. See you in Memphis!

Lt. Joe OSANI (9/1)

Sorry I let my membership lapse. Here s my check. I en-joy reading about all of the people from VP-1. I was looking forward to Pensacola, but job commitments prevented me from attending. Looking forward to Memphis in 2003, and Whidbey after that. Thanks for keeping this going best to you all.

ADJ2 Johnny PEREZ (9/27)

I will be at Jacksonville starting on the 16th of Octo-ber. My employer, DynCorp Aerospace Technologies, Inc., has been awarded a five year contract to maintain the three VIP P-3 aircraft that are in VP-30s custody. I was offered a Quality Assurance position there and I accepted. I m planning to leave here (Maryland) the second week of Octo-

ber, and will start work at Jax on the 16th. I ll be going off-line here in Maryland in early Octo-ber. My wife will remain in Maryland for a time, so the snail-mail address will be good till further notice.

Will appraise all of my new e-mail & snail-mail addresses when available.

AVCM Gene POOLE (8/21)

I didn't

contribute anything for publication, yet you did a real nice write-up about me in the last newsletter. When I was young I was told that I would make the front page someday

but that it wouldn't be for any-

thing good. (You fooled them, Gene).

PR3 Don SMITH (8/26)

Thanks for the newsletter. Here s a check for my associa-tion dues and a T-shirt. If more caps are on order let me know

I ll take one.

AX1 Ward SMITH (8/26)

Couldn t make the Florida bash due to prior commit-ments, but am looking forward to attending the next one. I m getting old, slow, and a little senile

I thought I d paid my dues. Here s a check

keep me on the mailing list.

Lt. Stu STEBBINGS Just a quick note to say hi and let everyone know how much that last reunion meant to me. The guys sure put in a lot of work. The events and seeing all those "old" friends was almost over-whelming. Like having multiple flashbacks or multiple dreams over a three-day period. The air museum was a trip down memory lane and all too real. Faces change but not the people behind those faces. I'm already looking forward to Memphis in 2003. I plan to ride my motor-cycle. I really envied Grumpy Taylor

and Bob Gregor who rode their big bikes to Pensacola.

Linda & AWC Jim WOOTEN

Great job with the Y2K reunion. We had a wonderful time

DidJaNo

The Chinese Peoples Nuclear Force now includes six new CSS-4 inter continental ballistic missiles. This is a one-third increase in China s ICBM arsenal, which is largely targeted at the U.S.

MID WATCH REVERIES

by Todd Gilbert, AW2

While in my garage looking for a gallon of prop wash and several yards of chow line, (I thought I had some but could find nei-ther), I began to fade away and reminisce about the good ol days in The Fleets Fin-est . (Maybe some ginko biloba would resolve this problem). Being a young radar operator back in those days I still remem-ber Rich Hunt s unique form of tweaking airborne electronic equipment. Holding on to the overhead rail and squarely planting a pair of flight boots into the APA-125 seemed to work wonders

a little shake, rattle, and roll in the days of tubes vs. tran-sistors.

However, one of my most distinct memo-ries of the days at Barbers Point was as a young stallion standing the 2400 to 0800 ASDO watch. The duty officer had retired to his rack for the night and I was in charge .

It was somewhere during the zero dark thirty hours when the ringing phone dis-turbed my commanding reveries. It was the NAS Barbers Point Security Officer. We have one of your sailors here at our office , he stated with gruff authority .

This sailor was supposedly caught in the act of attempting to ZAP the base C.O. s pride and joy (some kind of jet) on display at the main gate with a VP-1 (Yellow Bird Airlines) logo. I can t remember the type of aircraft mounted on concrete at the gate, but it was small and didn t fly anymore.

After being informed of this notorious shipmate s name, and his sidekick, I imme-diately sent the duty driver to pick up these accused felons . At this point I felt it pru-

dent to awaken the duty officer and advise him of the situation, as I felt it best that he reprimand these wayward squadronmates.

When the duty driver arrived with the van-dals in tow the duty officer didn t rendered proper verbal chastisement as he came down with a complete loss of memory ac-companied by a case of tongue-tied-ness.

