Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) Five Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) Five , known by the US Navy nomenclature HA ( L ) - 5 ( sometimes abbreviated as HAL - 5 ) , was a Naval Special Warfare and close air support helicopter squadron in the period following the Vietnam War , which , along with its sister squadron HA ( L ) - 4 " Red Wolves " , was one of the last two US Navy squadrons using Bell UH - 1 Iroquois " Huey " gunships . Genesis of the HA ( L ) squadrons . In 1966 , United States Naval Special Warfare Command rotary support was originated as part of the response to the ongoing Vietnam War . Starting with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron ONE ( HC - 1 ) , detachments of helicopter gunships supported the Mobile Riverine Force ( also known as the Brown - water navy ) effort in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam . HC - 1 “ Fleet Angels ” operated two - aircraft detachments of UH - 1B gunships , staged from amphibious vessels . Providing a quick reaction force and performing a close air - support ( CAS ) role for units of the Navy ' s Special Warfare Groups and the Mobile Riverine Force , the effectiveness of the helicopter attack mission was quickly realized and in response , the Navy began to widen the mission , creating the need for a specific Squadron to provide that support . In April 1967 , HC - 1 was divided into four separate units , Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) THREE ( Navy Gunships ) , Helicopter Combat Support Squadron THREE ( Navy Vertical Replenishment ) , Helicopter Combat Support Squadron FIVE ( LAMPS ) , and Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN ( Navy Combat Search and Rescue ) . Nicknamed the " Sea Wolves " , HA ( L ) - 3 was established in South Vietnam with its headquarters originally in Vung Tau and later in Binh Thuy , originally flying in support of Operation Game Warden , earned over 20 , 000 unit and personnel awards . In 1972 HA ( L ) - 3 was disestablished and in 1997 , the US Navy recognized the service of the squadrons aircrew , retroactively awarding the Combat Aircrew Insignia to Combat Aircrewmen who served in Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) Three . The Birth of the Blue Hawks . Four years after the disestablishment of HA ( L ) - 3 , the Navy determined that it still had a need for the Navy Gunship , establishing two new Helicopter Attack ( Light ) Squadrons in the Naval Reserves as part of the newly formed Commander , Helicopter Wing Reserve ( COMHELWINGRES ) in 1976 . Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) FIVE ( HA ( L ) - 5 ) , nicknamed the “ Blue Hawks ” , was established at Naval Air Station Point Mugu , California on the June 11 , 1977 and its sister squadron , Helicopter Attack Squadron ( Light ) FOUR ( HA ( L ) - 4 ) , known as the Red Wolves , was formed at Naval Air Station Norfolk , Virginia on July 1 , 1976 . Given the mission of providing support to the Naval Special Warfare Command in support of Navy SEALs , EOD , and Navy Special Boat Units , flying the HH - 1K Iroquois , the Navy once again had Gunships to support its special warfare operations . The HH - 1K , possessing the same firepower as the UH - 1B aircraft used by the HA ( L ) - 3 Sea Wolves , had greater lift capability and allowed the aircraft to carry a higher payload . Outfitted with the M - 21 weapons subsystem , it included two co - pilot controlled GAU - 2B / A miniguns , two pilot - controlled rocket launchers , with a total of twenty - eight 2 . 75 inch Folding Fin Aerial Rockets ( FFAR ) , and two crew operated M60 light machineguns . The aircraft was also equipped with a crew - controlled rescue hoist , although its primary mission did not include Combat Search and Rescue and the crews did include Rescue Swimmers . With the proliferation and modernization of weapons technology in the four years since Vietnam , HA ( L ) - 5 aircraft and crews deployed new countermeasures and tactics to defeat the changing combat threat environment , introducing Night Vision Goggles ( NVG ) and a flight profile called Nap - of - the - Earth ( NOE ) , the aircrews learned to avoid detection by enemy forces and minimize the threat of hand - held infra - red seeking missile systems . The squadron , consisting of eight HH - 1K Iroquois helicopters , 40 flight crewmen , and 150 maintenance and support personnel , operated from a home base at NAS Point Mugu , California in support of the Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Group at the Naval Amphibious Base , Coronado , California and made deployments to countries such as Egypt and South Korea . Changing of the guard . In 1983 , a proposal was made to the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) to combine the mission of the Naval Special Warfare Support mission of HA ( L ) - 5 and HA ( L ) - 4 with the Combat Search and Rescue ( CSAR ) Mission of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron NINE ( HC - 9 ) , nicknamed the " Protectors " . Two new squadrons , replacing three in the United States Navy Reserve , with the new aircraft significantly more capable of surviving in high - threat environments and able to operate from a wider variety of Navy ships . In conjunction with the United States Coast Guard , the US Navy undertook the development of the new CSAR helicopter , designated HH - 60H Rescue Hawk in the USN and HH - 60J Jayhawk in the USCG . HA ( L ) - 5 was dis - established on October 20 , 1988 and replaced by Helicopter Support Special FIVE ( HCS - 5 ) , nicknamed the " Firehawks " operating the new HH - 60H helicopters . HCS - 5 would remain at NAS Point Mugu for several years before moving to NAS North Island , the original home of HC - 9 . Most of the original HA ( L ) - 5 personnel and crew transitioned to the new squadron along with members of the also disestablished HC - 9 , with the standard crew growing from four to five , with the addition of a Rescue swimmer . HH - 1K gunships on display . Although there are no longer Navy HH - 1K Iroquois helicopters in U . S . Naval service , HA ( L ) - 5 ’ s aircraft are still available to be seen . One of HA ( L ) - 5 ’ s HH - 1K is on static display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation . Although configured to represent the HA ( L ) - 3 Seawolves aircraft 301 of the Vietnam War , it is in fact Navy Bureau Number 157188 of HA ( L ) - 5 . Another one of the HA ( L ) - 5 ’ s HH - 1K is still flying as part of the Ventura County , California Sheriff and Fire Department ’ s Search and Rescue ( SAR ) Aerial unit . Although no longer painted in the original olive - drab , low - infrared paint , the former gunship can be seen in its new yellow and blue colors of Ventura County at Camarillo Airport , California . HH - 1K NW305 is on display at the China Lake Museum of Armament and Technology . This aircraft was restored for the museum by former HAL - 5 Bluehawk enlisted and officers . NW305 is slated to be refurbished in the near future again by the crewmen who originally flew and maintained her during her career as a gunship .