Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing
ELEVEN’s history and reputation remain unparalleled. Commissioned on Aug. 15, 1942, at Norfolk,
Va., Patrol Wing ELEVEN relocated five days later to San Juan, Puerto Rico to
provide support for Allied shipping convoys in the Navy’s Caribbean Sea
Frontier. As the Navy overcame Germany’s
Atlantic/Caribbean U-boat campaign, Wing ELEVEN’s PBY-5Ns patrolled a million
square miles of ocean, providing assistance and spotting scores of stricken
Allied ships and sinking 10 German submarines while damaging 18 others.
In 1950, during the post-World War
II drawdown, Wing ELEVEN shifted homeports to Naval Air Station Jacksonville,
FL, and transitioned to the P-2V Neptune.
Throughout the decade, Wing ELEVEN’s squadrons continued to patrol vast
areas in support of long-range reconnaissance and fleet exercises. Operational commitments grew as the Cold War
intensified, and Maritime Patrol Aviation (MPA) continued to refine warfighting
competencies in anti-submarine warfare, aerial mine warfare, search and rescue,
and aerial photographic intelligence.
MPA excellence continued in the
1960s as Wing ELEVEN supported the Project Mercury Space Program by operating
aircraft on station during the recovery of the nation’s first astronauts. Later on when President John F. Kennedy ordered
a naval blockade of Cuba, Wing ELEVEN squadrons monitored Soviet ship movements
and provided overhead surveillance. Beginning
in the 1960s, the venerable P-3C Orion, a land-based, long-range anti-submarine
warfare patrol aircraft, replaced the P-2V Neptune fleet. In the years that followed, the squadrons
recorded thousands of hours “on top” of Soviet submarines during Cold War
operations from Greenland, Iceland, Bermuda, Ascension Island, the Canary and
Azores Islands, and bases throughout the Mediterranean.
Post-Cold War, the Wing continued
to meet the evolving needs of the Navy, proving the P-3C as a multi-mission
platform over land and sea; supporting Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT
STORM, establishing an airborne reconnaissance capability during the Balkan
wars; and supporting counterdrug detection by monitoring and interdiction
operations in the Southern Hemisphere.
In 1998, the Navy formally
recognized the close link between VP and VQ missions, bringing Fleet Air
Reconnaissance Squadron TWO into Wing ELEVEN and amending the command name to
Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN.
The P-3C saw significant
enhancements through its life at the Wing.
The Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program delivered traditional
maritime capabilities, real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
and Standoff Land-Attack Missile (SLAM) capability to theater and fleet commanders. Wing ELEVEN units proved their continued
relevance and vitality during Operation ALLIED FORCE over Kosovo in 1999 and in
subsequent stabilization efforts there.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, signaled a new focus for Wing ELEVEN units. In addition to traditional missions, units
supported homeland defense and the Global War on Terrorism in Operations
VIGILANT SHIELD and ENDURING FREEDOM, respectively. During Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Wing ELEVEN’s
VP-45 was the first East Coast squadron to establish a permanent detachment
site in Iraq, flying combat missions in direct support of the troops on the
ground. Additionally supporting
Department of Defense initiatives, Wing ELEVEN transferred administrative
control of VQ-2 to Wing TEN in Whidbey Island, WA, and subsequently acquired
Jacksonville’s Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department and Aviation Supply
Wing ELEVEN’s most recent combat
role includes providing thousands of on station hours in the skies over Libya
in support of Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR.
In 2011, a VP-5 crew fired AGM-65F Maverick missiles at a Libyan patrol
craft, causing it to be beached. The
patrol craft was suspected of attacking merchant vessels in the port city of
Misrata. The P-3C continues to prove itself
a vital asset in naval aviation.
After 50 years of faithful service
and the 50th anniversary of Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, the P-3C
Orion is being phased out of the fleet. In
2012 the Wing accepted its first fleet delivery of the P-8A Poseidon
Multi-Mission Aircraft. In addition,
Wing ELEVEN has recently added a new squadron to its arsenal: Unmanned Patrol
Squadron NINETEEN (VUP-19), which will fly the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aerial
System (UAS). The P-8A and MQ-4C will
serve as the future of maritime patrol and reconnaissance. Wing ELEVEN’s history proves it to be a
necessary force in the naval aviation community as it will man, train and
forward deploy squadrons well into the future.
Wing ELEVEN’s squadrons include
VP-5, VP-8, VP-10, VP-16, VP-26, VP-45, VP-62, and VUP-19.