Thus, Commander Goose Gesling, and his co-conspirator, either an Australian officer buddy or our squadron maintenance officer (my memory fails), were off the hook. As a young, but competent, ASDO I dispatched the duty driver to take the cul-prits to their quarters. The incident was

Stu? or Hemmingway?

Johnny Perez

Diamond Jim

immediately forgotten

no mention was

made to persons not involved

and noth-

ing was entered in the log until now!

SECRETARY & TREASURER S

CORNER

I think a hearty WELL

DONE

is in order

for Lou Tafoya for his efforts in seeing that our Y2K Reunion photo booklet became the topnotch, class-A publication that it did. It took awhile to get the booklet out to every-one, but better later & done right than a hurry-up, error-filled, production.

The Dunning Company took and developed all the formal pictures. Lou did the selection and layout of all the rest. He also provided the pub-lisher with all the YB photos, the info on page one, the squadron logo, and our eagle on the cover. Some of the photos Lou had to work with were 30-years old and a bit faded and scratched.

Those had to be computer enhanced, and some had to be resized. Good work, Lou!

But! Where did the black & white photo on page 3 come from? An ex-C.O.

you say! Smoked a pipe?

With this experience under his belt Lou says he s ready to take on the photo booklet for the 2003 reunion. Has our Chief Avia-tion Ordnanceman converted to a Photo Mate?

For those who didn t yet order a Y2K reun-ion booklet they may be procured from the Dunning Company, Inc., P O Box 759, Theodore, AL 36590. Their phone number is 334-653-7486. The price is $25 per copy. When ordering mention job number 20-036. T h e i r W E B a d d r e s s i s www.photomemorybooks.com .

Gene Poole received the following e-mail in mid-August. Gene, My name is Irene. My Dad has been trying to find out some info on a Lt(jg) T. J. Madigan. We think his full name was Thomas Joesph Madigan. We

know that he was killed in a P-3 Orion in June of 1979, and that's all. The reason why my Dad is interested in finding out more is because when he was in the Navy 20 years prior he was on the planes that the P-3 Orion replaced (P2V s?)

and my Dad s

name is Patrick Joesph Madigan. When T. J. Madigan s obituary was published it was misprinted as P. J. Madigan. There is more to this

things that have my dad

wondering if somewhere down the line he might be related to the T. J. Madigan who perished in the aircraft accident. If you could help us out with any information we would really appreciate it. I hope that you are not offended that we contacted you for we have tried everything else we could think of. When I found the web sight with your address I thought I would give it a try. Thanks for your time. Irene .

Does anyone have any information they could provide to this lady? Her e-mail ad-dress is tinymeyer@aol.com .

This past August a team of U. S. and Rus-sian investigators identified the wreckage of a U. S. Navy PV-1 Ventura patrol bomber that s been listed as missing since March 25, 1944. The crash site is on the Russian Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka. The plane had taken off from Attu Island in the Aleutians, on a mission to attack Japanese bases and shipping on and around the north-ern Kurile Islands. At the site, U.S. forensic specialists from the Army s Central Identi-fication Laboratory in Hawaii recovered human remains assumed to be those of some of the plane s seven crewmembers. They believe additional remains are there and have recommended a full-scale recov-ery operation be mounted next summer, after the ice and snow in the area melts. Working with the Navy's Casualty Office, the Defense Department s Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office is working to locate relatives of the Ventura s ill-fated crew.

We have a newly appointed committeeman in our VP-1 POPs association. Jack Bach-hofer agreed to be our Internet Informa-tion Coordinator, and has been appointed to this position by our president, Don Han-son. In this capacity Jack will be checking various internet web sights for information posted about our VP-1 P-3 Orion Pioneers. This is to ensure that outdated info gets updated periodically, and that any bogus info is deleted. He is compiling a list of internet URL s where VP-1 POPs info is posted. If you have posted info about our

organization on the inter-net somewhere please let Jack know. If you come across a place on the internet where you think VP-1 POPs data ought to be, please go through Jack before posting any-thing. And, if you find any bum data out there in cyberspace please let Jack know about it. Hopefully Jack can keep a handle what is being posted about our group, and where, and be able to update information as necessary. Jack, our internet info dude as he puts it, will be glad to hear from you. His e-mail address is bachhoferj@aol.com .

