On Dec. 12, 1941 the NAVAL
AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE was established under the Chief of Naval
Operations to "Provide rapid delivery of critical equipment, spare parts
and specialists to Naval activities and fleet forces through out the
U.S. This was followed by the establishment of VR-3 on December 29,
1941 and its formal commissioning in April 1942. Under the command of
Lt. Vernon A. Doyle, USN this squadrons area of responsibility was the
continental U.S. operating the R4D (DC-3 type) Skytrain aircraft. On
April 1, 1943 the squadron flew the first scheduled flight between
Washington DC, and March AFB, CA.
In Dec. 1943, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox visited the newly
commissioned Naval Air Reserve Base at Olathe, KS. The following
January he ordered VR-3 to be moved there to continue their operation. This
resulted in the inauguration of scheduled round trip flights to the west
coast Naval installations. VR-3 was the first military unit to operate
"Air Evacuation" flights with their aircraft, flying wounded WWII and ill
servicemen from Washington to Burbank, CA. It was followed in December
with once a week
scheduled flights to Toronto Canada with a flag stop in Ottawa Canada. That
same month, they inaugurated four daily flights between the east and
west coasts. At that time (1944) VR-3 was the first naval unit to have
a WAVE (female sailor) assigned, when a Link trainer was obtained.
In 1946 the squadron was relocated to NAS Patuxent River MD. and in 1948
was the original Naval Air Transport Squadron to be transferred to the
newly formed Military Air Transport Service (MATS); the combined air
transport force of the USAAF and USN. At the time, the unit was flying
the Douglas R5D Skymaster (C-54).
In Dec. 1948, the squadron was transferred to the west coast at NAS
Moffett Field CA. During their west coast duty, the squadron
transitioned to the Douglas R6D Liftmaster (C-118) aircraft and suffered
its first fatal accident when a squadron aircraft impacted the Pali Kea
peak in the Hawaiian Islands. It was just 15 miles northwest of its
scheduled destination. The squadron remained at Moffett until 1957 when
it was relocated to McGuire AFB NJ, still operating within MATS under
the command of the Naval Air Transport Wing Atlantic.
In Jun. 1963, the squadron retired their Liftmasters for the newly
acquired C-130E Hercules medium haul transport. It continued its
operation from McGuire until July 1967 when it was disestablished,
becoming the last Navy squadron in the combined services Air Mobility
Command (AMC). This ended the inter-service partnership that had begun
in 1948 and lasted just short of 20 years.
It was only fitting that the oldest active Naval Air Transport Squadron
to participate in this highly successful joint command was the last to
be deactivated.
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