As the Tromboners (1960–1975) VS-29 was originally commissioned on 1 April 1960 as the Tromboners by splitting
VS-21 in two, the squadron making 12 small deployments in the East Pacific between July 1960 and May 1964 aboard the
aircraft carrier as part of CVSG-53 From 19 June 1964 to 16 December 1964, they made their first
Vietnam War cruise on
Kearsarge with
Grumman S-2F Trackers followed by three more Vietnam cruises on the carrier in 1966, 1968 and 1969. VS-29 made their first Atlantic deployment which was short-lived between September and November 1971 on . In September 1972, VS-29 made their last deployment with the Grumman Tracker (S-2E) on as part of CVSG-53.
First years of using the S-3 Viking (1975–1982) In 1975, the squadron transitioned to the
Lockheed S-3A Viking before making the first West Pacific S-3 Viking deployment from
Norfolk, Virginia to
NAS Alameda, California. Seven more deployments followed which included taking part in the
RIMPAC 1984 and RIMPAC 1986
naval exercises. On 31 July 1990, the squadron returned from their last cruise with CVW-15 and the S-3A Viking. Three more
deployments to the Persian Gulf followed for VS-29 between 1992 and 1995 aboard
Abraham Lincoln followed by one Persian Gulf deployment between 1996 and 1997 on
Kitty Hawk. After moving with CVW-11 back to
Carl Vinson, VS-29 took part in RIMPAC '98 before deploying to the Persian Gulf in November 1998. During
Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, they became the first Viking squadron to be used in combat during the conflict. After completing their last deployment on on 5 November 2003 which included taking part in Operation Iraqi Freedom, VS-29 held a decommissioning ceremony on 17 April 2004, before being finally decommissioned on 30 April 2004. ==References==