Description
Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-6 Fleurs Squadron Sticker — Nearly Three Decades of Eyes Over the Fleet
From nuclear bombers to supersonic reconnaissance, the Fleurs saw it all — and photographed every last mile of it.
Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 6 — the Fleurs — carries one of the longest lineages in naval heavy attack and reconnaissance aviation, tracing its origins all the way back to Composite Squadron Six (VC-6), established on 6 January 1950 at NAS Moffett Field, California as the Navy’s second nuclear attack squadron. Initially equipped with the P2V Neptune and later the AJ-2 Savage, the squadron transitioned through the Cold War’s deadliest delivery platforms before becoming Heavy Attack Squadron Six (VAH-6) in 1956, flying the massive A-3 Skywarrior. In September 1965, the squadron completed its conversion to the RA-5C Vigilante and was redesignated RVAH-6, taking on the carrier-based supersonic reconnaissance mission that would define its final era. The Fleurs deployed repeatedly to Vietnam aboard USS Constellation, USS Ranger, USS Enterprise, USS Kitty Hawk, and USS America, flying high-risk photographic reconnaissance sorties over the most heavily defended airspace in Southeast Asia. The cost was real — on 23 October 1966, RVAH-6 lost an RA-5C and its crew, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kolstad and Lieutenant (junior grade) William Klenert, over North Vietnam. In March 1969, the squadron’s own commanding officer, Commander Danforth White, and Lieutenant Ramey Carpenter were killed in action when their Vigilante was lost over Laos. After Vietnam, the Fleurs continued Cold War Mediterranean and Atlantic deployments, with their final cruise aboard USS Nimitz in 1977–1978. On 20 October 1978, RVAH-6 was disestablished at NAS Key West after more than 28 years of continuous active service — and one of the squadron’s final Vigilantes was flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, where it remains on display today.
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