P-3 Orion Articles: March 2002

• VP-65 "Tridents" Tough On Drug Cartels
  Story Number: NNS020306-10
  3/6/2002

  By Patrol Squadron 65 Public Affairs

  VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (Navy News Service) -- Although the world's attention is currently focused on the war on terrorism, Naval Reserve Patrol Squadron (VP) 65 from Naval Base Ventura County has recently returned from an ongoing silent war being waged against a different adversary -- drug smugglers from south of the border.

  Working closely with the Coast Guard and Navy warships, the "Tridents" of VP-65 spent six weeks in Latin America fighting the war on drugs. The aircrews, operating P-3C Orion aircraft upgraded with state of the art avionics and optics, patrolled more than 2.5 million square miles of ocean in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean in search of elusive "go-fast" boats and support ships used by the drug cartels.

  The "go-fasts" are high-powered speedboats capable of transporting tons of illegal contraband. The support ships are fuel and supply replenishment vessels for the speedboats.

  "One of the keys to our mission was finding the support ships," explained one aircraft commander. "Once you neutralize these supply vessels, the go-fasts are unable to refuel and reach their destination. The difficulty is, these support ships are often disguised as normal, lawful fishing vessels."

  In an effort to distinguish legitimate fishing from suspect vessels, the aircrews used sophisticated camera equipment onboard the aircraft.

  "Once we located a go-fast or suspect vessel, we used advanced communications to coordinate with the Coast Guard or naval ships to intercept and board them," described the mission commander. "Coordination was absolutely critical to the successful seizures of the contraband and culprits."

  During the six-week detachment, Reservists provided critical logistical, intelligence and maintenance support to VP-65. As a result of this team effort, the Tridents completed numerous missions and assisted in the interdiction of more than 5 metric tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $300 million -- drugs that would have potentially otherwise found their way onto American streets.

• P-3 Acoustic Operators Getting Newest Training at FASO
  Story Number: NNS020322-07; 3/22/2002

  By Journalist 1st Class Jeremy Allen, Naval Air Station Brunswick Public Affairs

  BRUNSWICK, Maine (NNS) -- The P-3 Orion sensor operators stationed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick are now getting the newest in computer-simulated acoustic training, thanks to the military and civilian instructors at Fleet Aviation Specialized Operational (FASO) Training Group, Atlantic Fleet Detachment Brunswick, Undersea Warfare Division (USW).

  "P-3 sensor operators are normally in the 'AW' -- aviation warfare systems operator rating -- and serve on board P-3s," said Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 1st Class (AW/NAC) Neal Smith, a FASO DET Brunswick acoustic instructor.

  "AWs operate the equipment used to detect, identify and classify submarines ships, aircraft and land targets. They are critical to the P-3's multiple warfare missions of anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, maritime patrol, reconnaissance and surveillance and strike," he said.

  While the course material itself remains the same, the use of various computer technologies in the presentation of that material has greatly enhanced student learning," explained Dave Bingham, also an acoustic instructor for FASO. "Specifically, the 'cradle to grave' concept is reinforced and we are now able to train operators in a way much closer to the way they perform their function on the aircraft."

  Air anti-submarine oceanography has been presented in the interactive multi-sensor analysis training (IMAT) format for a number of years, but within the last few months, acoustic signals produced by submarines and ships as little as a month old are available in IMAT format.

  This new format provides for the immediate 3-D computer display of moving parts within a vessel, while displaying the acoustic information created by that movement.

  "Operators in the classroom are able to see and visualize machinery and equipment inside a submarine and make an immediate correlation to the information they are detecting and analyzing," said Bob Hill, FASO supervisory acoustic instructor.

  "P-3 sensor operators are able to visualize in a way never before possible. Computers allow course materials to get updated quicker, presenting operators with the latest and greatest they will be faced with as they deploy worldwide. Better trained operators make effective and efficient war fighters," he added.

  Additionally, the USW has incorporated the use of the aviation multi-purpose training system (AMTS) technology to teach fleet operators how to analyze any given acoustic information.

  Analysis training has traditionally been conducted in a static environment with paper copies of various acoustic signatures. Operators had no control over the presentation of acoustic signatures.

  "The implementation of this training device with FASO curriculum allows us to better meet fleet training needs by bringing new data and information to operators much more rapidly and by providing them a tool that allows them to "train the way they fight," said Bingham. "The hardest part of the new format is teaching 'old dogs new tricks' -- but practice makes perfect."

Return to Lynellen's P-3 Orion Fan Site.

Return to Lynellen's Home Page