We are still searching for people who were assigned to VP-1 between 1969 and 1974. If you know the whereabouts of any of our squadronmates from that period please let them know of our group, and let me know their address so I may contact them about VP-1 POPs. We know that there are over 300 guys out there somewhere that we haven t contacted that are qualified to be members of our organization and/or to at-tend our reunions. Please help to find these guys if you can.

Anyone wishing to join as a member of our elite VP-1 P-3 Orion Pioneers may do so now for a fee of only $5. As our dues are on a bi-annual basis, members signing on now need only pay $5 for the year 2001. Our VP-1 POPs dues are $5 per year, but paid only every other year, $10 at a time. A dues payment of $10 will be due from all of us at the end of 2001 for membership for years 2002 and 2003. So, those joining now need only pay for one year, 2001.

Checks for dues payments or for purchase of merchandise (T-shirts, key chains, or P-3 refrigerator magnets) should be made out to VP-1 POPs .

Lou Tafoya

Jack Bachhofer

8

Some of our VP-1 POPs members came traveling through the Pacific Northwest this year. While most of us were enjoying the spring gathering on Pensacola Bay, Jerry and Florence VonRonne visited the PNW with their camper. They had been in California aiding Florence s ill sister, so couldn t make it down to the Gulf Coast for the big doings.

Bernie & Earl Greenman came by during the summer on their way up to Alaska. They caught their cruise ship in Vancou-ver, B.C., about 100 miles North of Seattle. They spent a few days in Seattle, and a day up here on Whidbey Island. Sue & Don Swendsen and Ellen & I had lunch with the Greenmans at the NAS Whidbey CPO Club while they were here. After lunch we gabbed and enjoyed the view from Don s back deck while sampling some of Sue s fabulous strawberry shortcake.

Toward the end of summer, the dynamic duo of Mike Taylor and Bob Gregor came whizzing through on their motorcy-cles. They were also headed for Alaska. I had brunch with these Tennessee Travelers in Oak Harbor, then we had a nice visit with Don Swendsen at his place. I m awaiting Mike & Bob s report on their BIG trip

from Tennessee to the Arctic Circle and back

on two wheels. It ll be printed in a future edition of our newsletter.

I have only a couple of articles sent in by members which have not yet been printed in one of our newsletters. These will most likely appear in our next issue, planned for late winter or early spring. Then, the well will be dry! I know that out there amongst you there are hundreds of yarns, anecdotes, tales of anguish, awesome terror, stories of oddball happenings, etc., that would make downright interesting reading for our mem-bership. Send them in! Please! Put your thinking caps on and sharpen your pencils.

We would also like to hear about you. Just a few lines about what your doing these days, where you re at, what s transpired in your life over the past 30 years, things like that. It s very interesting to your old squad-ronmates. As you enjoy getting updated by them, they enjoy hearing about you.

You don t have to be a distinguished au-thor, a word processing geek, or a top-notch typist to submit a piece. You can send it in via e-mail. Or, just write it down on a piece of scratch paper and mail it in. I m not fussy. The gist of the piece is

what s important, not the form, or the spelling, or the grammar.

Send in a picture with your article

cur-

rent or from the past

whatever you like.

The picture can also be sent with e-mail as an attachment.

Send all mailed input and/or dues pay-ments to me, Don Grove, at 2024 Briar-wood Drive, Oak Harbor, WA 98277-8546. Send E-mail articles and photos to me at groovy@whidbey.net .

A current roster listing all the squadron-mates that have been located is available from me. I can transmit it to you via e-mail if you have the capability. No charge for this service. If you d like a printed, snail-mailed copy please send $1 to cover our reproduction and postage cost. The roster is five pages, contains over 375 names, addresses, phone numbers, and E-mail addresses. It also indicates which of those on the roster are members-in-good-standing of the VP-1 P-3 Orion Pioneers

Please notify me if you have a change of address, phone number, or e-mail address. It s the only way I can keep the roster up-to-date, get copies of newsletters to you, and ensure that we all maintain contact.

