page_title: VA-15 (U.S. Navy)
section_title: 1960s
hierarchical_section_title: VA-15 (U.S. Navy) / Operational history / 1960s
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy Douglas A-4C Skyhawk (BuNo 149619) from Attack Squadron 15 (VA-15) "Valions" aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS-10). VA-15 was assigned to Attack Carrier Air Wing 10 (CVW-10) aboard the Intrepid for a deployment to Vietnam from 11 May to 30 December 1967. This aircraft was also to personal aircraft of the Commander, Air Group (CAG) of CVW-10, Commander Kenneth A. Burrows. It was shot down on 4 October 1967 by ground fire 2 km north of Haiphong, Vietnam. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander P. V. Schoeffel, ejected, was captured and became a Prisoner of War.
context_page_description: Attack Squadron 15, nicknamed the Valions, was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. It was established as Torpedo Squadron 4 on 10 January 1942, redesignated VA-2A on 15 November 1946, and finally redesignated VA-15 on 2 August 1948. The squadron was disestablished on 1 June 1969, after 27 years of service.
context_section_description: 14–28 November 1960: VA-15, temporarily assigned to CVG-10, deployed aboard USS Shangri-La to the Caribbean Sea to guard against possible infiltration into Guatemala and Nicaragua by insurgent organizations that were believed to have ties to Cuba.
  21–27 November 1961: VA-15, embarked on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, operated off the coast of the Dominican Republic to support the newly established democratic government.
  March–April 1962: VA-15 deployed aboard USS Enterprise to the Caribbean and participated in the shakedown cruise of the world's first nuclear powered carrier.
  August 1965: Although scheduled to transition to the A-6 Intruder, VA-15 began training under VA-44 for transition to the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk.
  4 April–21 November 1966: VA-15 deployed to Vietnam as a component of CVW-10 embarked on USS Intrepid. CVW-10 was an all-attack air wing composed of four attack squadrons, two squadrons flying A-4 Skyhawks and two squadrons with A-1 Skyraiders.
  15 May 1966: The squadron flew its first combat mission since March 1945 when it was designated VT- 4 and a member of Carrier Air Group 4.
  1967: VA-15 again returned to Southeast Asia on the USS Intrepid
  1968-9: the squadron deployed to the Mediterranean on USS Forrestal after she was restored from the disastrous fire.
caption: A VA-15 A-4C aboard USS Intrepid in 1967.
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