Orion squadron commander relieved - Democratic Underground

unhappycamper

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Wed Dec-03-08 07:29 AM
Original message

Orion squadron commander relieved

Orion squadron commander relieved
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 3, 2008 7:17:50 EST

BRUNSWICK, Maine — The leader of a P-3 Orion squadron at Maine’s Brunswick Naval Air Station is being relieved of his command.

A statement says the Navy has lost confidence in Cmdr. Llewellyn Lewis, commanding officer of Special Projects Squadron 1 in Brunswick.

The Navy says additional corrective action is expected upon completion of an investigation into the crash of his Brunswick P-3 Orion in Afghanistan.

The Navy previously acknowledged the crash landing in October at Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, but offered few details. The crew survived but one crew member suffered a broken ankle. The surveillance plane caught fire and suffered serious fire damage.

Article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_orioncommander_120308/%2e

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mn9driver

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Wed Dec-03-08 08:59 AM
Response to Original message

1. EP-3's in Afghanistan?

Surely our military has an ELINT platform that is better suited to mountain flying in a hostile area than this?

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Captain Hilts

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Wed Dec-03-08 09:02 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. That's my reaction. And, when/when do they train to fly the desert rather than water?

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unhappycamper

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Wed Dec-03-08 09:17 AM
Response to Original message

3. I should have posted these in a comment to the OP:

10.24.2008 --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=19174
12.1.2008 --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=20813

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mn9driver

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Wed Dec-03-08 09:36 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. Too bad Brunswick is closing.

It will have a big economic impact on the area. The Jacksonville area won't even notice the extra personnel it picks up as a result.

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Captain Hilts

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Wed Dec-03-08 01:32 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. But isn't the purpose of the squadron to monitor the North Atlantic?

Edited on Wed Dec-03-08 01:32 PM by MookieWilson

Last I heard, Russia was closer to Maine than to Jacksonville.

Friend of mine flew in the BatGirl Squadron.

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mn9driver

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Wed Dec-03-08 03:14 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. VP-24 was the Batmen. I was a Seahawk.

Brunswick had 6 P3 squadrons. When the Soviet Union broke up and stopped deploying their missile subs, the main VP ASW mission went away. Brunswick is much closer to the area that those subs had to transit to get into their "patrol boxes" off the US Atlantic coast, but I don't know that they do any of that anymore.

Between improvements in missile range and improvements in detection and tracking technology, the game has probably changed quite a bit since I played it. Still, it seems strange that we will have no long range search aircraft on the east coast except for Jacksonville.

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Captain Hilts

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Wed Dec-03-08 03:39 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. Funny Al always called it the Bat Girl Squadron. But the area is STILL a naval chokepoint...

sending them to Jacksonville is crazy.

If it's the Caribbean you're after, us Boca Chica in the Keys.

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