Airborne Early Warning Squadron ONE (VW-1) was commissioned in 1952 at the Naval Air Station Barbers Point Hawaii, as the first land based Airborne Early Warning Squadron in the Pacific. The squadron's first aircraft were the PB-1Ws (B-17s). In 1953, VW-1 received the EC-121K "Warning Star", a radar configured version of the Lockheed Super Constellation.
In 1957, VW-1 moved its home port to the Naval Air Station Agana, Guam, where the Commanding Officer assumed the additional duties of Commander Fleet Air Detachment, Guam. Guam was chosen because of it strategic location in the Western Pacific for combat support of the SEVENTH Fleet.
In July of 1961, AEWRON ONE was assigned an additional mission of weather reconnaissance for the entire Pacific area. The squadron immediately began training its weather personnel and equipping the aircraft with meteorological gear. Consequently, VW-1 was prepared for the many requests which were to come from Fleet Weather Central, also located on Guam.
During 1966, the squadron flew more then 10,000 hours. A total of 5226.7 hours were flown in combat support for the SEVENTH Fleet on 344 separate flights. The squadron flew weather reconnaissance on 28 separate storms making 275 fixes for a total of 2534.5 flight hours. Flight training contributed 1190.4 hours to the total during during which 54 pilots were upgraded.
Since its inception, the squadron has received numerous awards and commendations for its weather services and much praise for its leadership in combat support operations and numerous awards and commendations for its weather services. In 1966, VW-1 was presented with a letter of commendation from the Commander Naval Air Pacific for attaining 100,000 accident-free flight hours. The squadron also received the Naval Weather Service's Outstanding Performance Award and the Commander Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Quarterly Safety Award for all quarters of 1967.
Commander John D Gibbs, COMMANDING OFFICER
Commander Franklin H. Roth, EXECUTIVE OFFICER;
1966 Typhoon Position Chart
