1992-Contin ued

22 May VQ-5 at NAS Agana, Guam, took delivery of

its first ES-3A electronic reconnaissance aircraft, mark-

ing the operational service entry of this new electronic

reconnaissance version of the S-3 aircraft.

31 May Four aviators of the VS-21 Fighting Redtails

attached to Independence assisted a sea rescue of 19

crewmen from a sinking Panamanian cargo ship, lo-

cated 580 nautical miles off the coast of Diego Garcia

in the Indian Ocean.

27 June VT-21 became operational as the Navy's first

training squadron to give instructions on the T-45A

Goshawk.

1 July Helicopter Sea Control Wing 3 was redesig-

nated Helicopter Antisubmarine Light Wing 1 absorb-

ing Helicopter Sea Control Wing 1 at the same time,

placing all Atlantic Fleet Helicopter Antisubmarine

Light squadrons (HSLs) under one wing.

10 July The last production Grumman F-14D Tomcat

was delivered to the Navy. The F-14D was powered by

two General Electric F-I10-GE-400 augmented turbo-

fans with afterburners of 27,000 pounds per engine.

This model had improved avionics, ECCM, and en-

hanced radar. This marked the end of 22 years of pro-

duction of the F-14 Tomcat fighter.

20 July The fourth prototype of the V-22A Osprey

tilt-rotor aircraft crashed into the Potomac River on ap-

proach to MCAF Quantico, Va., killing three Marines

and four Boeing employees. The remaining three pro-

totypes were grounded pending the results of the

mishap investigation. The mishap was blamed on me-

chanical failure.

22 July In a press conference at the Pentagon,

Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean O'Keefe and CNO

Admiral Frank B. Kelso II announced a sweeping re-

organization of the OPNAV staff. The plan, devel-

oped by Admiral Kelso, aligns the OPNAV staff with

the Joint Staff. The reorganization was scheduled to

be in effect on 1 January 1993. The Assistant Chiefs

of Naval Operations (ACNO) for Submarine Warfare

(OP-02), Surface Warfare (OP-03), Air Warfare (OP-

05), and Naval Warfare (OP-07) would merge into

one staff under the DCNO for Resources, Warfare

Requirements and Assessment (code N8), a three-

star flag officer. The new designation assigned to

ACNO (Air Warfare (OP-05)) was Director, Air

Warfare (N88).

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

381

24 July Saratoga became the first U.S. aircraft carrier

ever to conduct sustained flight operations in the

Adriatic Sea. She was sent there in response to the

strife in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia-

Herzegovina. Deployed with the Saratoga was the am-

phibious ship Iwo Jima.

5 August The Pentagon announced that it would ask

contractors to develop a less expensive version of the

V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

10 August The OPNAV Staff commenced the admin-

istrative conversion to N-codes. The reorganization

would provide closer liaison with the Army and Air

Force and optimize early cross-service technology and

requirements discussions. The ACNO (Air Warfare)

(OP-05) became N88, one echelon under N8 the

DCNO (Resources, Warfare Requirements &

Assessment. )

12 August Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet,

announced the formation of six permanent battle

groups.

22-26 August Hurricane Andrew, the most expen-

sive natural disaster ever to strike the U.S., ravaged the

Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana, leveling Homestead

AFB, Fla. Naval Aviation units were called into action

to help relieve the suffering of hundreds of thousands

of Americans. Navy ships with supplies and repair ca-

pabilities steamed from East Coast ports for Florida.

23 August Independence entered the Persian Gulf

prepared to enforce an Allied ban on Iraqi flights over

south Iraq below the 32nd parallel. On 26 August

President George H. W. Bush announced that the

United States and its allies had informed Iraq that in 24

hours Allied aircraft would fly surveillance missions in

southern Iraq and were prepared to shoot down any

Iraqi aircraft flying south of the 32nd parallel. The ac-

tion was precipitated by Iraq's failure to comply with

UN Resolution 688 which demanded that the Iraqi

Government stop the repression of its Shiite popula-

tion in southern Iraq.

27 August Operation Southern Watch-Persian Gulf

allies began to enforce the ban on Iraqi planes from

flying south of the 32nd parallel. Any Iraqi planes that

violated the ban would be shot down. Independence

and Saratoga, and the amphibious ship Iwo Jima par-

ticipated. Twenty Navy aircraft from CVW-5 aboard

Independence in the Persian Gulf were the first coali-

tion aircraft on station over Iraq as Operation Southern

Watch began. Southern Watch was the enforcement of

a ban on Iraqi warplanes and helicopters from flying