Name: SMOKIN’ TIGERS A Pictorial History of Reconnaissance Attack Squadron ONE (RVAH-1)
SKU: 3069
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SMOKIN’ TIGERS A Pictorial History of Reconnaissance Attack Squadron ONE (RVAH-1)

This book is the first in a two-part series and describes the FEWSG structure and mission in detail. FEWSG provided threat training which stressed the U.S. Navy’s ability to respond, from applying anti-jamming fixes, to understanding the weaknesses and what assets and tactics were usable for defense. FEWSG (later redesignated “Fleet Replacement Training Group” (FTRG)), and its complement of “Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons” (VAQ-33, VAQ-34 and VAQ-35), were so much more than Cold War training assets. They represented another Navy EW intellectual center, a cadre of personnel who monitored opposition capabilities in order to accurately mimic the threat. In order to accomplish that goal, ingenuity and improvisation was required. As a result, the community prized unconventional thinkers, people who tried to use common equipment to achieve uncommon ends. Starting with the operators who saw the advantage of modulating jamming with the propellers of the “Skyraiders”, FEWSG operators pioneered EW tactics. Those personnel then percolated back into the fleet, bringing with them an ability to innovate tactics and get more from installed electronics. Plenty of historical photos illustrate in detail the Squadron activities both at sea and ashore.

9 in stock

Category: books

Description

On 1 Nov 1955, Heavy Attack Squadron ONE (HATRON ONE or VAH-1) was established and temporarily based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. On the same day, CDR P.F. Stevens assumed the command of the squadron. He was a highly decorated patrol-bomber pilot during World War II.
In 1956, VAH-1 underwent an intensive training schedule in anticipation of the receipt of the new jet, Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior. Designed with an eye toward the Heavy Attack mission, the A3D was an atomic bomber, fully capable of carrier operations.

On 31 Mar 1956, the squadron received five A3D-1s, thereby becoming the first fleet unit to take delivery of the jet-powered nuclear bomber. The squadron’s initial deployments were to the Mediterranean and North Atlantic area onboard USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59) and USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA-62). Following their return from their Apr-Aug 1962 cruise, the SMOKIN’ TIGERS began transitioning to the North American A-5A Vigilante. On 22 Jan 1963, the first A-5A was accepted for service by the squadron at NAS Sanford, Florida, and in March of that year, VAH-1 became the first squadron to win a monthly bombing contest while flying the A-5A.

The squadron also completed one deployment with the heavy attack version of the Vigilante on the INDEPENDENCE during Aug 1963-Mar 1964, participating on several NATO and Sixth Fleet exercises.
Upon returning to Sanford, VAH-1 began transitioning to the RA-5C, with squadron skipper CDR J. W. Taft delivering the first example from the North American plant at Columbus on 10 July 1964.

On 1 Sep 1964, the squadron was redesignated RVAH-1. The SMOKIN’ TIGERS logged their first combat deployment to Southeast Asia during May-Dec 1965, completing 308 combat missions. Over the course of the next 13 years, RVAH-1 alternated between the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, completing three additional combat cruises. Like all RA-5C squadrons, it shifted homeports from Sanford to NAS Albany, Georgia, in 1968, and in 1974 moved to NAS Key West, Florida. The second fleet squadron to operate the Vigilante, RVAH-1 disestablished on 29 Jan 1979.