January

2--Task Group 77.7 composed of Constellation and her escort ships were directed to remain on station in the South China Sea in preparation for possible operations in the Indian Ocean due to the internal crisis in Iran.

24--Vice President Walter P. Mondale presented Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Fix with the Harmon International Aviation Trophy. Colonel Fix received the award for his role as Commanding Officer of USMC Helicopter Squadron HMH-463 during the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975. The citation praised Colonel Fix for carrying out his missions "without casualties among the aircrews of 16 rotary wing aircraft in HMH-463, although the operations took place under combat conditions involving anti-aircraft fire, machine gun and small arms fire, and in part at night with few navigational aids." Colonel Fix was the first U.S. Marine Corps pilot to receive the Harmon Trophy. At the time of the award, he was Project Manager for the H-1/H-3 Helicopters Project Office at the Naval Air Systems Command.

25--The Navy's YAV-8B, the Harrier prototype built by McDonnell Douglas, arrived at the Naval Air Test Center to test its aerodynamic improvements not found in the AV-8A. 28--Constellation and her escort ships were released from contingency operations in the South China Sea. The contingency operations had been issued in response to the internal crisis in Iran. The crisis abated when the Shah of Iran departed for exile on 16 January. Due to the uneasy situation in Iran all U.S. government dependents and non-essential American citizens were ordered to evacuate the country on 30 January.

February

9--The Secretary of the Navy announced that the helicopter portion of the Navy's LAMPS MK III was to be known officially as the Seahawk. Designated SH-60B, the Sikorsky helicopter took its name from the Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk which was a catapult launched, non-carrier, ASW float plane of late World War II.

27--The Navy took delivery of the last A-4 Skyhawk from the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, setting a record for the longest production run for any U.S. military aircraft. Built as an attack bomber and as a two-place trainer, the A-4 had been in continuous production for 26 years. The final Skyhawk off the production line was an A-4M attack bomber built for operation by the Marine Corps. It was the 2960th Skyhawk manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and was delivered to VMA-331.

March

7--Constellation and her escort ships were ordered to the Gulf of Aden in response to the conflict between North and South Yemen. The Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf were considered vital waterways for the passage of petroleum products to the U.S. and her allies.

11--A P-3B Orion from NATC Patuxent River flew the first transoceanic flight guided by NavStar, the space-based radio navigation system. The six-hour flight was from NAS Barbers Point to NAS Moffett Field. The NavStar system comprised 24 satellites in earth orbit providing radio navigational information.

20--The last variant of the P-2 Neptune rolled off the production line at ceremonies in Japan. This was the longest production run of any aircraft type in history, 34 years from the first model which was built in 1945 in Burbank, California by the Lockheed Corporation. The P-2 was the mainstay of the U.S. Navy's ASW patrol fleet during the 1950s and early 1960s until it was replaced by the P-3 Orion.

26--The AV-8A Harrier was used at NATC Patuxent River to test a new ski jump ramp developed by the British to cut down the takeoff distance for the Harrier. The new ski jump ramp was designed with a 12-degree angle of elevation and was 130 feet long. The total takeoff distance for a Harrier using the new ramp was 230 feet compared with the 930-foot runway necessary for a Harrier to make a no-catapult, flat-surface launch. NATC Patuxent River was evaluating the ramp for possible use in the fleet.

April

16--Midway relieved Constellation as the Indian Ocean contingency carrier. Midway and her escort ships continued a significant American naval presence in the oil-producing region of the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf.

23--In a ceremony at NAS Norfolk, Vice Admiral Forrest S. Petersen transferred ownership of the last Kawanishi H8K2 flying boat to the Japanese Museum of Maritime Science. Code named Emily by the allies during World War II, the big craft was brought to the United States by the Navy late in 1945 to undergo tests at Patuxent River. When the tests were completed, the Emily was stored at Norfolk and outlasted all its sister aircraft. In July 1979, the Museum of Maritime Science transported the Emily to Tokyo.

30--A RH-53D Sea Stallion from HM-12 set a new nonstop, transcontinental flight by flying from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego, California. The helicopter flew 2,077-nm in 18.5 hours, air refueling from an Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules. The flight demonstrated the long-range, quick-response capability of the RH-53D helicopter and was commanded by Lieutenant Rodney M. Davis.

May

22--The first of two McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harriers arrived at NATC, Patuxent River for service acceptance trials. Improvements built into this aircraft over the AV-8A include a new UHF radio, a chaff and flare dispensing system, lift improvement devices, a radar warning system and secure voice equipment.

30--Midway and her escort ships were released from contingency operations in the Arabian Sea and departed for the Pacific.

June

12--The Deputy Secretary of Defense approved the mission element need statement for the Undergraduate Jet Flight Training System known as VTXTS. This system represented a major step toward meeting the continuing requirement to provide undergraduate pilot training for student naval aviators and transition students of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

20--Lieutenant Dona Spruill became the first Navy woman pilot to carrier qualify in a fixed-wing aircraft. Lieutenant Spruill piloted a C-1A Trader to an arrested landing aboard Independence.

July

1--With the disestablishment of U.S. Army Executive Flight Detachment, USMC Helicopter Squadron ONE (HMX-1) became the single source of helicopter support for the White House.

17--Saipan was operating off the coast of Nicaragua for possible evacuation of American diplomats and others due to the turmoil surrounding the fall of that government.

