VP-93, nicknamed theExecutioners, was aPatrol Squadron of theU.S. Navy Reserve. It was the second squadron to be assigned the VP-93 designation. The squadron was established on 1 July 1976 and disestablished 18 years later, on 30 September 1994. It flew theLockheed P-3 Orion, and was based atNAF Detroit during its entire life. Units of the squadron made 17 major overseas deployments.[1]
1 July 1976: VP-93 was the last reserve patrol squadron to be formed as part of the reorganization of the Naval Air Reserve during the 1970s. The squadron's home port was NAF Detroit, and it came under the operational and administrative control of Commander Reserve Patrol Wing, Atlantic. VP-93 began its career flying theP-3A Orion aircraft. TheExecutioners quickly devised a motto to go with their new nickname,Paratus Persequi—Ready to Execute.
8 August 1979: TheNational Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration requested the assistance of the Navy in monitoring the environmental effects of theBay of Campecheoil spill that devastated the westernGulf Coast. The mammoth oil spill was the result of a blowout on an off-shore oil well rig in early August 1979. VP-93 was tasked with flights along the path of the spill, monitoring its track and collecting a photographic record of the disaster. During the assignment the squadron was based for two weeks atNAS Corpus Christi, Texas. Several active duty Navy patrol squadrons and augment reserve squadrons participated in this mission through 31 October 1979.
January–October 1993: VP-93 deployed toNAS Sigonella,Sicily, andNaval Station Rota, Spain, in support ofAdriatic Sea embargo flights forOperation Maritime Guard against the formerRepublic of Yugoslavia. These were armed flights carryingHarpoon antiship missiles. The missions were flown in support of UN operations to enforce the cease-fire between warring factions ofBosnia,Serbia andCroatia, and to prevent outside factions from providing resupply by sea. The squadron also supplied single aircrews and aircraft over the period of May and June 1993 forOperation Sharp Guard. Three aircrews returned to NAS Sigonella again in October for continued Sharp Guard support. This detachment was hastily repositioned within 24 hours toNAS Key West, Florida, to provide support for operationsUphold Democracy and Able Mariner, the UN sanctioned embargo ofHaiti.
14–24 March 1994: VP-93 flew the Navy's last operational mission of the P-3B and ended its own flight operations on 24 March 1994 after flying over 40,000 mishap-free hours.
17 September 1994: VP-93 disestablishment ceremonies were held at NAF Detroit, with an official disestablishment of 30 September.[1]
United States
United States Navy
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