Last VP-30 P-3C Orion to 309th AMARG

The last Lockheed P-3C Orion operated by Patrol Squadron (VP) 30 The Pro's Nest ('LL-xxx') arrived at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), also known as the Boneyard, near Tucson (AZ).

The P-3C Orion with BuNo 161415/LL-415 was flown from Naval Air Station Jacksonville (FL) to Davis-Monthan AFB (AZ) on 23 June 2023 with callsign VVLL01.

VP-30 was established on 30 June 1960 at NAS Jacksonville under the operational control of Fleet Air Wing 11 (FAW-11). The squadron was organised to be a fleet replacement squadron (FRS) of the US Atlantic Fleet, providing training on non-carrier based anti-submarine (ASW) aircraft, and ensuring a continuous flow of operationally qualified pilots, naval aviation observers, enlisted aircrew and maintenance personnel to fleet patrol squadrons.

Air crew training on the first Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) started in June 1962, when VP-30 Detachment Alpha was reestablished at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to begin replacement training in the new P3V-1 Orion. Before that, this detachment had two flights. One was based at NAS Norfolk (VA) to train personnel on the P5M Marlin seaplane, while the NAS Jacksonville unit provided training in the land-based P2V Neptune.

On 15 September 1962, the Department of Defense Tri-Service Designation System was established, resulting in the redesignation of the P3V-1 as the P-3A.

In 1964, the squadron introduced the P-3B variant of the aircraft and began conducting training on this version of the aircraft. In June 1969, VP-30 received the first computerised models of the P-3C, later known as "Baseline" or "Non-Update" (NUD) models. In March 2012, the first Boeing P-8A Poseidon started operations with The Pro's Nest.

Photo by DMAviation (Twitter @cay89455610)