Command History

Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FOUR ZERO (VRC-40), commissioned on 1 July 1960, is tasked with providing Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) services to the Navy's SECOND, FIFTH, and SIXTH Fleets. VRC-40, homeported at Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia, operates the C-2A "Greyhound" and reports to Commander, Airborne Early Warning Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
                                                          
Maintaining and flying the squadron's 14 aircraft are nearly 400 enlisted personnel and 42 officers. Unlike most squadrons, VRC-40 does not deploy as a unit. Instead, it prepares five separate sea-going detachments with a two-plane compliment while maintaining a shore "Homeguard" to support local operational commitments. Based at remote forward logistics sites, the deployed detachments support multiple Carrier Strike Groups that operate in the SECOND, FIFTH, and SIXTH Fleets by providing logistics to aircraft carriers up to 1,000 miles away. VRC-40 supports the fleet from ships and bases as far north as Norway, down the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast, throughout the Caribbean, in Central and South America, and all over the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theaters. Recently, VRC-40 played a vital role iin support of combat missions during Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM and was selected as the Commander Naval Air Force Battle "E" winner for the 2004 and 2009 calendar years.  VRC-40 also provided humanitarian relief to Haiti during Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE, hauling 809 passengers and 541 tons of food, water, and medical supplies while logging 372 flight hours over three weeks.
 
After flying the C-1A "Trader" aircraft for over 26 years, VRC-40 completed a transition to the C-2A in 1986, marking the end of the reciprocating engine era in Naval Aviation history. VRC-40's continuing mission is the efficient transportation of passengers, mail, and cargo to and from carriers at sea.
 
While speed and efficiency are requisite to completion of the squadron's mission, safety is of paramount importance. Among VRC-40's many achievements and accomplishments, the "RAWHIDES" recently reached one of the highest honors in Aviation Safety by successfully completing 20 years of class "A" mishap free flying.
 
Every year, VRC-40 carriers over three million pounds of mail and cargo and effects over 1,000 arrested landings. Astronauts Alan Shepard and Scott Carpenter, sports icons including Tiger Woods, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., numerous Congressional and Cabinet members, business leaders, and entertainers such as Bruce Willis, Charlie Daniels, Jimmy Buffett, and Robin Williams have all flown with the "RAWHIDES".