[MilCom] S-3 Viking retirement

[josh_75 at earthlink.net]

Sun sets in the West for the S-3
West Coast Vikings’ naval career comes to an end


SAN DIEGO — West Coast air crews will bid a final farewell to the Viking on
July 27 as the Navy shuts down operations of the S-3B aircraft and retires
its training squadron.

The “Shamrocks” of Sea Control Squadron 41 will be formally disestablished
during a morning ceremony at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado,
Calif., marking the end of the Viking’s presence in the Pacific Fleet.

The Shamrocks trained thousands of pilots, naval flight officers and
aircrew members since its establishment in 1960 and will officially
decommission Sept. 30. The squadron began flying and training with the S-3
in 1974 and, until April 2004, was one of five Viking squadrons operating
from North Island.

The four-seat Viking, with its distinct bulbous nose and short, thick
wings, entered the Navy in 1972 as a premier submarine hunter and in its
later years took on the role of an aerial tanker for a carrier’s air wing.
With the advent of the multimission F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Navy is
retiring all its S-3s and is shifting the tanking role to the Super Hornet.

The Navy’s four remaining Viking squadrons — all located on the East Coast
— will remain operational but eventually will ramp down until all Viking
aircraft are retired by 2009.

Those squadrons — the “Checkmates” of VS-22, “Scouts” of VS-24, “Topcats”
of VS-31 and “Maulers” of VS-32 – are based at Naval Air Station
Jacksonville, Fla.