To call it a colorful time in military and world history would be a vast understatement. It was here, during the twilight of the Cold War, that Kevin Noonan found himself hunting submarines from the cabin of a carrier-based S-3 Viking. We followed Noonan through the trials and tribulations of training and learning the shadowy art of chasing submarines from the sky.
Then went along with him on his first cruise aboard an aircraft carrier where we got a full understanding of how he plied his deadly sub-hunting trade. Now, in this the third part of our four-part exclusive series, we strap-in beside Kevin to see not only him, but also his beloved mount, the S-3 Viking, mature into wiser and more potent weapons of war. After a major deployment, a carrier and its air wing tended to get a solid month of restβrest being a relative term.
At the squadron, during the first days at home, our sister squadrons would stand our hangar and Squadron Duty Officer SDO watches. But even for the first month, we operated with a skeleton crew with many of the squadron members on leave and a good portion more being transferred to their next duty station.
Some, after a Mediterranean Med cruise, were more than happy to get out of the Navy if their enlistment was up. In fact, a returning squadron sometimes gave up their best birds to the squadron that was in line to deploy next. My impression of this time around was that I had somehow rejoined the Naval Reserves! It was so quiet, but neither squadron nor aircraft carrier rests for long.
Oh, wait, we no longer had an aircraft carrier, at least for the time being. One might think that one Nimitz class carrier is the same as any other Nimitz class carrier. They, however, would be wrong.
