NAVAL AIR STATION JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The last Navy sensor operator to track a Soviet submarine from a P-3C Orion, retired after 32 years of service and 6,000 flight hours, at a ceremony Dec. 7.
Master Chief Naval Air Crewman Spence Cunningham had just returned from mobilization with Patrol Squadron Six Two (VP-62) to Japan and was hanging up his flight suit.
"This is the perfect opportunity to celebrate not only his career, but our recent deployment," said Cmdr. Jonathan Townsend, VP-62's commanding officer.
The mobilization of Reservists was part of the transition from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon. As Active Duty squadrons come out of their regular deployment cycle to transition to the P-8, the two Reserve squadrons, VP-62 and VP-69, stepped up to cover the manning shortfall in theater.
During the six-month deployment, Reserve crews flew missions all over the Western Pacific region.
"On Aug. 16, we had members in seven countries," said Townsend.
They also flew more than 70 hours in the aftermath of the Philippines typhoon, directing Marines on the ground and assisting with search and rescue efforts.
Cunningham began his Navy career in 1981 and soon entered the P-3 training pipeline. Serving first as a radar operator then an acoustic sensor operator.
"This aircraft and I have been linked since I was a young boy," said Cunningham.
While on active duty, he served in Signonella, Italy, and Bermuda tracking various classes of Soviet submarines as they patrolled the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
He left active duty in 1990 and joined the VP-62 'Broadarrows' in Jacksonville. Nearly a dozen members of the squadron, on active duty the day of Cunningham's retirement, had not been born when he joined the squadron.
While attached to VP-62, Cunningham held many positions from NATOPS 'Bluecard' instructor to detachment CPO (chief petty officer) and for a while, was the command master chief. All the while, maintaining combat aircrew qualifications.
Meanwhile, his civilian positions had a direct relationship to his Navy Reserve job. He held positions with several local Jacksonville defense contractors that have supported the training efforts of the P-3 force, including curriculum development, specifically the Block Mod Update and ASUW Improvement Programs for the P-3. He was also an initial member of, and later managed the Revision and Maintenance effort for the P-3 Fleet Replacement Squadron, VP-30.
"I'll be around giving new operators the foundation they need to build their careers, and loving every minute of it," said Cunningham.
