The U.S. Navy’s VRC-30’s Detachment One, the “Hustlers,” just ended a ten month long cruise with the USS Carl Vinson. This was the longest Carrier Onboard Delivery detachment since the Vietnam War. During the historic cruise, with just 45 sailors and two C-2 Greyhounds, the Hustlers racked up some ridiculously awesome statistics:
- 724 combat logistics sorties in direct support of Operation Inherent Resolve
- Transported 7,966 passengers
- Performed 33 life-saving medical evacuations
- Supplied over 1,000,000 pounds of high priority cargo and mail
- 96 percent mission completion rate
- Over a two month period provided support to both the USS Carl Vinson and the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle
- Recipient of Carrier Air Wing 17’s 2015 “Golden Wrench” Award for maintenance excellence
Check out the awesome cruise video VRC-30 “Providers,” the parent squadron of Detachment One, put together to highlight their awesome contribution to the USS Carl Vinson’s historic deployment:
The Hustler’s accomplishments over the last year underlines once again just how critical the C-2 Greyhound and its Carrier Onboard Delivery mission is when it comes to projecting and sustaining U.S. Naval power abroad. This is especially relevant considering the Pentagon’s pivot toward the vast Pacific and heightening regional tensions over maritime claims in the region.
Controversially, the C-2 will be replaced by the HV-22 Osprey in the not so distant future. Although there are some benefits to using the tilt-rotor for this mission, such as the ability to provide point-to-point resupply of other ships in the Carrier Strike Group, it also has massive drawbacks, some of which could present strategic vulnerabilities to American flotillas.
Regardless of the changes to come, here’s to you, the hard working men and women of Detachment One and VRC-30, who do so much with comparatively little.
And just remember folks, that at any given time, there is at least one VRC-30 detachment out there somewhere around the world, supplying our water-borne armadas with the most essential people and material they need. It is a mission that truly never ends.
Contact the author at Tyler@jalopnik.com.