Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 (HSC-12) ''Golden Falcons'' 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 ...

helicopter squadron formerly designated HS-2, based at

Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato, Kanagawa, Yamato and Ayase, Kanagawa, Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean, and once housed ...

, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. They are attached to

Carrier Air Wing Five Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . It was initially formed in 1943. It has participated in the Second World ...

with the aircraft carrier . In early 2009, HS-2 ''Golden Falcons'' transitioned to the

MH-60S Seahawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificati ...

and were re-designated HSC-12.

Command History

Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron TWO was established on 7 March 1952 making it the oldest currently active operational Navy helicopter squadron (only Helicopter Training Squadron EIGHT (HT-8) is older). It was the first

Anti-Submarine Warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

(ASW) helicopter squadron on the West Coast, flying the HO4S-3 Chickasaw. Initially used in small detachments, the first deployment as an entire squadron was made in 1957 by which time the squadron was flying the

HSS-1 Seabat The Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military utility helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. A development of the smaller Sikor ...

, embarked aboard the aircraft carrier . At this time, the squadron was manned by 258 enlisted and 39 officers to fly and maintain 17 aircraft. Since that time, the squadron has deployed in ten other carriers and is currently with

(CVW-5) aboard USS ''Ronald Reagan'' (CVN-76) with 190 enlisted, 22 officers and eight

helicopters.

1960s

By 1960, the squadron had transitioned into the autopilot equipped HSS-1N version of the Seabat giving it the ability to operate at night and in marginal weather. In addition to being the first HS squadron on the West Coast, by 1962 HS-2 was the first ASW helicopter squadron to make a deployment with the Navy's first turbine powered all-weather ASW helicopter, the HSS-2 Sea King which in September 1962 in compliance with the

1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system The Tri-Service aircraft designation system is a unified system introduced in 1962 by the United States Department of Defense for designating all U.S. military aircraft. Previously, the U.S. armed services used United States military aircraft de ...

was re-designated the SH-3A Sea King. HS-2 was also the first H-3 squadron to operationally employ Helicopter In-flight Refueling (HIFR) at night. In November 1965, an HS-2 SH-3A performed the longest operational flight at the time. The aircraft remained airborne for eleven hours and eighteen minutes on a search and rescue mission in North Vietnam with the help of four HIFRs three of which were at night. This flight was also the first night rescue in North Vietnam. SH-3A HS-2 USS Mahan 1967

Other technical innovations by the squadron include the pioneering of submarine detection capabilities with the introduction of the SH-3D Sea King in 1967 as a multi-sensor ASW platform. In addition to the Bendix

AQS-13 The AN/AQS-13 series was a helicopter dipping sonar system for the United States Navy. These systems were deployed as the primary inner zone anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sensor on aircraft carrier based helicopters for over five decades. Companio ...

B sonar, Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) and Multi-Channel Jezebel Relay (MCJR) active sonobuoy systems were added to the aircraft, the latter providing the carrier with sonobuoy monitoring capability. HS-2 performed the first night rescue in

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

in 1965. In 1966 HS-2 participated in the Apollo Saturn

AS-202 AS-202 (also referred to as SA-202 or Apollo 2) was the second uncrewed, suborbital test flight of a production Block I Apollo command and service module launched with the Saturn IB launch vehicle. It was launched on August 25, 1966, and was ...

spaceshot recovery program, and was responsible for ten overland and five coastal rescues of pilots in North Vietnam during 1967. The squadron provided relief support to snowbound Indians in Arizona over the Christmas holidays of 1967, airlifting fifteen tons of food supplies, flying 292 mercy missions and performing 37 medical evacuations. While deployed in to

Yankee Station Yankee Station (officially Point Yankee) was a fixed coordinate off the coast of Vietnam where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and support ships operated in open waters over a nine-year period during the Vietnam War. The location was used primari ...

, the squadron earned the following awards:Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal: Korea April 1969 Task Force 71; U.S. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Viet Nam – Task Force 71 1968-69; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal 1968-69; Vietnam Service Medal; Two Bronze Campaign Stars: Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase VI from 1968-11-02 to 1969 02-22 Tet 1969 Counteroffensive from 1969-02-23 to 1969-06-08

1970s-1980s

In 1970, HS-2 was the first helicopter squadron to travel across the United States for deployment in a ship from the other coast. In that year, the squadron participated in operations with U.S. Forces responding to the Jordanian Crisis. During this deployment the American flag was painted on the helicopters so they could be distinguished from the Israeli H-3s, which might also be operating in the combat zone. To commemorate the event, the

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

authorized the American flag to become a permanent part of HS-2's paint scheme. As a result of its superior performance during that period, the squadron was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation. Following 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 ...

in 1973, HS-2 became the first U.S. Naval air unit to fly into North Vietnam, providing transportation to and from

Haiphong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two o ...

for the negotiating team. In 1974 the squadron provided relief assistance to the cyclone-devastated island of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. The 1976 deployment aboard was the first Western Pacific deployment for the Navy's modern CV concept. Along with the S-3A Viking and an onboard Tactical Support Center (TSC), HS-2 contributed to the refinement and success of modern-day ASW tactics. In late 1979, HS-2 was chosen to participate in amphibious operations with a multi-nation task force. The squadron deployed aboard and again proved the value of helicopter ASW. In 1980 the squadron became the first West Coast unit to deploy with new tactical navigation (TACNAV) equipped SH-3H Sea King helicopters. Also in 1980, HS-2 earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for its participation in the rescue of three groups of

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people () were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the earl ...

. In 1984, HS-2 provided the first damage assessments following the collision of a Soviet

Victor-class submarine The Victor class, Soviet designations Project 671 ''Yorsh'', Project 671RT ''Syomga'' and Project 671RTM/RTMK ''Shchuka'', (List of NATO reporting names for submarines, NATO reporting names Victor I, Victor II and Victor III, respectively), are ...

with .

1990s

In 1990 HS-2 transitioned from the SH-3H to the SH-60F Seahawk and the HH-60H Seahawk. HS-2 was the first active duty HS squadron to fully incorporate the Combat Search and Rescue mission, having received the two new HH-60H aircraft in November of that year. Additionally, HS-2 was the first HS squadron to deploy with the FLIR/ Hellfire weapons system.

2000s

Assigned to Carrier Airwing TWO aboard in 2005, the squadron provided relief support to the citizens of Indonesia devastated by a tsunami on 26 December 2004. Flying the SH-60F and HH-60H the squadron conducted 231 medevacs of displaced refugees, moved 475,000 lbs of disaster relief cargo, and flew 1010.9 hours in a 31-day period. 10,000 lives were saved in the first ten days. On 6 August 2009, the squadron completed its transition from the SH-60F and HH-60H to the

helicopter and was re-designated HSC-12 ending its long history as Anti-Submarine Squadron. As a Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron, HSC-12's missions are now Anti-Surface Warfare, Search and Rescue, Combat Search and Rescue, Naval Special Warfare Support, and Vertical Replenishment. After the transition and re-designation, HSC-12 was reassigned from CVW-2 to

(CVW-5) based aboard

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, Japan. It now deploys aboard USS ''Ronald Reagan'' (CVN-76).

References

External links

HSC-12 homepage