VT-4 Mighty War Bucks

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VT-4 Mighty War Bucks - 1963
Patch drawn by Bud Southworth

Patch
Handle
Heritage
  • 195?: Basic Training Group NINE (BTG-9) established at Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 01 May 1960: Basic Training Group NINE (BTG-9) was redesignated as Training Squadron FOUR VT-4 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
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Home Ports
  • 195?: Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 1960: Forest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
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Air Wings
Deployments
Aircraft
Commanding Officers
Events
  • 195?:
    Basic Training Group NINE (BTG-9) established at Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee, flying the Lockheed T2V-1 Sea Star.

  • May 1, 1960:
    Basic Training Group NINE was redesignated as Training Squadron FOUR (VT-4) at Forest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, flying the Lockheed T2V-1 Sea Star and North American T2J-1 Buckeye. The mission was to provide basic jet flight instruction consisting of basic and radio instrument procedures, formation, night flying, air to air gunnery and carrier qualifications.

  • Fall 1963:
    The Training Squadron FOUR flight instruction sylabus was changed to air to air gunnery and carrier qualification training.

  • 1961:
    • Training Squadron Four is tasked with all phases of basic jet training in the North American T-2J-1 Buckeye. VT-4 receives the top Training Squadron ONE graduates, students. VT-4 provides each student pilot about 200 hours of academic instruction and about 50 hours of flight support lectures.

    • VT-4 student Naval Aviators fly over 100 hours in the Navy's latest and only basic jet training plane the T-2J "Buckeye." The VT-4 training syllabus includes: transition, precision flying, acrobatics, basic instruments, radio instruments, navigation, night flying, formation flying, air-to-air gunnery and carrier qualification.

    • Students climax their flight instruction by jet carrier qualifying aboard the United States Ship Antietam CVS-36, operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The Antietam was for VT-4 student and instructor carrier qualifications intil 1963.

    • VT-4 at Forest Sherman Field provided students air-to-air gunnery training from 1960 to 1971.

  • 1962 to 198?:
    Student and instructor carrier qualifications on United States Ship Lexington CVS-16.

  • 1963 to 1965:
    Student and instructor carrier qualifications carried out on varous carriers while Lexington in overhaul.
    1963 United States Ship Intrepid CVS 11
    1963 United States Ship Essex CVS 9
    1963 United States Ship Shangri La CVA 38
    1964 United States Ship Intrepid CVS 11
    1964 United States Ship Wasp CVS 18
    1964 United States Ship Essex CVS 9
    1964 United States Ship Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA 42

  • December 1965:
    Training Squadron FOUR transitioned to the North American T-2B Buckeye aircraft. VT-4's mission was to be the Naval Air Training Command sole site for providing basic jet flight instruction in aerial gunnery and carrier qualification.
  • January 1970:
    Student and instructor carrier qualifications carried out on United States Ship Intrepid CVS 11 while Lexington in overhaul.

  • May 1970:
    Training Squadron FOUR assigned the North American T-2C Buckeye.

  • March 1971:
    The Navy switched training concept to parallel flow. VT-4 provided basic flight training in Transition, Precision Acrobatics, Basic Instruments, Radio Instruments, Night Flying, Formation Flying, Air-to-air Gunnery and Carrier Qualification
  • September 1972:
    Training Squadron FOUR was assigned the training concept of Basic and Advanced flight training. Training Squadron FOUR was assigned the Grumman TF-9J Cougar for advanced training.

  • November 1973:
    Training Squadron FOUR assigned the Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk to replace the Cougar. From 1973 to 1978, VT-4 provided summer jet orientation flights for midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy and the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.

  • FEB 1974:
    Last TF-9J Cougar retired from Navy use.

  • 1975:
    Training Squadron FOUR tasked with Flight Surgeon flight training in the Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk. VT-4 was given the added mission of providing flight instruction for allied foreign military pilots. Flight training was given to student pilots from Kuwait, Spain, Singapore and Indonesia.

  • December 1985:
    Training Squadron FOUR mission was changed from strike training to being the sole site of E-2/C-2 intermediate training in CNATRA. The squadron was tasked with Grumman E-2 pilot training comprised of 68 training flights in the T-2C Buckeye.

  • April 16, 1986:
    VT-4's last TA-4J Skyhawk was transfered to Training Squadron SEVEN at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi.

  • January 1992:
    VT-4's mission changed to being the E-2/C-2 advanced training site using the T-2C.

  • 1996:
    VT-4 grew from a small all Navy Advanced E-2/C-2 pilot training squadron with a student throughput of 36 per year it became a joint Primary and Intermediate Naval Flight Officer/Navigator training squadron with an annual student throughput of 450. Instructor ranks grew from fourteen Navy pilots to 71 Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force pilots and NFO/Navigators. The squadron transitioned from flying the T-2C to flying the T-34C Turbo Mentor and T-1A Jayhawk. VT-4 also instructs student navigators from Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Norway and Denmark.

  • April to September 1996:
    VT-4 conducted simultaneously primary NFO/NAV and advanced pilot training. Following the final CQ detachment in September, the mission converted entirely to NFO/NAV training. On 30 September 1996, the last VT-4 Naval Aviators earned their wings. Since its commissioning, VT-4 amassed over 600,000 flight hours and logged 42,000 carrier landings.

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Awards
  • 1961: Captain's Cup
  • 1961: CNO Safety Award
  • 1962: CNO Safety Award
  • 1962: North American Aviation Safety Award
  • 1965: Admiral's Cup
  • 1965: CNO Safety Award
  • 1971: CNO Safety Award
  • 1972: CNAT Safety Award
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Sources
  • Bud Southworth
  • Stan Thompson
  • Gary Verver

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