Description
Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-9 Hoot Owls Squadron Sticker — Twenty-Four Years of Watching From Above
From the Navy’s first inflight refueling operations to the last Vigilante cruises on the Nimitz — the Hoot Owls saw it all.
Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 9 — the Hoot Owls — was originally established as Composite Squadron Nine (VC-9) on 15 January 1953 at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Sanford, Florida, initially equipped with the AJ-2 Savage for the carrier-based nuclear strike mission. In 1953, while operating from USS Midway, VC-9 conducted the Navy’s first inflight refueling operations — a milestone that helped shape carrier aviation for decades to come. Redesignated Heavy Attack Squadron Nine (VAH-9) in November 1955, the squadron transitioned to the massive A3D Skywarrior and made five Mediterranean deployments aboard USS Saratoga during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In April 1964, VAH-9 began converting to the RA-5C Vigilante and was redesignated RVAH-9 in June, joining the supersonic reconnaissance community just as the Vietnam War was escalating. The Hoot Owls deployed to Vietnam aboard USS Ranger in 1965–1966, flying 480 combat reconnaissance missions including pre-strike photography and bomb damage assessment over North and South Vietnam. The squadron paid a steep price — in January 1966, an RA-5C was lost during a landing attempt aboard Ranger when the starboard engine exploded, killing both crewmen. The Hoot Owls returned to WESTPAC for a second Vietnam combat cruise aboard Ranger in 1968–1969, then continued Cold War Mediterranean deployments aboard USS Saratoga, USS Forrestal, and USS Independence throughout the early 1970s. In 1976, RVAH-9 had the honor of deploying aboard USS Nimitz for her maiden Mediterranean cruise, with six crewmembers earning the designation of Nimitz Centurion. On 30 September 1977, RVAH-9 was disestablished at NAS Key West after more than 24 years of distinguished service.
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