Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 6 (VQ-6) was a former squadron of the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet. During its short-lived career, it was the second of two squadrons to operate the ES-3A Shadow, an ELINT version of the Lockheed S-3 Viking.

History

Early years

VQ-6 was founded on 5 August 1991, at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida. This was after the only carrier capable ELINT aircraft at the time, the

EA-3B Skywarrior The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior is a jet propulsion, jet-powered strategic bomber that was developed and produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was designed by Douglas on behalf of the United States Navy, which sought a aircraft carrier, carri ...

, was retired from service by VQ-2. After VQ-5 received the ES-3A in May 1992, VQ-6 became the second to receive the aircraft on 19 August 1992. A year later between 13 April 1993, and 18 May 1993, the squadron participated in workup trials on the USS ''America'' CV-66. VQ-6 Detachment A made their first deployment on the USS ''Saratoga'' CV-60 between 12 January and 24 June 1994, as part of Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17). This would be the only deployment they would make on the carrier. During their thirteen deployments, they participated in Operation Southern Watch as well as NATO operations in Bosnia from the USS ''Theodore Roosevelt'' CVN-71 and the ''America''. Other Carriers that VQ-6 deployed onboard included USS Washington CVN-73 (including its maiden cruise in 1994) as part of

CVW-7 Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. At the moment, CVW-7 is assigned to the USS George H. W. Bush. The tail code of aircraft assigned to CVW-7 is AG. Mis ...

and CVW-1, USS ''Dwight D. Eisenhower'' CVN-69 as part of CVW-3, USS ''John F. Kennedy'' CV-67 with CVW-8 and the USS ''John C. Stennis'' CVN-74 during a world cruise with CVW-7 in 1998. During workups for that cruise in October 1997, the squadron along with the Stennis was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel documentary series ''

Extreme Machines ''Extreme Machines'' was a documentary series created by Pioneer Productions for The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. The series focused mainly on machines although in some episodes of Season 4 and Season 5, it also looked at disasters i ...

''.

Final Years

During their last deployment, the squadron made their last deployment as Detachment A on the USS ''Enterprise'' CVN-65 as part of

CVW-3 Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3), known as the "Battle Axe", is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The wing was created on 1 July 1938 and has seen service in World War II, the Korean War, the ...

, taking part in the strikes conducted in

Operation Desert Fox The 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 to 19 December 1998, by the United States and the United Kingdom. On 16 December 1998, President of the United States Bill ...

. On 10 August 1999, the last ES-3A were sent to AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. After this, on the 26th, a ceremony was held before the squadron was finally decommissioned on 30 September 1999.

References

{{reflist Fleet air reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Navy United States Navy Squadrons of the United States Military units and formations disestablished in 1999

History

Early years

Final Years

See also

References