Vikings Ashore

The very last at-sea deployment for the S-3 Viking ended on 29 May as crews from Sea Control Squadron 22 (VS-22), known as the Checkmates, returned home to NAS Jacksonville, Florida. VS-22 crews completed more than 300 flight hours during their two-month deployment on board the USS George Washington (CVN-73) as the ship sailed around South America en route to its new home port of Yokosuka, Japan. The VS-22 flyoff as the Washington neared San Diego marked the last planned S-3 catapult shot. The Checkmates and Sea Control Wing Atlantic Fleet are both scheduled to disestablish in January 2009, closing out the Viking's thirty-eight year career with the US Navy.