Patrol Wing
A Patrol Wing was a United States Navy aviation unit with the commander of a Patrol Wing known as the Commodore, the ComPatWing or COMPATWING. From 1 November 1942 to 30 June 1973 Patrol Wings were designated "Fleet Air Wings". On 26 March 1999 all then existing Pacific Fleet Patrol Wings were redesignated Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings and on 1 June 1999 all then existing Atlantic Fleet Patrol Wings were redesigned Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings with the Commodore designated as COMPATRECONWING or ComPatReconWing.
Currently, there are three Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings in the U.S. Navy
Active Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ONE">Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1">Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ONE
Lineage: Patrol Wing 1, Fleet Air Wing 1, Patrol Wing 1, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1.The wing was established as Patrol Wing 1 In San Diego on 1 Oct 1937. It relocated to NAS Kaneohe, Hawaii on 16 October 1941. On 19 September 1942 it relocated to Noumea where on 1 November 1942 it was redesignated Fleet Air Wing One. In December 1942 it was relocated to Espiritu Santo; and in March 1943 to Guadalcanal, and in February 1944 to Munda. In July 1944 it was relocated back to Espiritu Santo, and on 11 September 1944 to the Schouten Islands aboard. On 15 October 1944 the wing was relocated to Ulithi, and on 30 December 1944 relocated to Saipan. On 19 February 1945 it was relocated to Iwo Jima during invasion operations aboard Hamlin ; on 10 March 1945 it relocated to NAF Agana, Guam; and on 26 March 1945 to Kerama Rhetto aboard Hamlin. On 14 July 1945 it was relocated to NAF Chimu Wan, Okinawa.
On 16 July 1950 Fleet Air Wing One was relocated to Naval Air Station Agana, Guam, then to NAF Naha, Okinawa. During this period it conducted operations in the Korean War. In the 3rd Quarter 1952 was relocated to NAS San Diego, Calif. In the 4th Quarter 1954 returned to NAF Naha, Okinawa. In mid-1958 it relocated to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, aboard assigned flagship. In mid-1965 it again returned to NAF Naha, Okinawa where on 30 June 1973 Fleet Air Wings were redesigned Patrol Wings and the wing once again became Patrol Wing ONE. A month later it relocated to Naval Support Facility Kamiseya, Japan where it assumed the role of a headquarters staff, with no squadrons permanently assigned which exercised operational control of VP squadrons deployed to 7th Fleet as Commander, Task Force 72. In 1995 when U.S. Fifth Fleet was established to conduct operations in the Middle East, PATWING ONE assumed the same role for 5th Fleet as CTF-57. On 1 June 1999 all Pacific Fleet Patrol Wings were redesignated Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings and the wing became Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ONE.
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1 continued operations from Kamiseya as Commander Task Force 72 for 7th Fleet, and Commander Task Force 57 for 5th Fleet until September 2003 when the Navy elevated the rank of the Commander from Captain to that of Rear Admiral. At that time the wing ceased being called Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1 and it became Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force 5th Fleet and Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force 7th Fleet, it also retained the titles Commander, Task Force 72 and Commander Task Force 57. It was also dual hatted as Commander, Fleet Air Western Pacific. At that time it relocated to Naval Air Facility Misawa which is located aboard Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan. In 2010 part of the COMPATRECONFOR 5th/7th Fleet staff was relocated to NAF Atsugi, while the remainder of the staff remained in Misawa. In 2011 the 5th Fleet stood up COMPATRECONWING 57, a Headquarters staff, to function as Commander, Task Force 57 which reported to COMPATRECONFOR 5th/7th Fleet. In 2012 COMFAIRWESTPAC became Commander, Fleet Air Forward. In July 2013 the Rear Admiral commanding COMPATRECONFOR 5th/7th Fleet was replaced with a Captain and at some point after that the COMPATRECONFOR 5th/7th Fleet designation ceased being used and the COMPATRECONWING ONE designation reappeared attached to the Commander, Task Force 72 and Commander, Fleet Air Forward Designations.
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Ten
Lineage: Patrol Wing 10, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10.Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Ten is located at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. It was established at NAS Moffett Field, California as Patrol Wing Ten on 1 June 1981. The wing relocated to NAS Whidbey Island on 1 July 1994. Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 consisted of VP-1, VP-4, VP-9, VP-40, VP-46, VP-47, VQ-1 and VPU-2 in mid-2016. VP-9 and VP-47 were transferred to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Forces, US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii in 1994. They returned to the wing in 2016 and 2017 when PATRECONWING, PACFLT/PATRECONWING TWO was disestablished. The wing's former squadrons included VP-19 and VP-48, which were inactivated during the Navy's post-Cold War drawdown in the mid-1990s; and VQ-2, which was merged into VQ-1 in 2012.
