Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-3 Sea Dragons Squadron Sticker

Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-3 Sea Dragons Squadron Sticker — The Schoolhouse That Built Every Vigilante Crew

Every RA-5C pilot and navigator who ever flew the Vigilante in combat earned their wings through the Sea Dragons first.

Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 3 — the Sea Dragons — was the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for the entire RVAH community, responsible for training every pilot, naval flight officer, and key enlisted maintainer who would fly or support the supersonic RA-5C Vigilante aboard America's aircraft carriers. Originally commissioned as Heavy Attack Squadron Three (VAH-3) on 15 June 1956 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, the squadron initially flew the A3D Skywarrior and deployed to the Mediterranean aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Sixth Fleet in 1957. In May 1958, VAH-3 transitioned to the FRS role, and over the next six years trained hundreds of replacement pilots, bombardier-navigators, and thousands of maintenance personnel — logging nearly 18,000 sorties and expending over 12,000 practice bombs in support of the Navy's carrier-based nuclear strike mission. In December 1963, VAH-3 received its first RA-5C Vigilante and began training crews for the new supersonic reconnaissance mission, earning the RVAH-3 designation on 1 July 1964. From that point forward, the Sea Dragons were the sole source of RA-5C training for both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, providing ground school, simulator events, and flight training in the Vigilante alongside A-6 navigator training and the Integrated Operational Intelligence Center (IOIC) program that prepared intelligence specialists for carrier deployments. In 1965 alone, RVAH-3 trained and graduated crews for five fleet squadrons — RVAH-1, RVAH-6, RVAH-7, RVAH-9, and RVAH-13 — as they transitioned to the RA-5C. When NAS Sanford closed in 1968, the Sea Dragons relocated to NAS Albany, Georgia, and later to NAS Key West, continuing the training mission until the Vigilante's retirement. RVAH-3 was disestablished on 17 August 1979 after more than 23 years of service — the last RVAH squadron to close its doors, having trained every Vigilante crew the Navy ever sent to sea.