Constellation (CV 64) - Naval Cruise Book

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CAG cw FORMER CAPTAIN BOBBY C. LEE Captain Bobby Lee entered the Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet on 19 October 1956. He was commissioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator in May 1958. His first squadron tour was with Light Photographic Squadron SIXTY-TWO flying the F9F-8P and RF-8 aircraft. From VFP-62 Captain Lee spent two years under instruction at the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey. Upon completion of studies Captain Lee reported to Fighter Squadron ONE SEVEN FOUR, the Crusader', RAG. There he served 18 months and was among the initial pilots to fly the A-7 Corsair II when VF-174 transitioned to Attack Squadron ONE SEVEN FOUR. From VA-174 Captain Lee spent a short tour with VF-24. It was during this tour that he shot down a North Vietnamese MIG 17 aircraft while participating in a strike against the Hanoi thermal power plant on 19 May 1967. Captain Lee returned to Naval Air Station Cecil Field and was a plank owner in Attack Squadron THREE SEVEN. He completed his second combat cruise on Kitty Hawk CV-63 with VA-37 flying the A-7 as part of Attack Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN. Captain Lee returned to VA-174 as an instructor pilot in 1969. At the completion of this tour, he served as Operations Officer for Attack Carrier Air Wing NINETEEN at Naval Air Station Lemoore. It was with CVW-19 that he completed a third combat tour and flew with the BARNOWLS', of VA-215. Captain Lee went from Air Wing NINETTEN StaffVto,Executive Officer of Attack Squadron ONE TWO TWO. Following a year there he reported to Attack Squadron ONE FOUR SEVEN as Executive Officer. He assumed command of VA-147 in May 1975. Captain Lee reported to USS ROOSEVELT QCVA-425 as Assistant Air Officer at the end of his squadron command tour. He departed ROOSEVELT after her ufinali' last cruise in April 1977- and spent seven months training in each type of aircraft flown by Air Wing NINE. Captain Lee took command of the Wing 16 December 1977. Captain Lee has flown 5700 accident free hours in tactical aircraft and has 1130 carrier arrested landings. His decorations include the Silver Star Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. Captain Lee resides in Lemoore, California with his wife Dotti and their boys Robert and Richard.

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CAG GUI PRESENT COMMANDER MELVIN D. MUNSINGER Commander Melvin D. Munsinger was born in Los Molinos, California, in December 1935. Following graduation from Chico High School, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chico State College in 1958. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy in January 1959 through the AOC Program. He was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1960. Commander Munsinger's first tour of duty was with VAW-11, where he made his first WESTPAC deployment. In February 1964 he moved to Lemoore as an instructor, flying VA-122's A-1 Spads. He made an in-country tour while attached to VA-122 as Advisor to the South Vietnamese Air Force. He returned to sea in 1967 with VA-97 to continue his combat career with Air Wing FOURTEEN deployed on CONSTELLATION. CDR Munsinger left VA-97 in February 1970, returning to VA-122 as an instructor. He departed aviation in July 1970 for a year's study at the Naval War College and earned a Master's Degree at George Washington University. He returned to the Pacific Fleet attack community as Maintenance Officer and Operations Officer of VA-192, where he made one more combat cruise aboard USS KITTY HAWK. After a shore tour with COMLATWINGPAC Staff, CDR Munsinger served as Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of VA-113 at Lemore, California from November 1973 to May 1976. During this time he made two more cruises and earned the CVW-2 Individual Golden Tailhook Award. In May 1976, he departed the USS RANGER and headed for China Lake, California, where he served as Executive Officer of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron FIVE until July 1978. CDR Munsinger's decorations include the Silver Star, six Distinguished Flying Crosses, seven Air Medals, 39 Strike Flight awards, seven Navy Commendation Medals with Combat V , the Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Navy Unit Commenda- tion, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Air Gallantry Cross, and Vietnam Unit Com- mendation. He is one of the few aviators who has flown in excess of five hundred combat missions, and is the first pilot to fly more than three thousand hours in the A-7 Corsair Two. CDR Munsinger resides in Lemoore, California, with his wife Mary and their two daughters, Carrie and Kimberly. '