VFAW-3 All Weather Fighter Squadron 3 of the US Navy was active in the 1950's. It was the only Navy unit in North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) with assignment to detect and defend enemy aircraft approaching Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and the lower United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. VFAW-3 was decommissioned in April 1963. The units nickname was known as "Blue Nemesis".

Background

The first Navy squadron that received the A4D/F-6 Skyrays was VC-3 Composite Squadron 3 assigned to NAS Moffett Field, California on April 16, 1956. VC-3 was then redesignated VFAW-3 and attached to ADC (Air Defense Command) at NAS North Island, San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. THe A4Ds were to participate with NORAD. Thse aircraft carried special electronics packages on the centerline pylon with two 300-gallon drop tanks for fuel, two 12-rocket dispensers of 2.75-inch unguided rockets, and outside pylons with 2 AIM-9 Sidewinder

AIM-9 Sidewinder

The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...

 air-to-missiles.

History

Source: Dictionary

• 22 Aug 1944 -- Navy Air Training Unit-Pacific(NATUPAC) established at NAS Barbers Point HI.
• 6 Apr 1946 -- NATUPAC redesignated Night Devron Pacific
• 15 Nov 1946 -- Night Devron Pacific redesignated VCN-1 (Composite, Night)
• 1 Aug 1948 -- VCN-1 redesignated FAWTUPAC (Fighter All Weather Training Unit Pacific)
• 2 May 1958 -- FAWTUPAC redesignated VF(AW)-3 Fighter All Weather Squadron 3
• 1 Mar 1963 -- VF(AW)-3 Decommissioned at NAS North Island CA.

Aircraft

The unit primarily flew the Douglas F4D Skyray(F-6) carrier-based

Carrier-based aircraft

Carrier-based aircraft are military aircraft designed specifically for operations from aircraft carriers. The term is generally applied only to fixed-wing aircraft, as naval helicopters are able to operate from a wider variety of aviation-capable ships. Carrier-based aircraft must be relatively...

 supersonic fighter

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

/interceptor

Interceptor aircraft

An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...

 built by the Douglas Aircraft Company

Douglas Aircraft Company

The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...

 in the 1950s and Douglas A4D Skyhawk sub-sonic attack fighter in the late 1950s and 1960s. Other aircraft were assigned during earlier predicessor designations.

Assignments

Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat

• 1946 - 1948

Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat

• 1946 - 1948

Ryan FR-1 Fireball

• 1946 - 1949

F3D-2 Skyknight

• 1953 - 1958

Douglas F4D-1 Skyray (tailcode PA 1945-1963)

• 16 April 1956 - 1963 thru April 1963 - NAS North Island, San Diego, CA
• 1958 - deployment to Taiwan

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

• 1956-1957 - NAS Moffett Field, CA

Events

On March 29, 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

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

, CA

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. CDR John "Tex" O'Neill was the squadron commander of VFAW-3 in 1959.

From 24 Oct - 31 Dec 62, Detachment Echo of VFAW-3 received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...

 of 1962; at NAS Key West. VFAW-3 won NORAD’s "best performing unit" trophy (twice).

See also

• History of the United States Navy
  History of the United States Navy
  The history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that was also notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy", the result of a modernization effort that began in the...
  
  
• List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons
• List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons

External links

• History in Illustration by Chris Banyai-Riepl VFAW-3 aircraft colours