Navy’s P-3 Orions provide overwatch for servicemembers in AOR

Published May 22, 2007
By Staff Sgt. Jasmine Reif
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

18May2007 -- When a unit's primary mission is anti-submarine warfare, flying over the Middle East performing missions for convoys and ground troops can be both a challenge and an exciting change.

Commander, Task Group 57.2 is composed primarily of members of Patrol Squadron EIGHT (VP-8) "Fighting Tigers" who perform battle-group support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in Iraq as well as the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman.

While the unit flies many ISR missions, they also fly routine maritime patrol missions.
"When performing ISR missions our primary customers are the Expeditionary Strike Group and ground force commanders in Iraq." said Navy Cmdr. Pete Garvin, CTG 57.2 executive officer. "While working with the battle group we provide a coordinated recognized maritime picture, which is fancy way of saying we are the aircraft carrier's long-range eyes."

While working for ground force commanders in Iraq, the air crews survey specified targets for activity and provide overwatch for convoys and strike teams.

The CTG has deployed to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing for the past two years and maintains about a squadron and a half of P-3C Orions, each valued at $36 million.

According to the U.S. Navy fact sheets, originally designed as a land-based, long-range, anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, the P-3C's mission evolved in the late 1990s and early 21st century to include surveillance of the battlespace, either at sea or over land.
Its long range and long loiter time have been very useful during Operation Iraqi Freedom as it can view the battlespace and instantaneously provide that information to ground troops, especially U.S. Marines.

The P-3C has submarine detection sensors such as directional frequency and ranging sonobuoys and magnetic anomaly-detection equipment. The avionics system is integrated by a general-purpose digital computer that supports all of the tactical displays, monitors and automatically launches ordnance and provides flight information to the pilots.

In addition, the system coordinates navigation information and accepts sensor data inputs for tactical display and storage. The P-3C can also carry a mixed payload of weapons internally and on wing pylons.

The CTG, based out of Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, deploys for six months at a time and currently has approximately 400 sailors assigned.

Every month the CTG flies more than 200 sorties, each taking between six and 8 hours. On each mission the crew is usually made up of 11 sailors. The 11 consist of three pilots, two naval flight officers who do the tactical coordination of the sensors and handle communications and navigation, three sensor operators who manage the myriad of sensors onboard, two flight engineers, and one in-flight technician.

Some of the Sailors feel that even though their jobs are the same as at home station, at a deployed location they have more interaction with the squadron as a whole, everything moves at a faster pace, and they know their jobs are important to the mission.

"My job is important to the mission because I must ensure all the pieces of the puzzle are being put together on the plane so the mission gets accomplished in it's entirety," said Navy Lt. Robin Boniface, CTG 57.2 tactical coordinator, who is responsible for weapon employment, coordination of all tactical missions, and the senior navigator on board. "Each of the 11 stations has information that is important to the overall mission and without even one, a degraded product will come out."

The Sailors have heard their missions are helping out ground troops and find it very rewarding.

"Morale is high mainly due to the sense of purpose everyone feels," Commander Garvin said. "The mission here is professionally rewarding and exciting. As one of our Sailors put it, if we have to be deployed away from home, it's good to be a part of the fight."