VC-10 Composite Squadron ''Challengers'' was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

aircraft squadron. It was originally known as the ''Mallards'' in 1943, but when assigned the

F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), and for the Fr ...

the squadron pilots unofficially used the name "Challengers". The squadron was formally known as the ''Challengers'' from 1961 through 1993.A4skyhawks.org: VC-10
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History

There have been two separate and unrelated squadrons which have borne the designation VC-10.

First VC-10

The first squadron to bear the designation VC-10 was established as Composite Squadron TEN (VC-10) 23 September 1943 at

Naval Air Station Seattle Naval Station Puget Sound is a former United States Naval station located on Sand Point in Seattle, Washington. Today, the land is occupied by Magnuson Park. History After World War I, a movement was begun to build Naval Air Station Seattle a ...

(Sand Point) in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. It operated both fighters and torpedo bombers. Planes and material allowance for the squadron were drawn at Sand Point. On 5 April 1944, VC-10 was assigned as part of the air group for the escort carrier . ''Gambier Bay'' was sunk in the

Battle off Samar The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on October 25, 1944. It was the only major a ...

. At the time, the squadron had 195 men and 31 pilots assigned. After ''Gambier Bay''s sinking the squadron operated for a time from fields on Leyte and from other carriers. With the ''Gambier Bay'' gone, most squadron members were sent back to the United States on leave, while some were transferred to other squadrons. In January 1945 the squadron was reconstituted at NAAS Ventura County Airport, California. The squadron spent the remainder the war training in preparation for redeployment. It was disestablished with the end of the war.

Second VC-10

The squadron that would eventually become the second VC-10 squadron was originally established on 1 December 1943 as Utility Squadron SIXTEEN (VJ-16) at NAS Isla Grande in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ju ...

. VJ-16's mission was to provide gunnery target tow services, radar tracking, search and rescue, and photographic services to ships and aircraft in the Caribbean area. As was typical for most of its service, the squadron was equipped from the outset with a variety of aircraft types. Initially, the squadron's inventory consisted of Grumman J2F-5/6 Duck, Consolidated PBY-5/5A Catalina, Grumman TBF-1 Avenger,

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

and North American SNJ-4 aircraft. After a brief move to NAAF Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico in April 1944, VJ-16 settled in at NAS Miami, Florida in May 1944 and added Martin JM-1/2 Marauder,

Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

General Motors FM-2 Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlant ...

and Grumman TBM-1J/3J Avenger aircraft to its roster. For the remainder of World War II, the squadron operated detachments in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Brazil, Cuba, Panama and Trinidad. VJ-16 consolidated its operations at NAS Guantanamo Bay/McCalla Field, Cuba in April 1945 and was redesignated as Utility Squadron TEN (VU-10) on 15 Nov 1945. Over the next fifteen years, VU-10 variously operated JD-1, UF-1, Martin PBM-5A Mariner,

Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wi ...

, Douglas R4D-5 Skytain, Beechcraft SNB-5, Grumman F6F-5D Hellcat, Grumman F7F-2D Tigercat, Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, Grumman F9F-6/8 Cougar and

North American FJ-3 Fury The North American FJ-2 and FJ-3 Fury are a series of swept-wing carrier-capable fighters for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The FJ-2 resulted from an effort to navalize the North American F-86 Sabre operated by the United State ...

aircraft, as well as Grumman F6F-5K Hellcat,

Culver TD2C The Culver PQ-14 Cadet is a modified version of the Culver LFA Cadet used as a target drone. In 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps drew up a requirement for a radio-controlled target drone for training anti-aircraft artillery gunners. The first airc ...

, and Radioplane KD2R-5 target drones. In 1957, VU-10 also established an operating detachment at

NAS Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jac ...

, Florida that was absorbed into Utility Squadron FOUR (VU-4) in 1963. With the closure of McCalla Field, VU-10 moved to the nearby NAS Guantanamo Bay/Leeward Point Field in January 1960 and added defense of the base as one of its missions after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

. During the October 1962

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the Unite ...

, VU-10's F-8A Crusader fighters became the front line defense force for the base against both Cuban and deployed Soviet forces. The squadron, which acquired Grumman US-2C Trackers and, in succession, F-8B/D/A/C/K Crusaders, was redesignated as Fleet Composite Squadron TEN (FLECOMPRON TEN or VC-10) on 1 July 1965. TA-4J Skyhawk IIs modified to carry air-to-ground ordnance and

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...

air-to-air missiles replaced the last of VC-10's F-8 Crusaders in 1976, augmented by an EA-4F Skyhawk II in the late 1980s. VC-10 continued to provide aerial target services for fleet training and dissimilar air combat maneuver training (DACT) for fleet aircraft during Atlantic Fleet carrier battle group deployment work-ups. VC-10 was disestablished at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on 14 August 1993 as part of a post- Cold War reduction in naval forces and the transfer of the composite squadron mission to the

Naval Air Reserve A navy, naval force, 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 and related functions. It include ...

Patches

* 1961-1972, VC-10's patch displays a Crusader's Cross on a shield (also, VU-10) * 1972-1993, VC-10's patch displays a Black Celtic Fighting Lion superimposed on a red, white and blue background

Aircraft assigned

F-8K Crusaders of VC-10 over NAS Guantanamo Bay 1974

* Martin JM-1 (

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...

) - 1943 *

Grumman F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other ...

- 1947 *

Grumman F9F Cougar The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Based on Grumman's earlier F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. Th ...

- 1954 *

North American FJ Fury North American FJ Fury (also ''North American F-1 Fury'') may refer to several members of a group of fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft, built by North American Aviation for the US Navy, and related in varying degrees to the F-86 Sabre this firm p ...

(FJ-3) - 1953 *

Chance Vought F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based Air superiority fighter, air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (repl ...

- 1961 *

Grumman S-2 Tracker The Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F prior to 1962) was the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed and initially built by Grumman, the Tracker was of conventiona ...

(US-2) - 1966 *

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed a ...

(TF-4F) - March 1975 * Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (TA-4J) - July 1975

References

Externals

{{US Navy navbox Composite squadrons of the United States Navy