{"id":33225,"date":"2019-04-22T21:08:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T21:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/22\/end-of-an-era-navys-p-3c-orion-embarks-on-its-final-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:27:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:27:33","slug":"end-of-an-era-navys-p-3c-orion-embarks-on-its-final-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/22\/end-of-an-era-navys-p-3c-orion-embarks-on-its-final-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era: Navy\u2019s P-3C Orion embarks on its final deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been 50 years since the P-3C Orion first took flight for the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the hulking aircraft has flown missions during the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State, participated in countless search and rescue efforts, and created an invaluable network of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of March, the \u201cFighting Marlins\u201d of Patrol Squadron 40<\/a> began shipping out from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state, destined for Bahrain\u2019s Sheik Isa Air Base and Okinawa\u2019s Kadena Air Base, taking with them the Navy\u2019s longtime workhorse for its sundown deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designed to replace the P-2 Neptune<\/a>, Lockheed Martin\u2019s P-3A first entered the Navy in 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe intend to honor the platform\u2019s final deployment by living the legacy of all those that have gone before us and continuing to fight to the finish,” Cmdr. Patrick O\u2019Reilly, VP-40\u2019s commanding officer, told the Whidbey News-Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t