Uncle John left Tsingtao on July 10, 1948. He left China for duty at NAS Quonset Point In Rhode Island. Before arriving in Rhode Island he was stationed in San Diego, California Aunt Bert was a WAVE and met John while they were stationed together.   Bert and John dated for a while and then wed in 1950. Uncle John was at Quonset for two years. 

Naval Aviation after the War

Demobilization was rapid. Ships were retired to a mothball fleet; aircraft were placed in storage. Shore stations at home and abroad were deactivated. Within a year after the end of hostilities the on-board figures for the men of naval aviation fell to a mere one-quarter of the World War II peak. Only a skeleton of the wartime force remained to carry new operational demands that arose before the forces required for peace could be organized.The unsettled international situation raised new, yet old, problems for the Navy. Within months fleet elements assigned to areas for the purpose of supporting occupation forces were given the additional and familiar task of supporting the Nation's policy in areas on opposite sides of the world. A task force built around one or two carriers cruised the Mediterranean and as the years passed became a fixture in that sea. A similar force in the western Pacific provided the same tangible symbol of American might and determination to support the free peoples of the world.

Organizational readjustment took place at several levels. At the top there were problems of adjusting to a new departmental organization formed by what was really only compromise agreement. At the bureau and office level there were problems of reducing staffs and of realigning the functional elements of technical and administrative units to meet new requirements. In the fleet there were problems of transition partly in size but particularly in weapons and tactics developed either as a result of combat experience or of technological advances. The introduction of jet aircraft posed special problems for carrier operations, proving once again that after the machine was developed navies had the additional problem of finding the means of taking it to sea. Superimposed were new concepts based upon guided missiles which had been introduced during World War II, but which were still in embryonic development and which required additional efforts in all areas from design through operational deployment. In all of these the degree of difficulty was increased by the need to complete the transition without even a temporary loss of combat effectiveness.

It was a period in which changes occurred at an ever accelerating rate and came to be accepted as normal. Technological and scientific advances built rapidly upon each other and almost before they could be turned to an advantage new and greater advances had been made. It was a period of constant readjustment in plans, continual adaptation in force organization, and repeated revision of tactical doctrine. There was no time to sit back for deliberate study of the lessons of war and the careful examination of the various possibilities to determine the most favorable course of action. There existed an urgency that was not lessened by the realization of the truly destructive power that was now available to mankind.

In other respects, however, the period was a repetition of the twenties. There was the same clamor for a separate air force and for a merger of the services, but this time both were successfully accomplished in the unification of three services into a single department of defense. The study of aviation and national air policy by a President's commission and a congressional committee was reminiscent of the Morrow Board and Lampert Committee of 1925. There was new agreement among the services on their respective missions and functions. There was also dispute. As the services sought larger shares of a decreasing budget old charges of duplication were raised; navies were again declared obsolete. This time the culprit was not the battleship, but the aircraft carrier. They were too expensive and too vulnerable. Their capability to perform so-called strategic missions was duplication of effort, and if they were not used in that fashion their use was too limited to warrant their existence. Carrier supporters retaliated with criticism of the newest long range bomber which was equally vulnerable, expensive, and entirely unable to live up to its billing. The Secretary of Defense canceled a carrier already under construction and the Secretary of the Navy resigned in protest. The argument raged and the whole affair seemed out of hand as it reached the fantastic situation in which one service was publicly deciding for another not only how its mission should be carried out but what was needed to do it. But the whole affair came to a halt when war in Korea provided more immediate problems and a greater national appreciation of the necessity for adequate military forces in an era when survival of the free world was at stake.

NAS Quonset Point, RI

Not much is known about his first tour here other than he attended school at Beavertail CIC in Jamestown Rhode Island. The history of Quonset Point has been closely associated with war for more than 150 years. The British ship "Armada" went ashore on the north shore of Quonset Point in 1780, loaded with supplies for the British Army and Navy. The land comprising Quonset Point was bought by the State of Rhode Island in 1892 and in 1937 a large portion of it was donated to the Federal Government. Within this area, the state established a "Camp Ground" for use by the State Militia and later by the State National Guard. Here a recruiting office was opened during the Spanish-American War; here also, the First Rhode Island Regiment, U. S. Volunteer Infantry was quartered before entering that war. During the war with Mexico and again during the First World War, Quonset had a part to play in the mobilization and training of men for war.    The Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island is located on a cape on the west shore of Narragansett Bay, approximately ten (10) miles up the bay from Newport and twenty (20) miles down the bay from Providence, Rhode Island.

here because neutrality patrol hangars were the first structures erected. The station was placed in active operation as an air base on 1 October 1940 with the first squadron reporting on 18 October 1940.   Commissioning ceremonies with Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Ralph Bard, and five admirals as guests, were held on 12 July 1941. Commander A. C. McFall, who had assumed command about ten days before, gave the order "Hoist your colors" and the flag was officially flown for the first time from the flag pole in front of the Administration Building.

