Patrol Squadron 30 (VP-30) is a maritime patrol squadron of the United States Navy, established on 30 June 1960. It is based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.
Mission
VP-30's mission is to provide Boeing P-8A Poseidon specific training to Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers, and enlisted Naval Aircrewman prior to reporting to the fleet. More than 650 staff personnel train over 800 officer and enlisted personnel annually, utilizing 10 P-8A aircraft. In addition to U.S. Navy enlisted, officer and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps personnel, foreign military personnel from Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Spain, Argentina Thailand, Chile, and the Republic of Korea have all received specific aircrew and maintenance training on different variants of the P-3 at VP-30. In addition, military personnel from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand currently receive training from VP-30 on the P-8.
History
VP-30 was established on 30 June 1960 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida under the operational control of Fleet Air Wing 11 (FAW-11). The squadron was organized to be a fleet replacement squadron (FRS) of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, providing training on non-carrier based anti-submarine (ASW) aircraft, and ensuring a continuous flow of operationally qualified pilots, naval aviation observers, enlisted aircrew and maintenance personnel to fleet patrol squadrons. VP-30 Detachment Alpha was established at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, to train personnel on the P5M Marlin seaplane, while the NAS Jacksonville unit provided training in the land-based P2V Neptune. The squadron had an initial complement of 40 officers, 271 enlisted personnel, five P5M-2 seaplanes and thirteen P2V aircraft, the latter being seven P2V-5Fs and six P2V-7s.
On 15 July 1961, the Detachment Alpha was merged with the parent organization at NAS Jacksonville when plans were made to begin retiring the P5M Marlin from the Navy's active inventory. On 1 June 1962, Detachment Alpha was reestablished at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to begin replacement training in the new P3V-1 Orion aircraft. On 15 September 1962, the Department of Defense Tri-Service Designation System was established, resulting in the redesignation of the P2V-5 as the P-2E and SP-2E, the P2V-7 as the P-2H and SP-2H, the P5M as the P-5B and SP-5B, and the P3V-1 as the P-3A
Detachment Alpha expanded until the end of the year, by which time it was staffed with 10 officers and 53 enlisted personnel.
On 21 October 1962, VP-30 transitioned from replacement training to an operational status for participation in the naval quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing ASW cover for Task Force 44. The squadron reverted to its primary training mission in March 1963.
In 1964, the squadron introduced the P-3B variant of the aircraft and began conducting training on this version of the aircraft as well. On 10 January 1966, the NAS Patuxent River detachment became the parent command, with the squadron headquarters relocating from NAS Jacksonville to NAS Patuxent River. Detachment Alpha was relocated to NAS Jacksonville for replacement training in the SP-2E Neptune aircraft.
From 27 May to 4 June 1968, VP-30 was called upon to assist in the search for the missing nuclear-powered attack submarine , overdue since 22 May 1968. The squadron searched the last known location of the vessel, east of Norfolk, until 4 June 1968, without result.
On 10 December 1968, VP-30's Detachment Alpha at NAS Jacksonville was phased out with the retirement of the SP-2E airframe from the U.S. Navy's inventory while the later SP-2H variant remained in the active duty Navy until 1970 and the Naval Reserve until 1978. The assets and personnel of the detachment were merged with VP-31’s Detachment A, home based at NAS North Island, San Diego, California and personnel staffing of the former VP-30 Detachment A was reduced from 400 to 300 with the merger. The expanded VP-31 Det A continued training on the P-3 Orion airframe.
In June 1969, VP-30 received the first computerized models of the P-3C, later known as "Baseline" or "Non-Update" (NUD) models. In 1970, with the advent of the Fleet Readiness Aviation Maintenance Training Program (FRAMP), VP-30 also began training enlisted maintenance personnel as well as officer and enlisted flight crew personnel, conducting ten classes a year.