March 21, 2004

Greeting Fellow Lions

VP-90 2004 Reunion Group Photograph

I wanted to let you know we had another successful reunion. If you would like to see some pictures of the reunion go to: http://www.threepinesdesigns.com/vp-90.htm.

Thanks to Mike Pasternak for doing that. At the bottom of the pics is one of the reunion t-shirt. If you would like a Lambert shirt, Jenny Moultrie has some left over. They will cost you $18.00. Mail your money to Jenny at 104 Augusta St, Belle Chasse, LA 70037. Cost includes shipping. Also her email address is: vp90reunion@yahoo.com.

Most stayed on base in a nice facility. The dinners were held at the Magnolia Terrace (former O'Club). On Friday night we had a local dinner. It consisted of crayfish, corn on the cob, and potatoes. We spent most of the evening getting reacquainted with squadron mates, talking about the past and getting caught up on friend's family activities. The catering was provided by Joseph Olivo of American Catering. They provided both evening meals.

On Saturday morning we were invited to attend Senior Chief Rodney Lewis's re-enlistment ceremony in the VR-54 ready room in the Jim Rohlfing hanger. Jim was very instrumental in the get the squadron a hanger. Any official occasion on base is usually done at this hanger, according to Capt McCarthy, former XO of NAS JRB New Orleans.

Afterwards we were given a tour of one of their C-130T planes by Rodney. There was also a VP-94 P-3C plane on the ramp for a tour. A former Lion Senior Chief Guy Moelker was in the flight station giving us a tour. Also helping was another Lion, AW1 Bob Fell.

It was fun to be able to get inside a P-3 again. The rest of the day was free time. Some members went to check out the D-Day museum. We gathered that evening for happy hour at 1730. We were able to get a group picture of the members and spouses that attended. We started out the dinner with a Navy color guard and the national anthem. After another fine meal, we listened to a presentation by Captain Kevin McCarthy. We found out that Kevin was in VP-90 twice. First in the 80's as an ensign and then as a department head the last few years before the squadron was dis-established. He presented a very nice briefing on the status of the Navy and especially the reserves. Here is a summary of what he said.

Back in 1990, there were 39 active and reserve squadron and 350 plus aircraft. Presently there are 4 active duty wings with 12 squadrons. There are 9 planes in each; except for HI they have 10 planes each. There is one reserve wing at Willow Grove with 7 squadrons. Each has 6 planes. All reserve squadrons have P-3Cs II's. The last all Update II squadron is VP-94 in New Orleans. All other reserve squadrons fly Update II's and Update III's on tactical missions. The reserves provide 40% of the commitment for the VP Navy. All Reserve VP squadrons will be disestablished within

3-4 years. They will be replaced with 3 Fleet Response Units (FRU). They will be similar to a MAU from the past. The planes will belong to the wing. The maintainers and aircrews will be assigned to the active duty squadrons. Right now all squadron, active and reserve aircraft are limited in their flight hours due to fatigue issues. There are presently 228 aircraft in all the squadrons. Within 18 months that number will be even lower. The deployments sites are in Central America now. The dets are done by crews and not the whole squadron. The replacement plane for the P-3, is to be called the Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA). The competition is between the Boeing 737 and a Lockheed 4 engine turboprop. The winner should be announced by this summer. There will be a lot fewer replacement planes, somewhere between 50-120 planes. That number depends on how many UAV (unmanned vehicles used for recon) the Navy buys.

Here are some general numbers: in 1992 there were approximately 550,000 personnel on active duty and 460 ships. In 2003 there were approx 382,000 personnel and 385 ships.

We have 191 ships underway now with 76,000 personnel deployed. In the reserves we have approx 17,000 Officers and 56,000 Enlisted personnel. Since Sept 11, 2001, 22,000 reservists have been mobilized. Now presently, 2500 are mobilized. Currently 22% of the Reserve Naval Forces provide operational support for the Navy. The base at New Orleans in the past 5 years has gotten $250 Million in improvements. All reserve bases are now classified as active duty bases. We want to Thank Captain McCarthy for an excellent briefing in getting us caught up on the status of the Navy and the VP community.

After that we had our business meeting, one issue brought up was the original Sorry Charlie painting. We purchased it from the artist and had it framed. We then loaned it to the Glenview Historical Society. We also had a print framed and gave it to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. Ron Hilson is now a volunteer at the museum in Pensacola. To make a long story short, to have the painting hang in Pensacola, it had to be a painting. So we took a vote and decided to swap the two. Now the original painting is going to Pensacola and the print is going to Glenview. We are hoping in the future that the print will hang in the former NAS Glenview Hanger One. Which is now called the Glen mall. The painting should hang in the library in Pensacola, until a new addition is finished in the near future. We want to thank Ron Hilson for bringing the print from Pensacola and having the painting reframed on Sat. Also thanks to Ron Leis for getting the swap accomplished over the weekend. (Long Story!). Also thanks to Butch Michaelson for bringing the painting down from Glenview. Also thanks to Gene Koelker for bringing down his squadron artifacts to display at all the reunions. It adds a nice touch to the reunions. Also we need to thank Don Grobl for making the reunion buttons again. This year Jenny Moultrie made up t-shirts for the reunion. They had a huge Lambert the Lion on the front. Thanks Jenny. The next item for discussion was deciding about the next reunion. A vote was taken and the winner was Jacksonville, Florida. It will be in April 2006. The local team planning the reunion will be headed up by Master Chief Mike Stungis. So pass the word about the reunion. There are no dates yet, more to follow in the future.