NAS Memphis, TN

FAETUPAC, FASRON 12, and FASRON 701- San Diego, CA 

Uncle John Tansferred to NAS San Diego to the Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit Pacific. FAETU's were established in the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to train airborne early warning crews in the theory, operation and maintenance of their equipment. These training detachments fulfill a squadrons' need for continuous training and indoctrination to keep pace with the increasing complexity of modern technological advancement. Every conceivable training device available is used to facilitate and expedite the transition from old to new. Naval Air Station, North Island is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the Navy. It includes Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Outlying Field Imperial Beach and Naval Air Landing Facility, San Clemente Island. The complex's 5000 acres in San Diego and 130 commands bracket the city of Coronado from the entrance to San Diego Bay to the Mexican border. North Island itself is host to 23 squadrons and 75 additional tenant commands and activities, one of which, the Naval Aviation Depot, is the largest aerospace employer in San Diego. Only seven years after the Wright Brother's first flight, a Curtis airplane landed on North Island. That same year, 1910, North Island became the birthplace of naval aviation when Navy Lieutenant Theodore Ellyson was transferred there to receive flight instruction from the Curtis Aviation Camp. North Island was commissioned a naval air station in 1917. On August 15, 1963, the station,  was granted official recognition as the "Birthplace of Naval Aviation" by resolution of the House Armed Services Committee.  Uncle John Transferred from FAETUPAC and was assigned to two Squadrons while in San Diego FASRON 12 and FASRON 701

On July 11, 1946 the Chief of Naval Operations(CNO) directed the disestablishment of all CASU's and other maintenance units and their replacement by Fleet Aircraft Service Squadrons by 1 January. The new FASRON's were to be of three kinds according to aircraft types serviced, and were designed to promote higher standards and greater uniformity and efficiency in aircraft maintenance.

Not much more is known of the two FASRON squadrons as I find more information I will post it. Uncle John left San Diego and transferred to NAS Pax River.

NAS Paxtuxent River, MD

 

AEWRON VW-16 and AEWRON VW-12- NAS Barbers Point, HI

    Uncle John arrived at Barbers Point in 1955, he was first assigned to AEWRON-VW-16 and then VW-16 was folded into AEWRON VW-12 known as "Barrier" Squadrons They flew patrols from Midway Island, but were based at NAS Barbers Point. The Naval Air Station comprised 3,693 acres of land was located on the coral plains 25 miles by road from Honolulu. The station was near the point named for the unfortunate Captain Henry Barber of the British Brig "Arthur", which was wrecked during a tropical storm on the coral reef in 1769. Hawaiian legend hints that the area occupied by the air station may once have been the floor of that coral reef--and that the station on this foundation may, as Hawaiian name (Long Cape) implies, hang suspended over the fathomless sea.  Under construction just two months before the Pearl Harbor attack and commissioned on 15 April 1942, was now one of the Navy's largest air stations. The story of its rise from the wilderness of coral and tangled brambles to an efficient military power-house in the space of a few months, is one of the sagas of American productive genius. During WWII, the station became one of the busiest air bases in the world, handling more take-offs and landings in a 24 hour period than known of any other air field. Training squadrons maintained a pool for replacement of carrier pilots. Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 2, which was based at this station, contributed greatly to the war effort by servicing planes assigned to the USS LEXINGTON, YORKTOWN and ENTERPRISE. Air groups from the USS HORNET, SARATOGA and ESSEX were based at this station for changes, modifications and extended training before rejoining their ships. British Fighter Squadrons from HMS VICTORIOUS came to the station for night flying refresher training. At the termination of the war, carrier airplanes were pooled at this station, while the "MAGIC CARPET" carrier fleet returned personnel to the Continental United States. As the war neared its culmination, the 250 man station had grown to over 4,000 personnel. Upon the declaration of Armistice in 1945, Barbers Point assumed the role as a rapid demobilization center. Over 6,000 personnel transitioned through the station en route out of the military during the next 365 days. As 1947 neared its completion, the base strength had dipped to 378 personnel. The future of NAS Barbers Point as a military installation seemed tenuous, at best, as post-war budget constraints trimmed excess personnel and facilities. NAS Barbers Point's immediate future was solidified in 1949, as it assumed the support role for all aviation operations in the Leeward area. In addition, the Marine Corps Air Station at Ewa was incorporated into the boundaries of NAS. In April of 1950, Patrol Squadron Six (VP-6) arrived to NAS Barbers Point from NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., bringing with it the first Neptunes to the islands. Operational tempo increased with VP-6's arrival, as other maritime patrol squadrons lined up to claim their stake in NAS Barbers Point's future. As the war in Korea began raging in 1951, Barbers Point again became a critical staging area for supplies and equipment, soldiers, sailors and forward deploying squadrons. The United Nations additionally tasked the air station to provide a support area for deploying cargo and personnel. The additional missions required additional manpower; subsequently, personnel strength jumped to nearly 800 Sailors. Additional facilities were built, and base housing increased to support the growing support staff. By the end of the conflict, the station had gained fame for fully meeting the support challenges set forth, by acting as the primary source of aviation units of the fleet operating force. In 1956, Airborne Early Warning Squadron Two (AEWS-2) transferred to the station. AEWS-2's mission included the extension of the continental air defense Distant Early Warning (DEW) line further into the Pacific. By mid-1958, the staffs and crews of Airborne Early Warning Wing, Pacific, and Commander, Barrier Force, Pacific staked claims at NAS Barbers Point. Commander, Fleet Air Hawaii and Fleet Air Wing Two followed suit by moving headquarters from their Ford Island locations. With its move in 1950, VP-6 had laid the framework for the air station's operational and training mission roles for the entire VP community. New construction included additional bachelor officer quarters (BOQs), enlisted barracks, over 1,000 new housing units, a special weapons and jet engine test site, a survival equipment shop and numerous other support facilities. With state of the art equipment, and cutting-edge facilities, NAS Barbers Point took on the role as one of the most modern VP facilities in the Naval community. Uncle John remained at Barbers Point until 1957 when he transferred back to NAS Millington in Memphis TN

USS Constellation CVA 64

Old USS Constellation

VS-32

   Joao (John) Santos: Home Page

  They Served with Honor: Home Page