RVAH-12
RVAH-12 was a Reconnaissance Attack (Heavy) Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established on 1 July 1965 and disestablished on 2 July 1979. Operational history. RVAH-12 / Cold War and Vietnam. RVAH-12 was established on 1 July 1965 at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida, the first squadron to specifically formed to operate the RA-5C Vigilante. Early in its history, RVAH-12 was selected as the short-term host for a little known, and at the time, highly sensitive project known as "Snare". This involved the installation of an articulated infrared spectrum sensor on the top side of two aircraft , BuNo 148933 and BuNo 151727, just ahead of the vertical stabilizer. The purpose of "Snare" was to obtain laser emitter and other related data from special Soviet Tu-16 Badger, Tu-95 Bear, and M-4 Bison long range bombers flying observation missions of U.S. Navy carrier battle groups from Russian soil. "Snare" operations were conducted for a short period during RVAH-12's 1971-1972 Mediterranean deployment aboard . RVAH-12's Cold War / Vietnam-era deployments were as follows: RVAH-12 / Cold War (post-Vietnam). With the end of the Vietnam War, RVAH-12 returned to stateside training and forward deployed Cold War presence operations aboard  Fleet aircraft carriers. In addition, budgetary pressures and force reductions following the end of the Vietnam War force the Department of Defense to once again close several stateside air bases, to include Naval Air Station Albany, Georgia. In January 1974, RVAH-12 shifted home stations from NAS Albany to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. RVAH-12's subsequent deployments were as follows: Attrition of airframes and the increasing maintenance and flight hour costs of the RA-5C in a constrained defense budget environment forced the Navy to incrementally retire the RA-5C and sunset the RVAH community beginning in mid-1974. Carrier-based reconnaissance  was concurrently conducted by the active duty VFP community at Naval Air Station Miramar and the Naval Reserve VFP community at Andrews Air Force Base / NAF Washington with the RF-8G Crusader until 29 March 1987, when the last RF-8G was retired and the mission was fully transferred to the active duty and Naval Reserve VF community at NAS Miramar, Naval Air Station Oceana, Naval Air Station Dallas and NAS JRB Fort Worth as a secondary role with the F-14 Tomcat equipped with the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System. Following its return from its final Mediterranean deployment in 1979 , RVAH-12 was disestablished at Naval Air Station Key West on 2 July 1979 following 14 years and 1 day of active naval service. Home port assignments. The squadron was assigned to these home ports: