Signal Charlie

CAPT Dick Catone, USN (Ret.) following a memorial service for a fellow helicopter pilot, is credited with the following statement, “I guess we are all in the starboard delta waiting for Signal Charlie.” Starboard Delta is the holding pattern for the airborne Search and Rescue helicopters on the starboard (right) side of the aircraft carrier. They fly at a low altitude so as not to interfere with the fixed-wing aircraft recovery pattern, and only land when the last fixed-wing aircraft is safe on board. When tower calls the helicopter to pass “Charlie” to a landing spot, the crew knows the fixed-wing recovery is complete, all is well, and it is time to come back. Hence, the statement appears appropriate that someday we will receive our own “Signal Charlie” and will be called home for a final landing.

Signal Charlie has been created to inform our membership and honor the passing of fellow unrestricted aviators. It is only as good as the information we receive.  If you have an obituary or other information that you would like to provide concerning the passing of a shipmate, co-worker, or friend of the community, please contact the NHA National Office at membership@navalhelicopterassn.org and we will get the word out.

CAPT Robert Eugene Jones, USN (Ret.)

Bob Jones was born April 6, 1939 in Salem, Kentucky. Moving to Indiana, he graduated from Evansville Central High School in 1957. During the summers of his high school years, he traveled the state of Indiana as a door-to-door salesman and traveled the entire country as a daredevil driver with The Tommy and Larry Holden Daredevil Revue. Bob joined the U.S. Navy in 1957. Qualifying for an NROTC scholarship from the Fleet, he was released to the inactive reserves in 1958 and sent to Ohio State University where he graduated in 1962, and married his childhood sweetheart, Barbara Ann Harris. After graduation, he was commissioned as an Ensign. Then after flight training in Pensacola, he was designated a Naval Aviator and helicopter pilot in 1964. During his 26 years in the Navy, Bob and Barb lived on both coasts, and in Atsugi, Japan. Bob also spent a year in Iran, as Commander of a Technical Assistance Field Team, training Iranians to maintain and fly Sikorsky H-3 helicopters.

During Vietnam, he served as Officer-in Charge of the "Big Mothers," flying Combat Search and Rescue in the Tonkin Gulf. He commanded the first fully integrated operational Helicopter Mine Countermeasures squadron (HM-14) flying RH-53Ds and eventually served as Commanding Officer, NAS Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. He retired in 1987, having flown six different types of helicopters across the entire spectrum of naval rotary-wing aviation. After retirement, Bob went to work for UNC Aviation Services, a small defense contracting company specializing in aviation maintenance and training, primarily for the services’ air training commands. As the company grew, to more than 4,000 employees, Bob was promoted to Vice President of Operations and oversaw programs ranging from Del Rio, Texas to Lakehurst, NJ, including maintenance of all jet and helicopter training aircraft in the Naval Air Training Command. Upon his second retirement in 1999, Bob immediately qualified as a tour guide at the National Museum of Naval Aviation where he led guided tours for more than 20 years. He also volunteered as an adult reading tutor with Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, served as a Guardian ad Litem and was a tour guide for the Pensacola Historical Society’s annual Halloween fund-raiser. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola and devoted many volunteer hours in support of our local community. He loved fishing the local waters and was a member of the Hawg Hunters Bass Club and the Speckled Trout Club. After the death of his beloved wife, Barbara, after 56 years of marriage, Bob met and married the second love of his life, Barbara Rushing. They enjoyed their life together, living between Azalea Trace in Pensacola in winter and the mountains of North Carolina in the summers.

Bob was predeceased by his wife, Barbara Harris Jones, his daughters, Leta Sue Witcher and Angela Marie Jones, and his son, Mitchell Robert Jones. He is survived by his grandson, Eric Mitchell Jones, granddaughter, Nicole Gene Witcher, great granddaughter, Arabella Marie Turner, and his wife, Barbara Rushing Jones.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola, 33 E Gregory St, Pensacola, Florida, 32502. A graveside service was held on November 22, 2024 at Bayview Memorial Park.

Fair Winds and Following Seas CAPT Jones!