As a
result of the overhaul of the Naval Air Reserve, at NAS Alameda, California
on May 2, 1970, VAQ-308, under the command of CDR Gregory Bambo Jr., was the
first squadron of the first reserve Carrier Air Group to be commissioned.
Comprised of a unique complement of civilian reservists and active duty
personnel, VAQ-308 was assigned KA-3B’s. At 0750, November 10, 1970,
VAQ-308’s Skywarrior, made the first arrested landing for the newly formed
Carrier Air Group 30. The landing was made during low ceilings and 14 foot
seas aboard USS TICONDERGA (CVS-14) while cruising approximately 100 miles
southwest of San Clemente Island. Never before had non-active duty
reservists been day and night carrier qualified! This was the first A3
Skywarrior and the first Heavy Attack Squadron ever assigned to the Naval
Air Reserve. VAQ-308 along with its later formed sister squadron, VAQ-208,
established a new precedence by flying combat support missions in S.E. Asia
during the Vietnam War with civilian reservists (not recalled to Active Duty)
during short leaves of absence from their civilian occupations. The squadron
supported peacetime as well as critical emergency deployments to the Indian
Ocean (e.g., during the India-Pakistan conflict in 1971 and the transfer of
aircraft to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973). The AERREFRON
designation was adopted on October 1, 1979, thus making VAK-308 and VAK-208
the only Navy units ever to have been given air refueling as their primary
mission. After adding over 19 years to the "Whale’s" already
long operational tenure, VAK-308 was decommissioned at NAS Alameda on
September 30, 1989.
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