Patrol Squadron 62 (VP-62) is a combat aviation squadron of the Naval Air Force Reserve. Since 31 July 2015, the squadron has been assigned administratively to Commander, Maritime Support Wing at Naval Air Station North Island, California, an Echelon IV organization under the Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve.OPNAVNOTE 5400 dated 9 July 2015 However, for operational tasking, the squadron reports to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.

Nicknamed the Broadarrows, the squadron flies the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from its home station of NAS Jacksonville, deploying worldwide. The squadron's aircraft can be identified by the stylized letters "LT" on the vertical stabilizer, the letter "L" being common to all U.S. Atlantic Fleet patrol aircraft, either Regular Navy or Navy Reserve, and the letter "T" being unique to VP-62. The stylized "LT" is also incorporated in the squadron's insignia as worn as a cloth patch on flight suits and flight jackets.

Overview The current VP-62 was established on 1 November 1970. It is the fourth U.S. Navy squadron to be designated VP-62, the first VP-62 having been disestablished on 1 July 1943, the second VP-62 having been redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 62 (VPB-62) on 1 October 1944 and the third VP-62 having been disestablished on 30 January 1950.

VP-62 was established from the personnel and SP-2H Neptune aircraft assets of two Naval Air Reserve patrol squadrons existing prior to November 1970: VP-67F1 and VP-67F2. The establishment of VP-62, other land-based Naval Reserve patrol squadrons, and numerous sea-based Naval Reserve fighter squadrons, attack squadrons, carrier airborne early warning squadrons, helicopter squadrons, etc., all resulted from a major reorganization of the Naval Air Reserve that took place in 1970 in response to problems with the call-up of tactical Naval Air Reserve squadrons and personnel during the USS Pueblo Crisis in 1968. Key among these problems was the incompatibility of aged, obsolescent combat aircraft in the Naval Air Reserve versus the active duty Fleet and an overly bureaucratic process for mobilizing Naval Reserve personnel to active duty. Under this reorganization, combat-coded shore-based and sea-based Naval Air Reserve squadrons, also known as Reserve Force Squadrons (RESFORON), would mirror their active duty Navy squadron counterparts in Naval Aviation and fly the same Type/Model/Series (T/M/S) aircraft as active duty units so that they could readily integrate with the active duty Fleet. These squadrons would be further organized under various Reserve wing organizations that were also created to parallel those in the Regular Navy.

Twelve (12) Naval Reserve patrol squadrons, later increasing to thirteen (13) patrol squadrons, were formed across the Continental United States (CONUS), structured along the same lines as the Regular Navy patrol squadrons and with nearly identical organization and manning levels. The primary distinction between the active duty and reserve squadrons was that the Regular Navy squadrons would continue to be staffed at peacetime manning levels that would be augmented during times of crisis, contingency operations, or wartime by additional Regular Navy and/or Naval Reserve personnel.

In contrast, the Naval Reserve squadrons would have a full wartime-manning complement from the start, with cost savings derived from approximately 66% to 75% of each reserve squadron's manning being filled by part-time Selected Reservists (SELRES) performing 65 man-days to over 150 man-days per person per year and the remaining 25% to 34% of manning filled by full-time active duty Reserve personnel in the Navy's Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR) program (NOTE: From 2005 to 2021, TAR personnel were known as Full Time Support (FTS) personnel).

The concept known as "12/2/1" had 12 Naval Reserve VP squadrons (later increased to 13 Naval Reserve VP squadrons) residing under two commands: Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Atlantic (COMRESPATWINGLANT) and Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Pacific (COMRESPATWINGPAC), both under the control of one central Flag Officer authority, Commander, Naval Air Reserve Force (COMNAVAIRESFOR).

By 1990, VP-62 was comprised nine newly manufactured P-3C Update III aircraft and approximately 400 personnel of which +/- 130 were full-time active duty TAR personnel and +/- 270 were part-time SELRES personnel. This included fifteen (15) fully qualified 12-man combat air crews meeting the same annual flight time and combat readiness requirements as their active duty counterparts. Each combat air crew consisted of three Naval Aviators (pilots), two Naval Flight Officers, and seven enlisted Naval Aircrewmen, the overwhelming majority of whom had extensive prior active duty flight crew experience in the Regular Navy. While stateside at NAS Jacksonville, VP-62 would maintain a duty schedule/flight schedule nearly identical to that of its active duty P-3C squadron counterparts. The only distinction would occur once or twice a month when VP-62 would deviate from the active duty squadrons' Monday through Friday at home schedule and execute a Wednesday through Sunday schedule to accommodate monthly or bi-monthly drill weekends. While deployed to overseas locations, VP-62 would maintain the same 24/7 operational posture as the deployed active duty patrol squadrons.

