Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3), nicknamed the ''Ironmen'', is a

naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

based at

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origina ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

(United States). The squadron flies the Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command post and communications relay aircraft. It is part of the Navy's

TACAMO TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) is a United States military system of survivable communications links designed to be used in nuclear warfare to maintain communications between the decision-makers (the National Command Authority) and the t ...

community, whose mission is to enable the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to directly communicate with U.S. submarines, bombers, and missile silos during a nuclear war.

Operations

VQ-3 has a complement of 78 officers and 454 enlisted personnel. Since 1992, it has operated under Navy Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker Air Force Base. It forward deploys aircraft to fly operational patrols out of

Travis Air Force Base Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of the city of Fairfield, in Solano County, Californi ...

, California.

History

EC-130G Hercules of VR-21 TACAMO component in flight off Hawaii c1964

The squadron started on 23 December 1963 as a detachment of Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 21 (VR-21) 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. It operated a specialized version of the

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

aircraft, the EC-130G. In early 1966 it moved to

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, becoming part of Airborne Early Warning Squadron 1 (VW-1). On 1 July 1968, the TACAMO detachment became Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3). The EC-130G was replaced by the EC-130Q in 1969-1970. VQ-3 returned to

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 ...

in 1980. The squadron transitioned from the EC-130Q to the Boeing E-6A Mercury in 1989-90, and relocated to

in 1992. The TACAMO Community Veterans Association organization has set up a museum/history kiosk at

Kalaeloa Airport Kalaeloa Airport , also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport) and formerly Naval Air Station Barbers Point, is a joint civil-military regional airport of the State of Hawaii established on July 1, 1999, ...

, on the site of the former NAS Barbers Point. It was dedicated September 6, 2016 with former members of VQ-3, VQ-4, and VQ-7 in attendance, chronicling the history of VQ-3.

References

{{United States Navy Aircraft Squadrons Fleet air reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Navy