VFAW - 3 All Weather Fighter Squadron 3 ( VF ( AW ) - 3 ) was an aviation unit of the United States Navy established in 1944 and deactivated in 1963 . From 1955 to 1963 , it was the only U . S . Navy unit assigned to the North American Air Defense Command . History . Night Fighter Training . VF ( AW ) - 3 was established on 22 August 1944 as the " Navy Air Training Unit - Pacific ( NATUPAC ) " at Naval Air Station Barbers Point , Hawaii . Following World War II , it was redesignated " Night Defense Squadron Pacific " on 6 April 1946 and Composite Squadron , Night 1 ( VCN - 1 ) on 1 August of the same year . Two years later , it was again renamed " Fighter All Weather Training Unit Pacific ( FAWTUPAC ) " . Korean War . At the same time Composite Squadron 3 ( VC - 3 ) " Blue Nemesis " was established on 20 May 1949 . VC - 3 provided night fighter detachments aboard the aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet , flying the F4U - 5N Corsair . Its aircraft were heavily engaged in the Korean War , and Lt . Guy Bordelon of VC - 3 became the only U . S . Navy " ace " during the war , after shooting down his fifth enemy plane on 16 July 1953 , flying from the . After the war , the F2H - 3 Banshee replaced the Corsair . The squadron was redesignated All - Weather Fighter Squadron 3 ( VF ( AW ) - 3 ) on 1 July 1956 and disestablished on 2 May 1958 . North American Air Defense Command . On the same day , the Fighter All Weather Training Unit Pacific took over designation and nickname of VF ( AW ) - 3 . In 1955 , when the U . S . Navy established the Atlantic and Pacific Barriers , VF ( AW ) - 3 became the only U . S . Navy fighter unit assigned to the North American Air Defense Command to detect and defend against enemy aircraft . The squadron flew the F3D - 2 Skyknight until 1959 . In 1957 , VF ( AW ) - 3 began transitioning to the F4D - 1 Skyray , receiving its first six aircraft during that year . When the transition was complete , the squadron was equipped with 25 F4Ds , based at Naval Air Station North Island at San Diego , California . VF ( AW - 3 ) was assigned to the 27th Air Division of the United States Air Force at Norton Air Force Base . Radar coverage was provided by an USAF early warning radar site on Mount Laguna , code - named “ Anderson . ” In the late 1950s , the squadron averaged one or two actual scrambles and two or three training sorties per day . VF ( AW ) - 3 consistently outperformed USAF interceptor squadrons in scramble time and intercept effectiveness . VFAW - 3 won NORAD ’ s " best performing unit " trophy , twice . The squadron also maintained an excellent safety record and superb aircraft - readiness rates . It benefitted in these fields from the proximity of the Douglas factory in Los Angeles . After " Anderson " identified a target , VF ( AW ) - 3 routinely scrambled two F4Ds in three minutes . In an emergency , all 25 aircraft could be scrambled in less than two hours . The USAF radar vectored the aircraft to within 45 km of the contact , and the F4Ds completed the intercepts using their onboard radar , attempting to identify the contact without its being aware of their presence . On 29 March 1957 , LtCdr Patrick F . Cunningham had an in - flight emergency and had to bail out of his A4D - 1 fighter ( BuNo 139924 ) over San Joaquin Valley , California . In response to the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis , VF ( AW ) - 3 aircraft deployed to Taiwan , in 1958 . Cuban Missile Crisis . After the Cuban Revolution , VF ( AW ) - 3 also provided a detachment of six aircraft ( " Detachment Echo " ) at Naval Air Station Key West , Florida , in 1961 , under control of the Continental Air Defense Command ( CONAD ) . The crews were rotated every eight weeks . In January 1962 , after Cuba had received of Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 21 fighters , VF ( AW ) - 3 kept four F4Ds on five - minute alert at all times . From 24 October to 31 December 1962 , Detachment Echo of VF ( AW ) - 3 received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 ; at NAS Key West . VF ( AW ) - 3 was decommissioned in April 1963 .