DATE: Thursday, October 16, 1997            TAG: 9710150674

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  101 lines

FROM SEALS TO SEALS, SQUANDRON CARRIES IT ALL

Some are airline pilots. Others are accountants, secretaries, students, flight attendants, chefs, chiropractors and business owners.

What brings them together is the Naval Reserve, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 56, the Globemasters, based at Norfolk Naval Air Station.

From the headquarters in hangar LP-33, they fly four McDonnell Douglas C-9B ``Skytrain II'' aircraft all over the world. Each plane can carry 90 passengers or 27,000 pounds of cargo, or a mix of both.

The squadron has transported everything from endangered species to combat stores. It was the first squadron to land in Beirut after the 1983 terrorist attack on the U.S. Marine barracks. That same year, it landed the first fixed-wing aircraft in Granada during Operation Urgent Fury.

Recently, the squadron has flown missions into Croatia, Somalia and Bosnia.

The Navy has 14 logistics squadrons, all reporting to the commander of the Fleet Logistics Support Wing, based in Dallas. VR-56 is one of seven that fly the C-9B.

The squadron has approximately 45 officers, 35 of whom are reservists. The remainder are TARs: reserve officers on extended active duty to provide training and administration to reservists.

Approximately 200 personnel are enlisted; about 100 of them are reservists and the balance are TARs.

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Gillcrist, the squadron's administrative officer, is a TAR who started out flying the Navy's A-6 Intruder, a combat aircraft. He then served an exchange tour with the German Navy, flying Tornadoes - combat aircraft built by a European consortium - before reporting to VR-56 nine months ago.

``We have a wide range of communities, probably 90 percent of naval aviation, represented here,'' Gillcrist said. ``We have F-14 drivers, A-6 drivers and others who have flown C-2s, E-2s, P-3s, S-3s, H-2s and H-3s. We have a former Marine helicopter pilot.''

Now, most of the pilots fly for commercial airlines. The commanding officer, Cmdr. Keith Taurman, is a DC-9 captain for Northwest Airlines. The executive officer, Cmdr. Terry Fitzpatrick, is a first officer with United Airlines. Lt. Cmdr. Jim Qualls, the public affairs officer, is a second officer on United Airlines Boeing 727s.

``Most enlisted personnel live here in town,'' Gillcrist said. ``There are guys who run their own business, have auto shops, work at the post office, teachers, police officers and moms.''

On a typical day, Qualls, Lt. Cmdr. Peter Gonya, Chief Petty Officer John Macioce, Petty Officer 1st Class Larry Voss and Seaman Allen Weddle prepare one of the C-9Bs for a trip to Gulfport, Miss. Leaving at noon, with flying time estimated at two hours, they expect to return by 5 p.m.

Qualls is the co-pilot for this run. Gonya, the pilot, will sit in the left, or command, seat. Macioce is the crew chief; Voss, the loadmaster; Weddle, the flight attendant.

Also on board are two trainees: Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Burnside and Petty Officer 2nd Class Elaine Daniel.

At about 11:30 a.m., the crew taxis the aircraft from the squadron's hangar to the terminal on the other side of the air station. The plane's name, City of Virginia Beach, is visible on its nose.

It's the newest plane in the squadron. The others are named City of Norfolk, City of Pensacola and City of Charleston.

Three pallets of cargo are loaded, and Weddle leads a full complement of passengers to the after-boarding ramp.

``She's pretty well loaded today,'' Gillcrist said.

Shortly after noon, the City of Virginia Beach roars down the runway. Flights to Gulfport are generally to support the Seabees, the Navy's construction battalions, which have a large base there.

The passengers are active-duty military and Department of Defense personnel. No military dependents are given rides in the continental United States. Overseas, however, spouses may travel on a space-available basis with their active-duty husbands and wives.

``Those on emergency leave get priority,'' said Cmdr. John Smith, a reserve pilot with the squadron who is also a first officer with Trans World Airlines. ``We carry a lot of passengers on humanitarian missions.

``We're also heavily involved with CAG - carrier air group - movements,'' Smith said. ``Some carriers are based in Florida and on the West Coast, and some of the squadrons are based here at Oceana. We fly their personnel to where the carriers are and back.''

VR-56 also carries everything from seals to SEALs. The squadron also carries all of the SEALs' hardware, combat items that no commercial airline would touch.

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Vaughn recalls carrying the non-human variety of seals while serving with another reserve logistics squadron. The animals had been trained by the Navy to perform certain underwater missions. Recently, VR-56 was scheduled to transport some seals, but the mission was canceled.

VR-56 once carried a manatee, native to the waters around Florida, which had ended up in the colder waters off Virginia. The animal was rescued and airlifted south.

One of the squadron's routine operations involves one of the Navy's biggest morale boosters: carrying the mail.

``You always have to have the underpinnings, the supply and logistics side,'' Vaughn said. ``The niche we fill - short-notice tasking in support of the Navy - wouldn't be as cost-effective to contract out.

``We get several benefits from our reserve personnel,'' he added. ``Most of our pilots have primary careers with the airlines. Using them here allows us to . . . keep their skills in the Navy.'' ILLUSTRATION: DAWSON MILLS photos

C-9B...

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Gillcrist and Lt. Greg Weekley...

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