Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 64 (VR-64), nicknamed theCondors, is a logistics squadron of theU.S. Navy Reserve, based at theFort Dix entity ofJoint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst. The squadron was established asPatrol Squadron 64 (VP-64) on 1 November 1970 and redesignated on 18 September 2004, after 34 years of service. It was based atNAS Willow Grove, Pennsylvania until it was transferred to the Fort Dix element of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst in 2011.[2] Units of the squadron made 26 major overseas deployments.[3][4]
1 Nov 1970: VP-64 was established as a reserve patrol squadron at NAS Willow Grove, under the operational control of Reserve Patrol Wings, Atlantic. VP-64 was established from previously existing reserve VPs—66W1-W3, 21W4, 26W5 and 23W6—as a result of a major reorganization of the Naval Air Reserve that took place in 1970. The 12 Naval Reserve patrol squadrons formed were structured along the lines of Regular Navy patrol squadrons with nearly identical organization and manning levels. The concept, known as the 12/2/1 had 12 Reserve VP squadrons under two commands, Commander Fleet Air Reserve Wings Atlantic and Commander Fleet Air Reserve Wings Pacific, both under the control of one central authority, Commander Naval Air Reserve. These commands would later be redesignated as Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Atlantic; Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Pacific; and Commander, Naval Air Reserve Force. VP-64 was initially equipped with 12Lockheed SP-2H Neptune aircraft, 60 officers and 323 enlisted personnel.
June 1973–June 1974: The squadron's first LockheedP-3A DIFAROrion arrived. Transition training for aircrews was completed in June 1974.
October 1982–October 1983: Crew transition training to the P-3A TAC/NAV MOD airframe was begun and completed in October 1983. The TAC/NAV MOD version replaced the ASN-42 navigation and tactical display systems with the LTN-72 inertial and Omega navigation systems and digital computer.
January 1987: Perimeter security at NAS Willow Grove was breached by a peace activist group. Several members of the group were able to damage one of the squadron's aircraft before base security was able to respond.
1990: VP-64 traded in their 10 P-3A Orions for eight P-3B TAC/NAV MOD aircraft. The IRDS/HACLS modifications added infrared detection. The completion of these modifications gave squadron aircraft aHarpoon launch capability. The Harpoon missile capability was originally intended specifically for the elimination of Soviet surveillance trawlers andEcho II cruise missile submarines in the event of war, the Echo II having to surface in order to fire itsSS-N-3 Shaddock missiles.
April–May 1993: VP-64 deployed toNimes, France, in support of joint French-American ASW exercises. A detachment was maintained atRNAS Souda Bay,Crete. Several crews were put on alert status atNaval Air Station Sigonella,Sicily, during the period of heightened tensions in the former Yugoslavian Republic in support of UN sanctions.
April 1994: VP-64 began the transition from the P-3B to the P-3C Update II. It incorporated the latest in avionics and weapons systems, including a turret-mounted infrared detection device to drop out of the nose to identify targets day or night.
July–September 1995: VP-64 deployed several detachments to NAVSTA Roosevelt Roads, in support of DoD counter-narcotics patrols in theCaribbean theater. During this period theCondors assisted in the tracking and seizure of narcotics shipments estimated at a street value of $2.5 billion.[3]
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