Airborne Command & Control Squadron 124 (VAW-124) "Bear Aces" is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

airborne early warning and control An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the ...

squadron based at

Naval Air Station Norfolk A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

(United States). It flies the

Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft ...

and is currently attached to

Carrier Air Wing 8 Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8), is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier Mission The mission of Carrier Air Wing Eight is: " conduct off ...

(CVW-8).

Squadron history

1960s

Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 124 (VAW-124) was commissioned on 1 September 1967 and nicknamed the "Bullseye Hummers". In 1968, the squadron was assigned to Attack Carrier Air Wing 7 (CVW-7) and deployed aboard .

1970s

In April 1970, VAW-124 deployed with CVW-9 aboard to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. In June 1972, VAW-124 embarked again aboard USS ''America'' for an extended Western Pacific deployment. Seven line periods and 147 combat days later, VAW-124 was present in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...

when the

Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follo ...

were signed on 28 January 1973. VAW-124 deployed with CVW-6 aboard USS ''America'' in the summer of 1976 and again in October 1977. The squadron was awarded the

COMNAVAIRLANT The Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic (also known as COMNAVAIRLANT, AIRLANT, and CNAL) is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for the United States Naval aviation units operating primarily in the Atlantic under United States Fleet Forces Comma ...

Battle Efficiency Award The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other deployable combat coded units that win the ...

and the Command Retention Silver Anchor Award in recognition of accomplishments during the year.

1980s

In December 1980, the squadron received immediate deployment orders to

NAS Keflavik Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) was a United States Navy air station at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland, located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006 and its faci ...

, Iceland. As a result of numerous VAW-124 directed intercepts of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

TU-95 "Bear"

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

, the squadron acquired the new nickname "Bear Aces." On 19 August 1981, during the Gulf of Sidra incident, F-14 Tomcats under the control of a VAW-124 intercepted and shot down two Libyan SU-22 "Fitter" fighter aircraft. In June 1985, VAW-124 provided tracking of hijacked

TWA Flight 847 TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after take off from Athens. ...

as it crisscrossed the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The squadron was awarded their second COMNAVAIRLANT Battle Efficiency Award at the conclusion of 1987 and completed over sixteen years and 32,000 hours of mishap-free flying.

1990s

On 21 January 1991, CVW-8 launched its first major strike of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

with the squadron providing AEW, command and control, and search and rescue coordination. When the cease-fire went into effect on 28 February, the squadron had flown a total of 331 combat sorties and over 1150 combat hours in support of 1220 strikes against 531 targets in the

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Theater of Operations, the most combat hours and combat sorties of any E-2C squadron, over 750 of the combat hours were flown in a single thirty-day period. After transiting the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

on 20 April, assumed station northeast of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

between

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to lead a multi-national

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

. On 26 June 1991, the squadron returned to its home port. In August, VAW-124 was awarded the 1991 AEW Excellence Award by VADM Anthony Less, Commander, U.S. Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet. This award is given annually to the finest E-2C squadron in the Navy. In April 1999, VAW-124 departed Norfolk on a combat deployment aboard USS ''Theodore Roosevelt''. The squadron flew combat missions during

Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

against targets in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Transiting to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, the squadron completed the deployment enforcing the

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's terri ...

over Iraq in

Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of moni ...

2000s

VAW-124 left home again in April 2001 aboard . After several months of operations in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and Mediterranean, the squadron flew missions in support of Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. In September, with their mission complete, USS ''Enterprise'' headed south towards

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, a rare African port call. However, due to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, USS ''Enterprise'' would not make it to Cape Town and instead took station in the Northern Arabian Sea as VAW-124 and CVW-8 prepared for what would become

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. During the normal workup cycle in early January 2003, while preparing for a June 2003 deployment, the squadron deployed to the Mediterranean on board USS ''Theodore Roosevelt'' in support of the escalating situation that would eventually develop into the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. VAW-124 departed Norfolk in September 2005 to support Operation Sea Dragon Three in the Persian Gulf. During their six and a half month deployment, VAW-124 provided Airborne Early Warning and Command and Control for CVW-8 and USS ''Theodore Roosevelt''. In September 2008 VAW-124 deployed on board USS ''Theodore Roosevelt''. During this deployment, the squadron provided support for CVW-8 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Over the course of 7 months, the squadron provided Coalition forces with transit control for the

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Joint Operation Area as well as providing airborne command and control to conduct missions for Coalition forces on the ground. The squadron's intercept controllers also participated in Exercise Neon Falcon, a joint military training exercise between the U.S. Navy and

Royal Bahraini Air Force The Royal Bahraini Air Force (, abbreviated as RBAF, formerly known as Bahrain Amiri Air Force) is the aerial warfare branch of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF). Originally formed as the BDF Air Wing in 1976, it became an independent service bran ...

and in Exercise Eastern Angler, a joint military training exercise between the U.S. Navy and

Qatar Air Force The Qatar Emiri Air Force () (QEAF) is the air arm of the Qatar Armed Forces, armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in 1974 as a small aerial support wing, although in modern times it has evolved into a potent, well equipped for ...

. The squadron conducted over 400 sorties flying over 2000 flight hours and over 800 traps on board USS ''Theodore Roosevelt''. The squadron also awarded the CNO Safety "S" on 13 April 2009.

2010s

In 2011 the squadron deployed on board for her maiden deployment. During the deployment, Carrier Strike Group Two provided support of Exercise Saxon Warrior, Joint Task Force

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

and Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. In addition to combat operations, the squadron supported Exercise Nautical Artist by sending a detachment of their aircrew to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The squadron also facilitated the drawdown of coalition forces in Iraq. During this deployment, the squadron completed 552 sorties and 2,643 mishap-free flight hours. In recognition of their performance, they received the 2011 Battle "E", 2011 COMACLOGWING East Coast Top Hook Award and the 2011 Blue "M". On 15 February 2014, the squadron again deployed on board USS ''George H.W. Bush''. During the deployment, the squadron supported Operation Enduring Freedom until the sudden collapse of the Government of Iraq resulted in USS ''George H.W. Bush'' being redeployed within 30 hours to Iraq. VAW-124 provided Tactical Command and Control during the initial response of

Operation Inherent Resolve {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Operation Inherent Resolve , partof = the international military intervention against the Islamic State and the War on terror , image = , caption = U.S. Navy B ...

and took part in the initial strikes against

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. The squadron returned to Norfolk on 15 November 2014. In 2015, the squadron was awarded the 2014 CNAL Battle "E," 2014 Safety "S," and 2014 Akers Award for AEW Excellence. The last Group II variant of the E-2C in the US Navy was retired on 19 November 2019 at a ceremony onboard Navy Station Norfolk. The squadron then flew the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 until 1 June 2021. The squadron transitioned to the E-2D Hawkeye in 2021. At the same time CVW-8 was reassigned to . Since 1967, all VAW-squadrons were designated "Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron". Sometime in 2021, the designation changed to "Airborne Command & Control Squadron".

References

External links

VAW-124 official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaw-124 Early warning squadrons of the United States Navy Military units and formations in Virginia