Helicopter Maritime Strike Seven Four (HSM-74), the "Swamp Foxes", 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 based at

Naval Air Station Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jacksonville is located i ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. HSM-74 is attached to

Carrier Air Wing Three Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3), known as the "Battle Axe", is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The wing was created on 1 July 1938 and has seen service in World War II, the Korean War, t ...

and deploys aboard cruisers,

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

, and

aircraft carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a fl ...

in support of a carrier strike group. It was established on 21 August 1986 as Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (Light) Forty Four (HSL-44)

Mission

The squadron employs the

MH-60R 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 ...

multi-mission helicopter. Primary missions include

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),

Anti-Surface Warfare Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's ...

(SUW), Command, Control, Communications (CCC), Command and Control Warfare (C2W), Mobility (MOB), and Non-Combat Operations (NCO). Secondary missions consist of Search and Rescue (SAR), Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC), Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS), and Communications Relay (COMREL).

Transition from HSL-44

HSL-44 was redesignated HSM-74 on 9 June 2011 at

. The change reflected their transition from employing the

SH-60B 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 ...

to the MH-60R, as well as from a detachment-based, expeditionary squadron to its realignment in support of a carrier air wing. As part of this transition, then-HSL-44 relocated to NAS Jacksonville from their previous home of

Naval Station Mayport Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base on San Pablo Island in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a m ...

in November 2009.

General Information

HSM-74 operates twelve

helicopters in four combat elements. These combat elements (or CELs) consist of the carrier element and Detachments 1, 2, and 3. The carrier element deploys and maintains five helicopters while the detachments maintain two each. Each CEL can work independently of every other CEL. In October 2023, HSM-74 deployed with Air Wing Three onboard the USS Eisenhower. HSM-74 and Air Wing Three were deployed immediately to the CENTCOM AOR and began defensive and offensive combat operations against the Houthi-Iranian military units in Yemen. HSM-74's usage of Hellfire missiles during the cruise against enemy targets was praised by Carrier Strike Group 2's Rear Admiral Marc Miguez.

References

External links

HSM-74 Official Website
Helicopter maritime strike squadrons of the United States Navy Military units and formations in Florida {{mil-aviation-stub

Mission

Transition from HSL-44

General Information

See also

References

External links