Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (United States Navy)

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3
150px VQ-3 insignia
Active	1 July 1968 - Present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Fleet Air Reconnaissance
Role	TACAMO
Garrison/HQ	Tinker Air Force Base
Aircraft flown
Reconnaissance	Lockheed EC-130G/Q Hercules Boeing E-6 Mercury

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 (USA). 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.

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 forward deploys aircraft to fly operational patrols out of Travis Air Force Base, California.

History

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

An EC-130Q of VR-21 off Hawaii, circa 1964.

The squadron started 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). The EC-130G was replaced by the EC-130Q in 1972-1973. 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.