After the business meeting, we had the auction. As usual it was headed up by Ron Leis and assisted by Skinny Brown. The auctions are always entertaining. There were many fine items sold. Mostly P-3/VP-90 items. John Mills, Minnie's husband gave a little talk about his flights into Iraq. He is a loadmaster on a C-141. Two of the highest selling items were from Iraq. One was an American Flag that had flown over Iraq and a case that contained Iraqi sand, an Iraq patch and Iraq money. We raised approx $1000 on the auction. That is how we raise our money for the reunions. Thanks to all who participated. We also collected money for Don Grobl's buttons, the last of the squadron patches, the t-shirts that Jenny sold and some monies from the dinners. We had $100.00 left in the kitty on Friday. We have put almost $1900.00 back in the kitty after this reunion. So we will have a good start on the next reunion.

The evening finished up around 2230.

On Sunday morning some went to the galley for a Navy breakfast. Some Lions stayed through the day to see some more of the Big Easy. The weather was great most of the weekend, temps in the 70's.

In closing, this was one of the best reunions we ever had. Thanks again to Captain Kevin McCarthy, Jenny Moultrie and her daughter Angie, Gerald "Woody" Woodhead, and Stan Chambers.

We had some first timers at this reunion. Please let your friends know we have these reunions. I have lost some members who have emails. Please make sure I have updates when someone changes their email address, thanks

I have been doing these newsletters and being treasure for almost 8 years. We are moving out West this summer. I am looking for some help in taking over my jobs. We have set up an account for our reunion monies, so that has been taken care of. If anyone would like to take over the newsletter job, let me know. I send out lots of emails, but I only do snail mail newsletters that deal with the reunions. That goes to 70 members. If someone doesn't want the job, I guess I could continue it.

It has been an honor for me to do this, to help keep the Lions of VP-90 together. I have enjoyed being around some of the best people in the VP Navy!

Thanks.

John Larson

The following Shipmates attended the VP-90 Reunion 12-14 March 2004;

Andersen, Stephen
Baker, Jon
Barfuss, Dennis & Joanne
Behr, Denny & Joan
Black, Marty
Brown, Robert (Skinny) & Guest (Lynn)
Buckert, Carl
Bunch, Garry & Sharon
Burbage, Jim & Fran
Childers, Dave & Diana
Cieslik, Mike & Guest (Colleen)
Cottone, Bernie & MaryAnn
Doherty, Jack
Ebersole, Steve & Della
Edfors, James
Falvey, Keith & Sara
Firnstahl, Ray
George, Ron & Jenny & Guests (Keith & Cherri)
Grobl, Don
Gross, Joe & Marcie
Harris, Darrell & Kim
Henry, Don & Sandra
Henschel, Mel & Leslie
Hilson, Ron & Barbara
Horton, George & Marie
Humbeutel, Jim & Julie
Hunt, Roger & Sue
Jones, Bob & Guest (Renee)
Karl, Greg
Kelly, Paul
Kelsay, Les
Kligis, John & Mary Beth
Koelker, Gene & Verna
Koleszar, Mike & Florence
Korman, Bob & Rosalie
Korthals, Bill & Guest (Barbara)
Kotecki, Marty & Judy
Ladousier, Bob & Nancy
LaLuzerne, Fred & Daisy
Larson, John & Sue
Latterner, Steve & Kaie
Lawrence, Andrew & Mary
Leis, Ron & Beverley
Lewis, Rodney
Loadman, David
McCarthy, Kevin & Kathy
McCarthy, Sharron & Friend (Kathy)
McKee, Homer & Peggy
Michaelson, Butch & Virginia Ann
Mills, Melinda "Minnie" & John
Mockler, Guy
Moultrie, Jenny & Angie
Murphy, Phil & Bev
Nerat, J.R. & Tracy
Nowicki, Ed & Edie
Nyland, Ken & Carol
Pabich, Mike & Lori
Parks, Ken & Donna
Pasternak, Mike & Carolyn
Pope, Gary
Reeve, Steve & Nancy
Reid, Charles (Chip)
Richter, Scott
Scaffidi, Rich & Linda
Sears, John
Shives, Eric & Renee
Smith, Loyd
Smith, Mike & Roberta
Sperry, Mick & Chris
Stungis, Mike & Carol
Thacker, Rocky & Mary Ann
Trelstad, John
Vaughn, Weldon & Lois
Vineyard, Jesse & Emily
Voigt, Ray
Watry,Thomas
Westmoreland, Daniel & Ann & Guests (Danielle & Jay)
Woodhead, Woody & Sharon

We also had a visitor from VP-60 attend our Reunion:

Pfingsten, Jon & Guest

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