Ranger (CV 61) - Naval Cruise Book

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FLEET RECOIYIYAISSAIYCE SQU DRO DE TA CHMENT CHARLIE ' ' ,wmlgu -

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-ll'1Ia,, T' nl 111111 kg!! S? The tougher it is, the better we like it!! I. 7' Kennedy, J. AMEC Lombard, T. AMSI Christensen, W. AD1 Reedy, L. AT2 Mason, R. AMS2 Nisley, D. 'Yu Ting priinaiy mission of the FLEET LOGISTICS SLWFORT SQUADRON FIFTY KVRC-502 detach ment onboard RANGER is to transport passen- gers, cargo, and mail to and hom the ship. VRC- 50 uses 4 aircraft in providing support to RANG- ER and BATTLE GROUP ECHO. One C-2 is sta- tioned onboard RANGER. Flown by 4 aircrew, it is maintained by a unique cross-rated, hand- chosen, 12-man crew. Three US-5 aircraft are flown and maintained by the VRC-50 Diego Gar- cia detachment and supported aboard RANGER by VS-58. The C -2 GRE YHOUND has a secondary surveillance misson using color forward-looking radar and long range navigation to monitor ship movements within operating areas of the battle group. Flying a one ofa kind aircraft requires careful flying and smart maintenance to com- plete all of its missions. The home port of VRC- 50 is CUBI POINT, R. P., serving the battle group in the Indian Ocean. AE2 Smith, T F , X X VRC-50 Det 61 group photo onboard RANGER. VRC-50 271 AK2 O'Dell, G AME2 Smith, S AMS2 StubbS, J AMS5 Harrington AMS5 Matias, J AD5 Spence, S AMSAN Hienbaugh ADAN Nokleby R AMSAN Perkins G AMSAN Wade L ADAN White, R

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LT Working P LT Zaricor S. LTJG D Andrea V LTJG Meyer M. C-I5 LTJG Thomas G. C WO2 Humphrey G ADC Cabumay O. ,U 3 4-A., lk. 1 o ' M I I - v X LTJG Wiegand, D. , V, ' I , ul -.. . - -Q ' v I . x t A T2 Gearhart. G. AT2 tlahn, R. AMH5 L0hr, K. AE2 McGuire, J. A T2 Rohosy, O. A MH2 Sutherland, P. AEJ Coker, R. YN5 Jackson, A. YN5 Lynch, A. AMH1 Lacarnbacal, PR1 Spinks, J. AE2 Akiona, E. AT2 Clark, M. AD2 Fein, T. Y W ' V -. sv, The Douglas EA-515 Sky warrior, affectionately known as the ' Whale , from fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE IVQ- Il reported to USS RANGER lor duty on I0 July 1987. Its mission is to pros ide passim e electronic warfare support mea- sures it:'SMl to the fleet Tactical Commander. VQ-1's area of responsibility ranges lrom the west coast ofthe United States to the east coast of Africa. llomeported at NAS Agana, Guam, VQ-I covers this area with its I20 officers and 800 enlisted personnel utilizing the land-based EP-JE Orion and carrier- based l1'A -.Sli Sky uarrior. A single EA -.315 is embarked on each carrier deploy ed to HES Tl'AC, and RANGER welcomed the 9 ofliclers and .58 enlisted of VQ-l Detachment C who flew and maintained aircraH number NE-006. Detachment C flew mer 5 70 hours and logged 114 traps tcarrier landingsl. Originally designed and flown as a heavy attack, carrier-based nuclear bomber in the mid-50's, the EA-.55 Skywarrior has etohed into a 7 place, carrier-based, long-range, high perfor- mance reconnaissance platform. The Whale is the largest ilength I 78 ft, wingspan 2 72.5 lil and the heaviest 175,000 lbs at launchi ever to operate off aircraft carriers. Also, the Whale is the last of the bridle-launched fleet aircraft. In the early 1990 's, the EA -58 is to be replaced by an electroni- cally modified S-5A aircraft called the ES-5 , and VQ-1's carrier-based facet will become the nucleus ofa proposed new squadron of carrier-based ES-5 aircraft called VQ-5. Both squadrons will continue to operate from Guam. On 28 November 1987, NE-006 launched off Catapult 4 for what may be the final shipboard Sk ywarrior operations. In late October 198 7, the Chief of Na val Operations KCNOJ restricted all Whales to land-based operations: therefore, Detach- ment C became a chapter in Naval Aviation history as the last WESTPAC detachment operating the EA-.SB Skywarrior. SA VE THE WHALESX' VQ-1 275 AE1 GIZSS, E. E