Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-5 Savage Sons Squadron Sticker

Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-5 Savage Sons Squadron Sticker — The First Vigilante Squadron Into Combat

Before any other RVAH squadron saw the elephant, the Savage Sons were already flying reconnaissance over Vietnam.

Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 5 — the Savage Sons — traces its origins to 9 September 1948, when Composite Squadron Five (VC-5) was established at NAS Moffett Field, California, initially flying the P2V-3C Neptune on carrier-based nuclear strike missions during the earliest days of the Cold War. The squadron soon transitioned to the AJ-1 Savage and relocated to NAS Jacksonville before settling at NAS Sanford, Florida, where it earned the legendary nickname "The Savage Sons of Sanford." Redesignated Heavy Attack Squadron Five (VAH-5) in 1955, the squadron flew the massive A3D Skywarrior for nearly a decade, twice earning the Atlantic Fleet Battle "E" for excellence. In 1963, VAH-5 began transitioning to the supersonic RA-5C Vigilante, and in May 1964, the squadron was redesignated RVAH-5 — becoming the first operational squadron to deploy with the RA-5C when it headed to WESTPAC aboard USS Ranger in August 1964 for early combat operations in Vietnam. The Savage Sons went on to complete five Western Pacific and Vietnam combat deployments and two Mediterranean deployments, flying dangerous high-speed reconnaissance missions from the decks of USS Ranger, USS America, USS Constellation, and USS Enterprise. The cost was steep — on 25 November 1968, an RA-5C was shot down over North Vietnam, and the pilot, CDR Ernest Stamm, was captured and died as a prisoner of war in January 1969. The squadron also lost its commanding officer and navigator in the Gulf of Tonkin in October 1971 during its third consecutive combat cruise aboard USS Enterprise. In 1974, RVAH-5 earned the Atlantic Fleet Battle "E" once more and made history by operating in the Persian Gulf aboard USS Constellation — the first U.S. carrier and air wing to visit the Gulf in 25 years. After nearly three decades of distinguished service across three aircraft types and two wars, RVAH-5 was disestablished at NAS Key West on 30 September 1977.