Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (United States Navy)

{{Infobox military unit

|unit_name= Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3

|image= Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (US Navy) insignia 2015.png

|image_size= 150px

|caption= VQ-3 insignia

|dates=1 July 1968—present

|country= United States of America

|allegiance=

|branch= {{nowrap|File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy}}

|type= Fleet air reconnaissance

|role= TACAMO

|size=

|command_structure=

|current_commander=

|garrison= Tinker Air Force Base

|ceremonial_chief=

|colonel_of_the_regiment=

|nickname=

|patron=

|motto=

|colors=

|colors_label=

|march=

|mascot=

|battles=

|aircraft_recon= Lockheed EC-130G/Q Hercules
Boeing E-6 Mercury

|anniversaries=

}}

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3), nicknamed the Ironmen, is a naval aviation squadron of the United States Navy based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma (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 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.{{cite news |last=Peloni |first=Matthew |url=https://www.tinker.af.mil/News/story/id/123258597/ |title=Navy VQ-3 squadron welcomes new commander |work=Inside Tinker AFB |location=Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma |publisher=Tinker Air Force Base |date=2011-06-03 |access-date=2015-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706101338/http://www.tinker.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123258597 |archive-date=2015-07-06 |url-status=live }}

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 deploys aircraft to fly operational patrols out of Travis Air Force Base, California.{{cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |author-link=Norman Polmar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC&q=vq-3+squadron |title=The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2005 |pages=377–378 |isbn=9781591146858 |access-date=2015-07-05 }}

History

File:EC-130G Hercules of VR-21 TACAMO component in flight off Hawaii c1964.jpg

The squadron began on 23 December 1963 as a detachment of Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 21 (VR-21) at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii. It operated a specialized version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, the EC-130G. In early 1966, it moved to NAS Agana, 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).{{cite web |url=http://oldtacamo.com/vq-3-the-ironman-squadron |title=VQ-3 - The Ironman Squadron |work=Old TACAMO |access-date=2015-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716023431/http://oldtacamo.com/vq-3-the-ironman-squadron |archive-date=2015-07-16 |url-status=dead }} The EC-130G was replaced by the EC-130Q in 1969 and 1970. VQ-3 returned to Barbers Point in 1980. The squadron transitioned from the EC-130Q to the Boeing E-6A Mercury in 1989-90, and relocated to Tinker Air Force Base in 1992.{{fact|date=February 2024}}

The TACAMO Community Veterans Association organization has a museum and history kiosk at Kalaeloa Airport, on the site of the former NAS Barbers Point. It was dedicated 6 September 2016, with former members of VQ-3, VQ-4, and VQ-7 in attendance, chronicling the history of VQ-3.{{fact|date=February 2024}}

References

{{commons category|Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (United States Navy)}}

Category:Fleet air reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Navy