Treasurer

joe then now

AOC Michael Riley, USN (Ret)

Chief Riley enlisted in the Navy in July of 1981 and reported to Navy Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, IL for recruit training. Upon successful graduation from boot camp, he transferred to Millington, TN to attend Aviation Ordnance “A” School. What followed was over 20 years of exciting service, a good deal of them in Patrol Squadron FORTY-FIVE.
wings
During those many years of service, he was assigned to, or passed through, many Naval Bases and Air Stations. While enroute to VP-45, he attended DWEST survival training and then reported to VP-30 at NAS JAX in January 1982 for ordnance training in the P-3C aircraft. In July 1982, he transferred to VP-45 and completed six deployments with them. However, his first deployment was the most memorable—it was Sigonella, Sicily!

Highlights of Chief Petty Officer’s event-filled career include:

•         In a P-3 that was Intercepted by a MIG 27 “Flogger” off the coast of Libya
•         Viewed Icebergs the size of mountains in the North Atlantic
•         Observed, inflight over Greenland, the B29 that crashed in 1953
•         Flying through the Fjords of Norway
•         Training Dutch and Pakistani Navy personnel in the P-3 ordnance systems
•         Watching Mt. Etna erupting from the balcony of the barracks in Sigonella

During his years on active duty, he served from the Arctic to South America to Turkey and many points in between. Most of his time was serving in patrol squadrons where he accumulated over 4000 flight hours in P-3C Orion. In all his travels with the US Navy, his most treasured memories are of his personal accomplishments, the people he met and the friends he made.

Mike was appointed Treasurer for the VP-45 Association in January of 2021.