380
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
1992-Contin ued
1 April By CNO direction, the remaining A-7 aircraft
in the active inventory were to be retired by 1 April.
The decision was partially reversed, however, in order
to retain 11 TA-7C and 3 EA-7L aircraft on strength
with NAWC as chase aircraft for various programs, in-
cluding the Tomahawk missile program.
8 April McDonnell Douglas delivered the 6,000th
production missile of the Harpoon (AGM-84) program
to the Navy during a ceremony at the Company's
manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Mo. The Harpoon
had been used successfully by Naval Aviation in com-
bat against Libyan and Iranian forces and, in its SLAM
version, against Iraqi forces.
13-25 March In response to a request from Italian
authorities to save the town of Zafferana from a lava
flow advancing from Mount Etna, two Marine CH-53E
Super Stallions from HMM(C)-226 aboard Inchon aug-
mented by a CH-53E from Sigonella-based HC-4
placed 8000-pound concrete blocks in the path of the
lava. As geologists had hoped, the concrete forced
open another lava vent further down the mountain
away from the town.
22 March U.S. and Australia began Coral Sea '92,
joint military exercises off the east coast of Australia,
coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Battle of
the Coral Sea.
1 May The first class of flight instructors from VT-21,
assigned to train the next generation of Naval Aviators
in the new T-45A Goshawk, began their own training
in the T-45A.
1 May Strategic Communications Wing ONE was es-
tablished at Tinker AFB, Okla. Operationally, the wing
reported to U.S. StratCom and coordinated all
TACAMO Operations. The Navy's two TACAMO
squadrons, VQ-3 and VQ-4, relocated to Tinker.
Administratively the wing would report to CINC-
PACFLT via COMNAVAIRPAC to organize, equip, main-
tain and train subordinate commands and liaison with
host Tinker AFB.
7 May The last TACAMO EC-130 began its final de-
ployment from NAS Patuxent River, Md., with VQ-4.
VQ-4 was undergoing a transition from the EC-130Q
aircraft to the new E-6A Mercury.
The E-6A Mercury in flight.

12