Post-Cold War force cuts across both the Regular Navy and Naval Reserve from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, further exacerbated by post-11 September 2001 force cuts to remaining Naval Reserve aviation squadrons as a "bill payer" for the Navy's contribution to funding ground combat unit operations in Southwest Asia, resulted in both Reserve patrol wings and eleven of the original thirteen Naval Reserve (renamed Navy Reserve in 2005) P-3 squadrons being incrementally inactivated. Today, VP-62, along with its Pacific Fleet counterpart Reserve patrol squadron, Patrol Squadron SIXTY-NINE (VP-69) at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, are the only two Navy Reserve patrol squadrons still in active service.

Flight crew positions in VP-62, especially for SELRES Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers, are highly competitive and selected via an in-depth screening and selection process. All pilots and NFOs have previous active duty experience in Regular Navy Fleet VP squadrons, all are previously mission commander qualified, many are weapons and tactics instructors (WTI) and/or NATOPS instructors, and most have served as instructors in either the P-3 Orion / P-8 Poseidon Fleet Replacement Squadron, Patrol Squadron THIRTY (VP-30); or as flight instructors in the Naval Air Training Command (NATRACOM); or as flight test evaluators in the Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) or the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM).

Operational history

1 November 1970: VP-62 is established at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, under the operational control of Commander, Reserve Patrol Wing Atlantic (COMRESPATWINGLANT), with an additional squadron detachment at NAS Atlanta, Georgia. 1 July – 26 September 1971: VP-62 retires its SP-2H aircraft and receives its first P-3A Orion, completing transition training on 26 September. 1 April 1972: The VP-62 Atlanta Detachment is disestablished and integrated with the squadron's main body at NAS Jacksonville, combining assets and personnel. November 1972: The squadron begins receiving its first P-3A DIFAR-equipped aircraft as replacements for the older P-3A airframes. Transition is completed in late 1973. July – September 1975: For the first time, the mini-detachment (mini-det) concept is employed for Reserve VP squadron deployments. Rather than sending the entire squadron overseas for a single 17-day period, small detachments of two or three aircraft are sent to Naval Air Facility Lajes, Azores, for consecutive 17-day periods extending over a period of several months. These VP-62 aircraft augment the deployed active duty Regular Navy P-3 squadron whose aircraft and flight crews are split between NAF Lajes and Naval Station Rota, Spain during a six-month deployment. July 1976: VP-62 deploys to Naval Air Station Bermuda. Reserve aircraft and aircrews augment the deployed active duty P-3 squadron at NAS Bermuda and obtain experience in providing additional anti-submarine warfare (ASW) coverage in the Atlantic theater of operation. For the first time for a Naval Reserve patrol squadron, two VP-62 flight crews are selected to drop MK-46 torpedoes with practice warheads in a simulated wartime exercise. Both crews score direct hits on the target. 1977 – 1978: Mini-dets deploy over a 24-month period to participate in Colombian Counter Insurgency exercises, a NATO exercise in the Azores, torpedo exercises in Puerto Rico, and Mediterranean exercises based at NAVSTA Rota, Spain. February 1978: A VP-62 P-3A flown by a 5-man minimum flight crew from VP-0516, a Naval Reserve Squadron Augmentation Unit (SAU) at NAS Jacksonville, makes a wheels-up landing at the Jacksonville International Airport. The resultant mishap and post-impact fire damages the aircraft beyond economical repair but the entire flight crew escapes without injuries. April – June 1978: Numerous mini-dets are deployed during this period, with VP-62 members serving shoulder to shoulder with their Regular Navy counterparts in the Fleet operating from NAF Lajes and NAS Bermuda in tracking Soviet Navy nuclear-powered attack submarines, guided missile submarines, and ballistic missile submarines. May – December 1979: VP-62 receives its first P-3B aircraft as a replacement for its older P-3A DIFAR aircraft. All squadron P-3A aircraft are retired and transition to the P-3B aircraft is completed by December. 19 May 1980: VP-62 is called upon to provide support during the Cuban refugee resettlement operation ( "Mariel Boatlift"). VP-62 flight crews and aircraft maintenance elements are deployed to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. VP-62 flight crews fly multiple missions from NAS Key West, spotting refugees on the open ocean and directing their rescue by U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels. Squadron personnel are awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for this effort. August 1981: VP-62 deploys to NAS Bermuda. During the two-week period of squadron operations, a record four hurricanes in a row hit Bermuda. Nonetheless, the squadron participates in Exercises OCEAN SAFARI and OCEAN VENTURE with no mission aborts. November 1982: VP-62 deploys for annual active duty training to NAS Bermuda, with periodic detachments to Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland; Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; and NAF Lajes, Azores, Portugal. During the deployment, VP-62 also becomes the first Naval Air Reserve VP squadron to participate in drug interdiction flights in the Caribbean. October 1983: VP-62’s P-3B aircraft undergo refit to the Tactical / Navigation Modification (TAC/NAV MOD) update. The Infrared Detection System/Harpoon Aircraft Command and Launch Set (IRDS/HACLS) modifications add infrared detection and the ability to launch the AGM-84 Harpoon air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The completion of these modifications provide VP-62 P-3B aircraft with a Harpoon anti-ship missile capability. The last aircraft modification is completed on 31 March 1985.