Fighter jet squadrons return to Oceana
The Virginian-Pilot ©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Dozens of Navy families separated for nine months reunited this morning at Oceana Naval Air Station after three squadrons of fighter jets flew off the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman and landed in Virginia Beach.
The carrier and three accompanying ships in its strike group – comprising more than 5,000 sailors – will pull into Norfolk Naval Station tomorrow. The group left in July for a deployment to the Arabian Gulf.
Arriving at Oceana today were the “Swordsmen” of Strike Fighter Squadron 32, the “Ragin’ Bulls” of Strike Fighter Squadron 37 and the “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 105.
Also part of Carrier Air Wing Three, returning today to Norfolk: Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7, the “Dusty Dogs”; and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 126, the “Seahawks.”
The air wing flew 38,345 flight hours during the deployment, according to a Navy news release. More than 2,900 of its approximately 13,700 flights were combat sorties in support of the war in Afghanistan.
The first wave of Truman-based planes landed in Norfolk on Wednesday: two C-2 Greyhounds belonging to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40.
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