That weird looking P-3 pictured in the lower left corner of page 2 is a U. S. Cus-toms domed P-3. It s an updated P-3B. This is the hunter aircraft. The sadle-back Customs P-3 is the killer .

Willie Williams in Pensacola reports that the project to provide the Naval Air Mu-seum a VP-1 plaque with the squadron emblem of our era on it is in work. His brother is making the eagle, globe and chain logo. When that s completed it will be appropriately mounted and presented to the museum. Willie also said that his wife, Tina, has had her carotid artery surgery. She came through the operation in great shape and is now convalescing at home.

Patrol Squadron ONE is gearing up for yet another WestPac deployment. The old P-3 Charlies will be heading out for Ja-pan in December. The squadron members again will be away from home over both the Christmas and New Year s holidays. They re not headed for Iwakuni this trip, though. It s over to Kadena AFB on Oki-nawa for part of the squadron, while the rest will be at Misawa. No Americans based at Naha anymore. Naha is now a

Japanese international airport and Air Force base. And, only Marines at Iwakuni.

NAS Whidbey Island s VP-40, currently deployed to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, with numerous small detachments in the Arabian Gulf area in support of Fifth Fleet operations, was the first Navy unit on the scene at Aden following the attack on the USS Cole. Shortly after the attack the VP-40 detachment at Qatar (2 planes

50

personnel) was recalled to Bahrain as Ma-rine security personnel at Qatar were to be sent to Aden. VP-40 then flew three air-craft from Bahrain to Aden taking in the first security and medical personnel. The first Navy aircraft to arrive on the scene, they were wary of the local airport, but found everything to be satisfactory. Upon leaving Aden for the return trip to Bahrain they were tasked with carrying out the first of the dead bodies

five USS Cole sail-ors in body bags. At Bahrain the bodies were downloaded to waiting caskets. The squadron flew several subsequent missions to Aden taking in supplies, people, and equipment. (From an e-mail message by Bernie Ryan, C.O. of VP-40).

Our association officers and steering com-mittee attended a pot-luck meeting on No-vember 4th at Grove s Grove in Oak Har-bor, Washington, to discuss issues con-cerning the organization. President Don Hanson, vice-president Rich Hunt, secre-tary/treasurer Don Grove, Don Swendsen, Jeff Barclay, and Stu Stebbings attended. Wives were in attendance and we had some good chow and interesting discus-sions. We ll appraise everyone of the is-sues that were conferred on in the next newsletter.

9

U.S. CUSTOM S DOMED P-3 SHADES OF YESTERYEAR

VP-1 P-3 Orion Pioneers C/o Don Grove 2024 Briarwood Dr Oak Harbor, WA 98277

The Navy s Maritime Patrol and Recon-naissance community s brass assembled at NAS Whidbey Island during first week of this past September. Hosted by Whidbey s Commodore Bill Marriott, Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10, the conference covered such issues as opera-tions, maintenance, training, VQ matters, and new technologies. Among those in attendance were Rear Adm. Mike Holmes, Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Pacific; Rear Adm. Ed Boyington, Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Atlantic; and over 30 squadron

Commanding Officers and Executive Offi-cers. During the week, VP-1 s Fleet s Finest acted as host squadron, providing assistance and maintenance to the many P-3 aircraft that arrived and departed with conference attendees.

NAS Jacksonville s VP-30 made naval aviation history when the squadron marked its 350,000th hour of class "A" mishap free flying, a new Navy-wide record. The squadron hasn t had a Class "A" mishap

(loss of a life or at least a million dollars of damage to equipment) in the past 35 years, which, considering the mission of the train-ing squadron, is quite a feat. More than 400 students are trained for duty within VP or VQ squadrons each year. Capt. Andy Anderson, VP-30 Commanding Officer said, "it really is a humbling experience to lead such a tremendous group of people, I m extremely proud of them and this ac-complishment."

THE END

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