P-3 Orion Articles: November 1996

• 21 November 1996. U.S. Navy aircraft first on scene in Central Africa Navy News Service.

  U.S. Navy P-3C Orion aircraft are operating from Entebee, Uganda, to locate refugees and displaced people in the region. Two Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) from Patrol Squadron Sixteen (VP-16), forward-deployed at Naval Air Station Sigonella, are assisting the U.S. European Command in their assessment of the situation in Central Africa.

  The P-3C aircraft is especially suited to this mission due to its long on-station time and long-range surveillance and communications capabilities. The P-3C is capable of flying missions of 10-12 hours in duration.

  "These missions are exactly what we're trained for," said Gina Mahoney, an Aviation Systems Warfare Operator 2nd Class from Thompson Falls, Montana. "These missions are a standard P-3 day...it feels good to know that we are prepared and I think we are doing a good thing," she added.

  Returning from a mission over the Central African region, Aviation Electrician's Mate 1st class William Liening, of St. Henry, Ohio saw "thousands of people in tents...it looks like a blanket of blue and white with the naked eye." Tents supplied by relief agencies are colored blue and white.

  A squadron of U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft operate continuously from Naval Air Station Sigonella and routinely fly missions in support of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, NATO, Peace Implementation Forces and search-and-rescue missions in the Mediterranean theater. The squadrons routinely deploy from their homebases on the East Coast of the U.S. for periods of four-to-six months in length. The "War Eagles" of VP-16 are on a routine five-month deployment from Jacksonville, Fla. The Squadron is commanded by Commander William P. Nash, Jr. of Portsmouth, Va.

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