page_title: HSC-14
section_title: Command history
hierarchical_section_title: HSC-14 / Command history
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-60F Seahawk (BuNo 164798) from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron HS-14 "Chargers" dopping a Mk 46 torpedo. HS-14 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62).
context_page_description: Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 14 "Chargers" is an aviation unit of the United States Navy based at Naval Air Station North Island, California. HSC-14 was established as Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 14 in 1984 and was redesignated HSC-14 in 2013. The squadron is equipped with the Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk.
context_section_description: HS-14 was established on 10 July 1984 at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California and originally flew the Sikorsky SH-3H "Sea King" helicopter. Assigned to Carrier Air Wing TWO from 1984 to 1993, the Chargers deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. In 1989, while deployed off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea, HS-14 participated in one of the largest rescue operations ever by a deployed helicopter squadron when they rescued 37 Vietnamese refugees who were trapped aboard a foundering boat.
  In 1991, HS-14 participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During Desert Storm, the Chargers participated in an operation that resulted in the capture of four Iraqi commandos on a small island off the coast of Kuwait. Additionally, HS-14 played an important role in the destruction of one Iraqi gunboat and two anti-shipping mines. In 1992, the squadron deployed in support of Operation Southern Watch to the Northern Persian Gulf and to the coast of Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope. In December 1992, the squadron surged to support the first eleven days of Operation Restore Hope with such determination and efficiency that the operational commander wrote, "without HS-14, the first ten days of RESTORE HOPE simply could not have happened."
  In May 1993, the squadron moved 175 men and women, seven aircraft, and all their support equipment from San Diego to Mayport, Florida in four days. The cross-country move was executed to embark on board USS Constellation for her transit around South America to San Diego. During this transit, the squadron participated in coordinated anti-submarine warfare (ASW) with several South American navies.
  In October 1993, the Chargers began the transition from the Sea King to the SH-60F Seahawk helicopter. Soon afterward, military downsizing dictated the decommissioning of HS-12, a sister squadron in Japan. For HS-14, this meant an accelerated transition schedule and training program to complete a homeport change to Atsugi, Japan by October 1994. The squadron's progress in this endeavor was rewarded with a personal visit from then Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Frank B. Kelso.
  HS-14 executed back-to-back deployments to the Persian Gulf in 1998 and 1999, participating in Operation Southern Watch. Additionally, the squadron began its annual participation in the bilateral exercises Foal Eagle and ANNUALEX. In 1998, the Chargers made USS Kitty Hawk their permanent sea-based home, traveling to Hawaii aboard USS Independence in July for the complicated cross-deck move.
  In early 2002, the HS-14 supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan by deploying a detachment on board USS Kitty Hawk. During this deployment, Kitty Hawk served as a mobile staging base for elite United States Army special operations units. In March 2003, as the situation in Iraq escalated, HS-14 and Kitty Hawk received orders to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Chargers were assigned to provide a naval special warfare (NSW) capability to forward operating bases in support of SEAL operations. The squadron also affected the recovery of a CVW-5 strike fighter pilot who was downed in hostile territory.
  After returning from the Persian Gulf, HS-14 participated in several training and operational deployments, including the historic PULSE EX 2004. This exercise represented a shift in naval policy from set "work-up" periods and deployment schedules to a rapid-responding, surge capable force. During PULSE EX the Navy deployed six carriers simultaneously around the world to demonstrate the projection of power available under the new doctrine. It was during this deployment that an S-3B Viking from CVW-14 crashed on the remote and rugged island of Kita Iwo Jima. HS-14 deployed two Seahawks within three hours to Iwo Jima to conduct search and recovery operations. Working closely with United States Air Force Pararescuemen from 33rd Rescue Squadron, the cruiser USS Lake Champlain and the frigate USS Gary, HS-14 was able to locate the wreckage, salvage parts of the aircraft and return the re
caption: A HS-14 SH-60F Seahawk drops a torpedo in 1996
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