offshore of Vietnam in 1967
RVAH-12 / Cold War and Vietnam RVAH-12 was established on 1 July 1965 at
Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida, the first squadron to specifically be formed to operate the
RA-5C Vigilante. Early in its history, RVAH-12 was selected as the short-term host for a little known, and at the time, highly sensitive project known as
Snare. This involved the installation of an articulated infrared spectrum sensor on the top side of two aircraft, BuNo 148933 and BuNo 151727, just ahead of the vertical stabilizer. The purpose of
Snare was to obtain laser emitter and other related data from special Soviet
Tu-16 Badger,
Tu-95 Bear, and
M-4 Bison long range bombers flying observation missions of U.S. Navy carrier battle groups from Russian soil.
Snare operations were conducted for a short period during RVAH-12's 1971-1972 Mediterranean deployment aboard . RVAH-12's Cold War / Vietnam-era deployments were as follows: • 11 March 1966 – 26 October 1966, RVAH-12 was embarked aboard for a Mediterranean deployment. • 29 April - 4 December 1967, RVAH-12 was embarked aboard for a Western Pacific (WESTPAC) and Vietnam deployment. • On 13 August 1967, an RVAH-12 RA-5C, BuNo 151634, was shot down over
North Vietnam. and LTJG Wayne Goodermote ejected successfully, were captured by the North Vietnamese, and were repatriated to the United States on 14 March 1973. • On 17 August 1967, an RVAH-12 RA-5C, BuNo 149302, was hit by antiaircraft fire over North Vietnam. The aircraft failed to return to the ship and the pilot, Commander Laurent Dion, and the reconnaissance attack navigator, Lieutenant (junior grade) Charles Hom, were listed with an initial finding of missing in action, followed later by a presumptive finding of killed in action. • Budgetary pressures of the Vietnam War force the Department of Defense to close several stateside air bases, to include Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida. Upon return from their 1967 deployment, RVAH-12 shifts home stations from NAS Sanford to the former Turner Air Force Base, renamed
Naval Air Station Albany, Georgia, effective 1 May 1968. • 22 July 1968 – 29 April 1969, RVAH-12 was embarked aboard for a Mediterranean deployment. ==Home port assignments==