19--The President announced he had instructed the U.S. Seventh Fleet to aid the Vietnamese "boat people" and assist them to safety. U.S. naval aviation and surface units of the Seventh Fleet stepped up patrolling, assistance and rescue efforts in support of the Vietnamese "boat people".

21--Neil A. Armstrong, a Navy pilot during the Korean War, was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. He served as an experimental test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and flew a variety of high speed aircraft including the X-15. Later, after being selected as an Astronaut by the NASA, he served as Command Pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, during which he participated in the first docking of a spacecraft. His most notable achievement came as Commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission when he became the first man to step upon the moon.

24--The Bell XV-15 successfully converted in flight from the helicopter mode to the fixed-wing mode. The XV-15 flight test program was founded as a joint U.S. Navy/NASA/Army research effort to evaluate the tilt rotor concept.

27--The Navy's newest turbo-jet-powered aerial target, the Northrop BQM-74C, successfully completed its first flight over the Pacific Missile Test Center, California. The 33 minute flight also marked the first airborne launch of the BQM-74C when the target was launched from under the wing of an A-6 Intruder. Following completion of the flight, the BQM-74C was safely landed at sea, retrieved, and returned to Point Mugu for inspection, refurbishment, and eventual reuse. The BQM-74C is the only target in the world using a Digital Avionics Processor which allows it to provide realistic low cost anti-ship cruise missile simulation in training.

August

30--The first prototype of the Navy's SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was unveiled at the Sikorsky Aircraft Division at Stratford, Connecticut. The SH-60B was designed to operate from destroyers, frigates and cruisers in performing its role in the LAMPS mission which was detecting, classifying, locating and destroying hostile submarines and surface vessels over extended ranges. Secondary missions for the helicopter included search and rescue, medical evacuation and general fleet support. The SH-60B was officially dubbed the Seahawk in February 1979.

30--A U.S. Navy CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter of VR-24 lifted a 12-foot bronze statue of the Madonna and Child to the top of Mt. Tiberius on Capri, Italy, to replace one which had been destroyed by lightning. The statue was too large to be transported overland.

September

18--The Circulation Control Rotor (CCR) made its first flight using the airframe and propulsion system from an HH-2D helicopter. This CCR was initiated by the Navy as an advanced rotor system with improved performance, reduced maintenance requirements, and reduced vibration levels from extant rotor systems.

October

1-8--The AV-8C Harrier shipboard trials were conducted aboard Saipan. Testing consisted of 33 flights involving short take-offs, vertical take-offs and vertical landings by the AV-8C.

11--Nassau and other amphibious ships headed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in a show of force ordered by the President in response to maneuvers by a Russian combat brigade in Cuba. On 17 October 1,800 Marines landed in Guantanamo Bay as a demonstration of naval power in the wake of the Soviet refusal to withdraw the Russian combat brigade in Cuba.

28--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships were directed to operate south of the Korean peninsula in response to the assassination of South Korean President Park on 26 October.

November

4--One Naval aviator and 14 Marines were among the more than sixty Americans taken hostage when the United States embassy in Tehran, Iran, was seized by a mob of Iranian hoodlums. Spokesmen for the mob demanded that the United States return to Iran the deposed Shah who was in a New York hospital at the time.

18--Midway and her escort ships, which had been operating in the Indian Ocean, arrived in the northern part of the Arabian Sea in connection with the continuing hostage crisis in Iran.

21--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships were directed to sail to the Indian Ocean to join Midway and her escort ships which were operating in the northern Arabian Sea. The two carrier forces provided the U.S. with attack aircraft, the A-6 and A-7 and fighter aircraft, the F-4 and the modern F-14, which could respond to a variety of situations if called upon during the Iranian hostage crisis.

December

3--Kitty Hawk and her escort ships arrived on station in the northern Arabian Sea for contingency operations during the Iranian hostage crisis. This was the first time, since WW-II, that the U.S. Navy had two carrier task forces in the Indian Ocean in response to a crisis situation.

12--The development program for the LAMPS MK III SH-60B Seahawk helicopter reached a major milestone when the aircraft completed its first flight at the Sikorsky test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

21--The Defense Department announced a three-ship nuclear-powered carrier battle group from the Sixth Fleet would deploy to the Indian Ocean to relieve the Seventh Fleet carrier battle group led by Kitty Hawk. The Sixth Fleet carrier battle group consisted of the nuclear-powered Nimitz and her nuclear-powered escort ships.

24--A massive Soviet airlift of 5,000 Russian airborne troops and equipment into the Afghanistan capital of Kabul was conducted. The U.S. protested the large influx of Soviet troops which the Soviet Union claimed were at the request of the Afghanistan government. On 27 December a Soviet-backed coup installed a new President in Afghanistan. The two carrier task forces consisting of Midway and Kitty Hawk continued contingency operations in the northern Arabian Sea.

31--During 1979, Navy carrier forces responded to five crisis situations around the world. The following carriers responded for contingency operations: Constellation responded to the crisis which involved North and South Yemen; Saipan responded during the Nicaraguan turmoil; Nassau was involved in the response to Russian combat troops in Cuba; Kitty Hawk responded to the alert in Korea; and Midway and Kitty Hawk conducted contingency operations during the Iranian hostage crisis.

31--U.S. Navy surface and aviation forces of the Seventh Fleet continued their patrols and rescue assistance efforts connected with the Vietnamese boat people following the President's order in July. During the last six months of 1979, Navy ships embarked over 800 Vietnamese refugees. Vietnamese refugees picked up by merchant vessels with the aid of P-3 patrol aircraft totaled over 1,000.