All Weather Fighter Squadron 3 (VF(AW)-3) was a designation which was used by two separate U.S. Navy aviation squadrons. The first squadron to use the designation was established as Composite Squadron THREE (VC-3) on 20 May 1943, was redesignated All Weather Fighter Squadron THREE (VF(AW)-3) on 1 July 1956 and was disestablished on 2 May 1958. The second squadron to use the designation was established as "Navy Air Training Unit-Pacific (NATUPAC)" on 22 May 1944, was redesignated "Night Development Squadron Pacific (NightDevRonPac)" on 6 April 1946, then "Fighter All Weather Training Unit Pacific (FAWTUPAC)" on 1 September 1948 and finally, on the same day as the first squadron designated VF(AW)-3 was disestablished, 2 May 1958, was redesignated "All Weather Fighter Squadron THREE (VF(AW-3)". This second squadron to carry the VF(AW)-3 designation adopted the insignia and nickname "Blue Nemesis" from the first VF(AW)-3 and was the only U.S. Navy unit to be assigned to the

North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

History

First Squadron designated VF(AW)-3

Korean War

Composite Squadron 3 (VC-3) ''Blue Nemesis'' was established on 20 May 1949. VC-3 provided night fighter detachments aboard the aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet, flying the F4U-5N Corsair. Its aircraft were heavily engaged in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and Lt. Guy Bordelon of VC-3 became the only U.S. Navy "ace" during the war, after shooting down his fifth enemy plane on 16 July 1953, while detached ashore from the . After the war, the F2H-3 Banshee replaced the Corsair.

Transitional Training Unit

In August 1954 VC-3 assumed a new role as a transitional training unit transitioning fleet fighter squadrons into the latest high performance jet aircraft. It was the only squadron in the Navy to operate as such and was dubbed ''Cougar College'', ''Cutlass Classroom'', ''Fury Finishing School'' and ''Crusader College'' as it introduced the F9F-6 Cougar,

F7U Cutlass The Vought F7U Cutlass is a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber of the early Cold War era. It was a tailless aircraft for which aerodynamic data from projects of the German Arado and Messerschmitt companies, obtained ...

FJ Fury North American FJ Fury (also ''North American F-1 Fury'') may refer to several members of a group of fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft, built by North American Aviation for the US Navy, and related in varying degrees to the F-86 Sabre this firm ...

F3H Demon The McDonnell F3H Demon is a subsonic swept-wing United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, the Demon was originally designed to use the Westinghouse J40 engine, but had to be redesigned to acc ...

F4D Skyray The Douglas F4D Skyray (later redesignated F-6 Skyray) is an American carrier-based fighter/interceptor built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Although it was in service for a relatively short time (1956–1964) and never entered combat, it ...

, A4D Skyhawk and

F8U Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), and for the Fren ...

to the fleet. On 1 July 1956 the squadron was redesignated All-Weather Fighter Squadron 3 (VF(AW)-3) but it continued performing the same transitional training role it had been performing since 1954. The squadron was disestablished on 2 May 1958 when the specialized transitional training the squadron performed was no longer needed.

Second Squadron designated VF(AW)-3

Night Fighter Development and Training

The second squadron designated VF(AW)-3 was established on 22 May 1944 as the "Navy Air Training Unit-Pacific (NATUPAC)" at

Naval Air Station Barbers Point Naval Air Station Barbers Point , on O'ahu, also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport), is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa Airport. Parts of the former air stati ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was redesignated "Night Development Squadron Pacific" on 6 April 1946. Two years later, it was redesignated "Fighter All Weather Training Unit Pacific (FAWTUPAC)". Among other aircraft flown by the squadron was the Navy's first jet powered, radar equipped carrier based night fighter, the F3D-2 Skyknight. In 1957, the squadron began transitioning to the

F4D-1 Skyray The Douglas F4D Skyray (later redesignated F-6 Skyray) is an American carrier-based fighter/ interceptor built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Although it was in service for a relatively short time (1956–1964) and never entered combat, it w ...

, receiving its first six aircraft during that year. When the transition was complete, the squadron was equipped with 25 F4Ds, based at

Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Continental Air Defense role

On 2 May 1958 when the transitional training unit designated VF(AW)-3 was disestablished, Fleet All Weather Training Unit Pacific was redesignated All Weather Fighter Squadron 3 (VF(AW)-3) and it along with its F4D Skyrays assumed a continental air defense role assigned to the 27th Air Division of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Norton Air Force Base Norton Air Force Base (1942–1994) was a United States Air Force facility east of downtown San Bernardino in San Bernardino County, California. Overview For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-l ...

Douglas F4D-1 VF(AW)-3 in flight over San Diego

Radar coverage was provided by an Air Force early warning radar site on

Mount Laguna Mount Laguna is a small census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. It is approximately above sea level in a forest of Jeffrey pine, east of San Diego in the Laguna Mountains on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest ...

, code-named "Anderson." In the late 1950s, the squadron averaged one or two actual scrambles and two or three training sorties per day. VF(AW)-3 consistently outperformed USAF interceptor squadrons in scramble time and intercept effectiveness. VFAW-3 won NORAD's "best performing unit" trophy, twice. The squadron also maintained an excellent safety record and superb aircraft-readiness rates. It benefitted in these fields from the proximity of the Douglas factory in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. After "Anderson" identified a target, VF(AW)-3 routinely scrambled two F4Ds in three minutes. In an emergency, all 25 aircraft could be scrambled in less than two hours. The Air Force radar vectored the aircraft to within 45 km of the contact, and the F4Ds completed the intercepts using their onboard radar, attempting to identify the contact without its being aware of their presence. On 29 March 1957, LtCdr Patrick F. Cunningham had an in-flight emergency and had to bail out of his A4D-1 fighter (BuNo 139924) over

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

. In response to the

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). In this conflict, the PRC shelled the islands of Kinm ...

, VF(AW)-3 aircraft deployed to Taiwan in 1958.

Cuban Missile Crisis

After the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

, VF(AW)-3 also provided a detachment of six aircraft ("Detachment Echo") at

Naval Air Station Key West Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an air ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, in 1961, under control of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). The crews were rotated every eight weeks. In January 1962, after Cuba had received

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...

fighters, VF(AW)-3 kept four F4Ds on five-minute alert at all times. From 24 October to 31 December 1962, Detachment Echo of VF(AW)-3 received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating in the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

of 1962; at

NAS Key West Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an air ...

.Navy History.org FlightDeck Friday F4D Skyray Part 2
/ref> VF(AW)-3 was disestablished in April 1963.

Aircraft

;

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other ...

*1946 - 1948 ; Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat *1946 - 1948 ; Ryan FR-1 Fireball *1946 - 1949 ; F3D-2 Skyknight *1953 - 1958 ; Douglas F4D-1 Skyray *16 April 1956 - 1963 through April 1963 -

NAS North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (NB ...

, San Diego, CA (tailcode ''PA'' 1945-1963) ;

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed a ...

*1956-1957 -

NAS Moffett Field Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale. On November 10, ...

, CA

References

External links

History in Illustration by Chris Banyai-Riepl
VFAW-3 aircraft colours {{United States Navy Aircraft Squadrons Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy