1950s Roots at
NAS Pensacola,
Florida. Fleet Air Reconnaissance in the European Theater had been conducted since the start of the Cold War by detachments within patrol squadrons (VP) flying modified
PB4Y-2 Privateers from
NAS Port Lyautey and conducting missions in the Baltic, Black, Mediterranean, and North Seas. These missions occasionally provoked reactions, sometimes hostile, from behind the Iron Curtain. On 8 April 1950, Soviet
Lavochkin La-11 fighters shot down a Lyautey-based PB4Y-2 Privateer (BUNO 59645) over the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Liepāja, Latvia with the loss of all ten aircrew. The unit operated all over the European Theater from a variety of bases. Regular deployment sites were
Incirlik AB, Turkey;
RAF Mildehnall, United Kingdom;
Wiesbaden AB, West Germany;
RAF Schleswigland, West Germany; and
RAF Hal Far, Malta.
Establishment VQ-2 was commissioned as
Electronic Countermeasures Squadron TWO (ECMRON TWO) on 1 September 1955, to provide the United States with an improved defense posture. The squadron took over VW-2 DET A's spaces and hangar at NAS Port Lyautey. Through the 1950s, VQ-2 would continue to fly missions throughout the European Theater operating from Cyprus, Germany, Libya, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. At commissioning, Commander Morris L. Kalin led a total complement of 24 officers and 78 enlisted men. The Whale was a carrier-capable high-wing, twin-jet aircraft with a crew of four. The A-3 was also one of the fastest non-afterburner aircraft in the US Armed Forces with a service ceiling significantly higher than the Mercators and Neptunes which gave the aircraft a greater area of coverage. lost an engine on approach. The aircraft crashed at 22 St. and E. Ocean Ave., Norfolk, killing four crew and injuring three civilians. Two aircrew were injured and one was uninjured. • On 16 October 1958, returning to Incirlik, A3D-1Q (BUNO 130356) crashed near the airfield. All four aircrew aboard were killed.
1960s Change While keeping the alphanumeric designation VQ-2, ECMRON TWO was renamed Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron TWO (FAIRECONRON TWO) on 1 January 1960. Its sister squadron,
VQ-1 was similarly renamed. On 14 January 1960, with all equipment and personnel out of Lyautey, VQ-2 officially transferred to Naval Station. The Navy had recognized that the maintenance costs of the aging, worn P4M-1Q and P2V-5F airframes were increasingly more expensive to maintain, and these planes needed replacement. Washington opted for a larger, more capable aircraft, the
Lockheed WV-2Q Warning Star. The "Willie Victors," unarmed like the A3D-2Qs, With this change, the A3D-2Q became the EA-3B and the WV-2Q became the EC-121M. staged at
Wiesbaden Air Base, took off from
Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base on a training flight. Inflight, the rear cargo door opened while at 18,000 feet. The flight crew declared an emergency and diverted to
Munich-Riem Airport. To observers on the ground, WV-2Q seemed to explode with the tail separating from the main fuselage over
Markt Schwaben, 17 km south of Munich Airport. The main fuselage and tail section crashed several hundred yards apart in fields southwest of the town. The aircraft was totally destroyed killing all twenty-two Navy and four Army aircrew. Debris and documents were scattered on an area over 65 km2. • On 28 May 1966, an EA-3B (BUNO 142257) • In the summer of 1968, a rocket attack on Danang damaged the nose and cockpit of EA-3B (BUNO 144848).
1990s In the summer of 1990, the squadron provided electronic reconnaissance during the evacuation of 2000 non-combatant personnel from war-stricken
Liberia in
operation Sharp Edge.
2010s The squadron was disestablished on 22 May 2012 ending 57 years of service. The last squadron commander was Commander Mark Stockfish. ==See also==