VAW-77
Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77 | |
---|---|
E-2C Hawkeye |
Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77 (VAW-77) "Nightwolves" was an aviation unit of the
Squadron history
VAW-77's beginnings go back to 1995 when the
1990s
On 18 November 1995, VAW-77 was commissioned, as a Reserve Squadron serving with the US Coast Guard and other Federal Agencies to fight the war on drugs, providing sophisticated air surveillance on traffic off the southern coast of the United States. The squadron worked in tandem with Coast Guard and other federal law enforcement agencies to combine and coordinate operations of counter-narcotics forces. The
After Hurricane Floyd hit in late 1999, VAW-77 and VAW-78 provided communication, command and control (C3) support to U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force, Army aircraft, and C-130 for humanitarian relief and flood evacuation operations in Virginia, North and South Carolina. When flooding began in Virginia and North Carolina near the Tar River, VAW-77 and VAW-78 initially supported Search and Rescue operations over the drill weekend.[2]
2000s
Since commissioning, the Nightwolves have completed a number of sixty-day counter-drug deployments to the Caribbean Theater. VAW-77 deployed primarily to
In 2005 the squadron participated in the federal military response to Katrina in 2005.[2]
In August 2008, VAW-77 moved to its new home of NAS JRB New Orleans in response to BRAC's decision to close Naval Air Station Atlanta.[1]
2010s
The squadron was the first U.S. Navy fixed-wing squadron to deploy to Colombia in 2011, also in 2012, it had a role in disrupting the flow of $735 million in illegal drugs into the U.S. and the arrest of 17 international smugglers.[2]
Because of spending cuts throughout the
Unit citations
The squadron's other awards include a
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77 (VAW-77)". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Navy E-2C Hawkeye squadron disbanding at Belle Chasse air station". NOLA.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "Enclosure (2): Current Navy Aviation Squadron Lineage List".
- ^ "VAW-77 Nightwolves Will be Disestablished in March". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
External links
- VAW-77 - Global Security Global Security.org.