Pensacola, Florida 2018

For some of our members, this was their first reunion.  For others it was not.  For me and my wife, Becky, it was our sixth.  I only mention this because, before this past week, I would have told you that, for me and Becky, the 2006 VP-45 Association reunion in San Antonio, our first, was the best.  That is no longer so.  This year’s fifteenth squadron reunion in Pensacola was very special.  I’m not sure I can put words to why it was…just was.  Perhaps it was because it was in Pensacola – the Cradle of Naval Aviation; or because we tied the 2014 Jacksonville reunion for being the largest ever since the very first reunion in 1990.  231 attended!

This year, from 24 – 28 October, reunion headquarters was the beautiful and historic Pensacola Grand Hotel.

I’m going to make this reunion summary shorter than usual to make sure you don’t lose interest halfway through and stop reading.  Our reunion event format was similar to those past except that our VP and Reunion Coordinator, Joe Bretton, did a lot of the work himself instead of having a reunion planning outfit coordinate everything.  Saved us money and cost our members less to attend.  Bravo Joe!

Leading up to the gala affair (banquet) on Saturday, we had the “meet and greet” on Thursday evening followed by normal group tours on Friday and Saturday.  As expected, the most popular “tour” was Friday’s trip to the Naval Aviation Museum, National Flight Academy and a P-8 Poseidon which had been brought to Pensacola by VP-45.

The second favorite pre-banquet event was (supposed to have been) the four VP-45 “Era videos” (PBM/P-5/1970s/1980s) that I had put together for showing on Friday night.  Despite my best efforts, I could not get the sound to work.  I was embarrassed and (as noted by Becky and a few friends) noticeably upset.  Doug Mitchell, our Association President, saying “the show must go on,” directed me to go silent if need be.  He also suggested I consider what wording I should use in my resignation letter.

Among other items discussed at the next morning's Saturday Business Meeting, Doug, Jack Keane (secretary) and I (WebMaster) agreed to stay on for another two year tour; and Spence Cunningham “fleeted up” from Treasurer to VP and Reunion Coordinator.  Though hotly contested, Joe Oglesby was elected to take over the Treasurer position.  Regretably, we said goodbye to Joe Bretton (Vice President).  Holy Moly! What a great job Joe did with this reunion.  Thank you so much, shipmate for all your work these past four years!!!!

Those of you who attended were each presented with a 2018 Reunion Coin (pictured right). I used a Blue Angel theme for the design this year and sent that to Jack Keane who worked with the challenge coin company to produce a very handsome coin to commerate this 15th Reunion.

The Pensacola Grand Hotel deserves a special mention here.  Along with all their "in the background" work, it is difficult to serve over 200 meals in a short period of time.  They did that somehow and my very tasty “Sunshine Chicken” dinner was perfect! If you did not also dine at the in-hotel restaurant, you missed what a group of us considered the best meal we had during the reunion.

Following dinner, Doug introduced Commander Mark Zematis, the current VP-45 CO who introduced the guest speaker, Rear Admiral Pete Garvin, Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Group.  His title means that he is in charge of all the Navy’s VP squadrons and other special mission manned and unmanned reconnaissance squadrons and units.  Included in his remarks was an operational update concerning what is going on in today’s maritime patrol force.

After his remarks, on behalf of the Association, I presented RDML Garvin a framed “career certificate” that documented his (so far) 29 years of service to his country.  That was followed by a formal farewell to Joe Bretton and a number of door prizes that included two handmade scale models: a P-3C and a P-8A.  The formal festivities ended with group pictures of each VP-45 eras in attendance: 40s/50s, the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90’s.  Of course, we also got our visiting VP-45 active duty group (squadron CO/XO/CMC, Flight Crew and Color Guard) together for a picture.

After a farewell breakfast Sunday morning, most of us headed for our cars or the airport, sad that this reunion was so quickly over.  For me, it went by way too fast.  Becky and I had made a "road trip" of our travel this time – from and back to Central Texas.  As the Interstate 10 mile markers slipped by, Becky and I talked about how we had really enjoyed this reunion, how fun it was to see “new” (but once very familiar) faces and how remarkably easy it is to pick up with old friends where we left off two years ago.

Note: To see a picture album of this reunion, scroll up and click "Photographs" in the menu bar near the top right of this page.

Bill Hobgood (WebMaster)