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UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1992-Contin ued

south of the 32nd parallel and attacking Shiite Moslem

ethnic groups in the marshes of southern Iraq. Any

Iraqi aircraft caught airborne would be shot down.

Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers from Tarawa also sup-

ported the operation.

28 August Typhoon Omar devastated Guam. Joint

Task Force Marianas coordinated the relief efforts of all

the military services. Naval Aviation units involved in

relief efforts included NAS Agana, Guam, HC-5, VRC-

50, VQ-1, VR-59 and VQ-5.

4 September Two CH-53E and two AH-l W heli-

copters from Iwo lima, stationed in the Adriatic in sup-

port of the UN relief efforts to the Bosnian capital of

Sarajevo, rushed to the scene of an Italian Air Force

G.222 transport downed by a SAM. The helicopters

drew fire from the ground, but were undamaged.

4 September Commander Linda V. Hutton assumed

command of VRC-40 becoming the first woman to

command an Atlantic Fleet aircraft squadron.

11 September Hurricane Iniki, the strongest storm

to hit the Hawaiian Islands in 90 years, devastated 75

to 80 percent of the island of Kauai. NAS Barbers Point

and its tenant commands provided volunteers and as-

sisted local residents. Belleau Wood sailed to Kauai

with troops and relief supplies. Pacific Missile Range

Facility, Barking Sands on Kauai was only slightly dam-

aged and served as a hub of relief flight operations.

Navy and Marine Corps aircraft flew in supplies and

personnel. VP-1 and HSL-37 also participated in the re-

lief effort.

14 September Forrestal arrived at Philadelphia

Naval Shipyard, Pa., from NAS Pensacola, Fla., to com-

mence a 14-month $157-million complex overhaul.

Forrestal would then be used as a training carrier. The

Navy, however, decided in early 1993 to mothball

Forrestal in Philadelphia and leave the Navy without a

dedicated training carrier.

16 September President George H. W. Bush dis-

patched the Tarawa Amphibious Ready Group to the

coast of Somalia as part of Operation Provide Relief, a

multinational effort to relieve the massive starvation in

the country. The Marine Harrier (AV-8B) aircraft and

helicopters from HMM-161(R) stood ready offshore to

protect relief teams and transport aircraft bringing in a

contingent of Pakistani peace-keeping troops to

Mogadishu, the capital city.

16 September Ranger arrived on station in the Persian

Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing

the no-fly zone over Iraq south of the 32nd parallel.

28 September Secretary of the Navy Sean O'Keefe,

CNO Admiral Frank B. Kelso II and Commandant of

the Marine Corps General Carl E. Mundy, Jr. signed a

new Navy/Marine Corps strategy, entitled ". . From

the Sea." The new strategy was developed in re-

sponse to the shift in the threat from global to re-

gional. It emphasized littoral warfare and maneuver

from the sea.

30 September The four functional wings (Helicopter

Wings, Atlantic; Patrol Wings, Atlantic; Strike-Fighter

Wings, Atlantic; and Tactical Wings, Atlantic) of COM-

NAVAIRLANT were disestablished in a sweeping

change that eliminated an entire echelon of command

in the administrative structure of Naval Aviation on the

East Coast.

30 September The Naval Base at Subic Bay, the last

military base in Southeast Asia, was turned over for-

mally to the Philippine Government.

7 October John F Kennedy, with CVW-3 on board,

and her battle group left for a six-month deployment

to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve Saratoga. The ten-

sions in the area involved the civil war in the former

Yugoslavia and conflicts with Iraq's president Saddam

Hussein.

15 October HS-14 became the first U.S. squadron to

land aircraft (the SH-3H Sea King) on the deck of a

Russian warship, RNS Admiral Vinogradov, a Udaloy-

class destroyer.

22 October The Department of Defense announced

the awarding of a contract to the Bell-Boeing Joint

Program Office for the modification and test of a V-22

derivative. The aircraft was in consonance with the

Secretary of Defense letters of 2 July 1992 to

Congressional leadership. It was a scaled-down version

of the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

24 October The Atlantic Fleet reorganized into six

permanent battle groups. The forming of permanent

battle groups was a major change in fleet composition.

Previous Navy plans called for forming battle groups

for specific workups and deployments.

30 October NAS Cubi Point, Republic of the

Philippines, was disestablished ending almost a cen-

tury of American military presence in the Philippines.

The occasion was marked by a public ceremony.