Patrol Squadron 91 (VP-91) was a patrol squadron of the

U.S. Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

. It was the second squadron to bear the VP-91 designation, the first VP-91 was redesignated VPB-91 on 1 October 1944. The squadron was established on 1 November 1970 and deactivated 29 years later, on 31 March 1999. It flew the

Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

Operational history

*1 Nov 1970: VP-91 was established at NAS Moffett Field, and was the first Naval Air Reserve land-based patrol squadron on the West Coast to fly the

P-3A Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.NAS Agana Naval Air Station Agana is a former United States Naval air station located on the island of Guam. It was opened by the Japanese Navy in 1943 and closed by the United States government in 1995. During and after its closure, it was operated alongs ...

, Guam. Squadron crews located five refugee vessels resulting in the saving of 250 lives. The five crews participating in the rescue were awarded the

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includ ...

. By this date, over 2,500 refugees had been rescued in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

through efforts by all elements of the Navy. *February 1991: One crew and aircraft was deployed to participate in

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. The crew was credited with assisting in the destruction of two

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

vessels during combat in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. This event marked the only participation by a Navy reserve patrol squadron in direct combat with the Iraqi navy during the Gulf War. *1 July 1994: NAS Moffett Field was disestablished after 62 years of service as a naval air station and

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field. The base continued to serve the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the Naval Air Reserve, and the

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

but was no longer under the Navy's operational or administrative control. The active duty P-3 squadrons were relocated to

NAS 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 station ...

, Hawaii, and

NAS Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. The main portion of the base, Ault Field, is about ...

, Washington. VP-91 continued to operate from the base, now known as Moffett Federal Airfield, California. *31 March 1999: The squadron was deactivated at Moffett Federal Airfield.

Aircraft Assignment

The squadron first received the following aircraft on the dates shown: * P-3A ''Orion'' – November 1970 * P-3B MOD ''Orion'' – 1978 * P-3C UIII ''Orion'' – February 1990

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vp-91 Patrol squadrons of the United States Navy Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons

Operational history

Aircraft Assignment

See also

References

External links