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Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron FIFTEEN was commissioned to fly the
SH-3 Sea King on 29 October 1971 at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey. During the
next two and a half years, the Red Lions deployed aboard the USS GUAM, as part of the Sea
Control Concept. In November 1973, the squadron moved from Lakehurst, New Jersey, to
Jacksonville, Florida, and soon joined Helicopter Anti- Submarine Wing ONE, thus closing
its Sea Control chapter.
As a Carrier Air Wing squadron, HS-15 has operated aboard six east coast carriers: USS
NIMITZ, USS AMERICA, USS INDEPENDENCE, USS FORRESTAL, USS SARATOGA, USS ENTERPRISE and is
presently aboard USS Eisenhower , as an element of CVW-17. Over the years, operations have
taken HS-15 to the Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian Oceans as well as the Adriatic, Arabian,
Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Norwegian Seas. During these many deployments the Red Lions
have played a unique role in U.S. foreign policy and military actions. Involvements have
included: Iranian/Afghanistan Contingency Operations, the U.S. Multinational Peacekeeping
Force in Lebanon, combat operations during "Urgent Fury" in Grenada, extensive
North Atlantic ASW operations with NATO, Operation Provide Comfort in Iran, and Operation
Provide Promise / Deny Flight in the former Yugoslavia.
While conducting peacekeeping operations off the coast of Lebanon in 1982, the Red Lions
were specifically tasked with shuttling U.S. Special Envoy Phillip Habib to and from
Beirut as he negotiated a settlement to the Israeli-PLO conflict.
During USS INDEPENDENCE's 1983-84 "Combat Cruise" HS-15 was deployed as an
element of CVW-6. Throughout the hostilities in Grenada, the Red Lions provided combat SAR
service as well as small boat interdiction patrols while operating a forward detachment
from the deck of the USS MOOSBRUGGER. This detachment rescued eleven wounded personnel
from a downed Army helicopter. After a short turnaround cycle, the squadron returned to
the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean for a last deployment on USS INDEPENDENCE before
reassignment to USS FORRESTAL with CVW-6. Embarked in USS FORRESTAL, the squadron deployed
to the Mediterranean Sea in June 1986, and in August 1987 to the Norwegian Sea as
participants in Ocean Safari '87.
The squadron's 1988 deployment took the Red Lions to the Mediterranean Sea through the
Suez Canal, to the North Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. This presence was to ensure the
unobstructed passage of ocean commerce through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.
This phase of the deployment included an impressive 108 consecutive days at sea. Among the
high points of the deployment was the opportunity to meet the Commander-in-Chief,
President George Bush, prior to his "Summit on the Sea" with Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev.
With the commencement of Operation Desert Shield in August 1990, and then DESERT STORM in
January 1991, Carrier Air Wing SIX and HS-15 entered a grueling training regime in
preparation for possible deployment to the Middle East. In 24 days, vice the normal 4
months, Air Wing SIX completed Refresher Training and Advance Phase, finishing the most
intensive carrier work-up period ever conducted in the Atlantic Fleet. USS FORRESTAL,
Carrier Air Wing SIX and HS-15 deployed to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1991 in support of
OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT.
The Red Lions returned to NAS Jacksonville in late December, just 4 days before Christmas.
Shortly thereafter, USS FORRESTAL was decommissioned from active duty and HS-15 left
CVW-6.
In the spring of 1992, HS-15 began the transition to the SH-60F Seahawk helicopter. After
travelling to NAS North Island in San Diego, California to undergo training for the new
aircraft, the squadron returned in late 1992 and completed transition in March 1993.
The Red Lions then deployed on the USS Saratoga to the Mediterranean, and returned June 24, 1994. The carrier spent 70 days of the 164-day deployment on station in the Adriatic Sea in support of NATO and U.N. operations Deny Flight and Provide Promise in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In July 1996, the RED LIONS and CVW-17 deployed onboard USS
ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) to the Mediterranean, and Persian Gulf. In 1997, CVW-17 and
HS-15 cross decked to the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN-69), and began it's next work-up
cycle in November '97 in preparation for its June-December 1998 deployment to the
Mediterranean/Adriatic Sea and Persian Gulf.
