The lineage of VQ-1's "World Watchers" can be traced back to two
PBY-5A Catalina "Black Cats" modified for electronic reconnaissance during
World War II. The unit formally established as the Special Electronic Search Project at
NAS Sangley Point, in October 1951. By 13 May 1953, when it was redesignated Detachment Able of Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (VW-1), the unit operated four
P4M-1Q Mercators.
1950s When Detachment Able was reorganized into
Electronic Countermeasures Squadron One (VQ-1) at
Iwakuni, Japan on 1 June 1955, it was the first squadron dedicated to electronic warfare. The
EA-3 Skywarrior served the squadron for the next three decades. The first EP-3 Aries I joined the squadron in 1969, beginning the replacement program for the Super Constellations. The next aircraft lost by VQ-1 was in September 1973 when an EA-3B, with five crewmen, was on an overwater navigational training flight from
Guam to the
Philippines. Unable to locate land, the crew was forced to bail out at the
fuel exhaustion point. The entire crew was picked up by a
helicopter from the
Japanese destroyer Haruna. In 1971, VQ-1 moved its homeport to
NAS Agana, Guam, while retaining a permanent detachment at Atsugi, Japan. At that time it absorbed Heavy Photographic Squadron 61 (VAP-61) and its former parent unit, VW-1. In April 1975, two VQ-1 EP-3E aircraft and three aircrews were tasked and deployed to NAS Cubi Point, Philippines, in support of the pending evacuation of Vietnam as part of CTF 72. VQ-1 was assigned the responsibility of providing 24-hour-a-day overlapping coverage in the Vietnam Combat Zone with supporting maintenance, intelligence and operations personnel temporarily located at the VQ-1 Detachment at NAS Cubi Point. Given a specific list of criteria, VQ-1 personnel made the first call to recommend the start of Operation Frequent Wind. Those squadron aircrew members directly involved in the flight operations were recognized as serving in the Vietnam Combat Zone and were eventually awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation, Humanitarian Action Medal, and Vietnam Service Medal when in 2003 Operation Frequent Wind was reclassified as the 18th and final campaign of the Vietnam War.
1980s CDR John T. Mitchell assumed command of VQ-1 in March 1984. Ten months later, on 23 January 1985, he and eight other VQ-1 personnel were killed when the squadron VIP aircraft was lost at sea en route to Guam from Atsugi. A massive air and sea search and rescue effort failed to locate any trace of the VA-3B or its crew and passengers. They were presumed killed or lost at sea. Within a month of the
September 11 attacks the squadron was flying missions over Afghanistan as part of
Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2002, VQ-1 maintained a permanent detachment in
Misawa, Japan, in addition to its home base at Whidbey and its presence in the
Persian Gulf. Its area of responsibility reaches from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the United States, roughly two-thirds of the world's surface. VQ-1 retired their final EP-3E on 13 February 2025, and their final P-3C on 21 February 2025 launched out by Petty Officer First Class Bradley Dillon. VQ-1 was formally decommissioned on 28 March 2025. ==References==