Celebrating Birthdays on The Liberty Coast

By Stephanie Thompson

Here at Liberty Life, we share an ongoing series about the many military and Veteran organizations that make up The Liberty Coast. The organizations we highlight may be military bases, units, or commands, or they may be Veteran-serving or Veteran-owned businesses. The common denominator is their physical location on The Liberty Coast, each playing a role in defining the culture of this pro-military and Veteran-friendly community. For previous snapshots, visit LibertyLifeMedia.com/Archives.

This month, we highlight three commands on The Liberty Coast, each of which was established in January, and learn what they’ve been doing recently.

VP-5 Mad Foxes celebrates 84 years: Established January 2, 1937

On November 30, 2020, two mariners were saved when Patrol Squadron (VP) 5 joined the search for their missing vessel. While deployed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, a P-8A Poseidon aircraft from VP-5 located the fishing vessel that had been missing for three days near the island of Saipan. VP-5 stayed on station until a U.S. Coast Guard vessel and merchant vessel arrived to rescue the passengers. The “Mad Foxes” played a critical role in the search and rescue efforts; without them, the mariners might never have been found.

USS Shamal (PC 13) celebrates 25 years (Well, almost…) Established January 27, 1996

The Patrol Craft (PC) is responsible for coastal patrol and surveillance. On its most recent patrol, from July to September 2020, USS Shamal was involved in drug interdiction, its Sailors seizing more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana and detaining seven suspected narco traffickers. USS Shamal will be decommissioned in January, just shy of its 25th anniversary. The decommissioning ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 13. For more details, visit Facebook.com/USSShamal.

USS Wichita (LCS 13) celebrates two years: Established January 12, 2019

USS Wichita is the third Navy ship to bear that name. The first served in World War II, and the second served in Vietnam.

Today’s USS Wichita is still nearly brand new and not yet tried in the way of its predecessors. Most recently, however, it experienced some excitement. On November 4, 2020, Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. FOURTH Fleet, and Brig. Gen. Phillip Frietze, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South, signed the Joint Force Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC) Maritime Campaign Support Plan (MCSP) during a ceremony aboard the young ship. The MCSP is all about strengthening partnerships in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility during the next four years, and establishing what role both Sailors and Marines will play in that endeavor.

If you know or are part of an organization on The Liberty Coast that others should know about, let us know! We want to share your story and introduce you to the community. Visit LibertyLifeMedia.Com/Submissions or email Editor@LibertyLifeMedia.Com to learn more.