Although not part of the wing, the Navy Reserve's VP-69 which is part of the Navy Reserve's "Maritime Support Wing" is also located at NAS Whidbey Island. Also not part of the wing, VP-31, the Pacific Fleet Replacement Squadron for the P-3B, P-3C and EP-3E, was also located at NAS Moffett Field. VP-31 was disestablished before NAS Moffett Field closed on 31 July 1994.
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN
Lineage: Patrol Wing 11, Fleet Air Wing 11, Patrol Wing 11, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11.Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN is located at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. It was established as Patrol Wing 11 on 15 August 1942 at Naval Air Station Norfolk but five days later it relocated to NAS Isla Grande, Puerto Rico, where on 1 November 1942 it was redesignated Fleet Air Wing-11. In April 1959 the wing relocated to NAS Jacksonville. The wing received control of VP-56 in 1971 and VP-24 and VP-49 following their relocation from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland to NAS Jacksonville. On 30 June 1973 still existing Fleet Air Wings were redesignated Patrol Wings and the wing once again became Patrol Wing ELEVEN. On 26 March 1999 all Atlantic Fleet Patrol Wings were redesignated Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings and the wing became Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN. The wing includes VP-5, VP-8, VP-10, VP-16, VP-26, and VP-45 operating the P-8A Poseidon and VUP-19 operating the MQ-4C Triton. The wing previously included VP-24, VP-49 and VP-56, which were disestablished during the Navy's post-Cold War drawdown in the mid-1990s, and VPU-1, which was later merged into VPU-2 in 2012. Although not part of the wing, VP-30, the combined P-8A, P-3C and EP-3E Aries Fleet Replacement Squadron for the Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet and the United States Navy Reserve's VP-62 operating the P-3C Orion which is assigned to the Navy Reserve's "Maritime Support Wing", are also located at NAS Jacksonville.
Former Patrol and Reconnaissance, Patrol, and Fleet Air Wings
Patrol Wing Two
Lineage: Patrol Wing 2, Fleet Air Wing 2, Patrol Wing 2.Patrol Wing Two was established at FAB Pearl Harbor on 1 October 1937. On 15 September 1942 it relocated to NAS Kaneohe Bay, where on 1 November 1942 it was redesignated Fleet Air Wing 2. The wing remained at NAS Kaneohe Bay until 1949 when it relocated to NAS Barbers Point on 30 June of that year. Since the 1950s Barbers Point was most famous for its "Rainbow Fleet"—the patrol squadrons that routinely deployed with P-2 and later P-3 aircraft to the northern and western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. These squadrons tracked Soviet submarines patrolling off the western coast of the United States and supported operations in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and most recently the NATO air campaign over Kosovo. On 30 Jun 1973, Fleet Air Wings were redesignated Patrol Wings and the wing once again became Patrol Wing 2. Of the squadrons present during the 1960s and 1970s, VP-28 was disestablished in the 1970s and VP-6, VP-17, and VP-22 were disestablished by the mid-1990s, leaving only VP-1 and VP-4. During the mid-1990s, however, two squadrons, VP-9 and VP-47, transferred to the Rainbow Fleet from NAS Moffett Field, Calif., when Moffett Field was disestablished as a USN installation and transferred to NASA and the California Air National Guard as a "Moffett Federal Airfield" via BRAC action. VP-1 later transferred to Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 and relocated to NAS Whidbey Island, Wash. The Rainbow Fleet also was the home of Special Projects Patrol Squadron Two since 1982.
The end of the Cold War, in which NAS Barbers Point figured so heavily, also eventually brought about its closure. Congress accepted the recommendation of the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission that NAS Barbers Point be closed and as part of that a closure, on 8 June 1993 Patrol Wing TWO was disestablished. After the disestablishment of Patrol Wing 2, its role was assumed by the staff of Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Forces, US Pacific Fleet and the wings former squadrons along with HSL-37 all moved from NAS Barber's Point upon its closure to what was then Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, now Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay, part of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, located on the windward side of Oahu.
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Two
Lineage: Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2.In October 2003, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing TWO was established at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay to assume control over the former Patrol Wing TWO squadrons which had been moved there from Naval Air Station Barbers Point when that Air Station was closed and Patrol Wing TWO was disestablished in 1993. Those squadrons were VP-4, VP-9, VP-47, and VPU-2. Though the new wing assumed the disestablished Patrol Wing TWO's insignia and traditions in honor of the distinguished history of that wing it was a new wing, not a redesignation of Patrol Wing TWO. Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing TWO was disestablished effective 1 May 2017 and its squadrons were all realigned under Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing TEN.