Cmdr. Andrew Anderson, assigned to the “River Rattlers” of Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 204, taxis the F-5N Tiger II on Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, La., July 13, 2023. VFC-204 is one of four squadrons assigned to the Navy Reserve’s Tactical Support Wing that provide adversary support to the fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Omar N. Rubi)
The ‘River Rattlers’ of Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 204, supported by their Amentum maintenance team, were selected from 23 other fixed and rotary wing aircraft units as the Naval Air Force Reserve Squadron of the Year. The Commander of the Naval Air Force Reserve presented to VFC-204 the Captain David McCampbell Trophy whose namesake was the top Naval Ace of World War II and is considered the service’s all-time leader in aerial combat. His spirit and leadership are what made his air group one of the war’s most decorated and earned him the Medal of Honor. In addition to Squadron of the Year, the River Rattlers were also recognized for the 2023 Battle Efficiency (“E”) Award, the Safety (“S”) Award, and the Golden Wrench.
“The Golden Wrench is awarded for maintenance excellence and is high praise for our Amentum team,” said Program Manager Jeremy Beckham. “The team did first-class work in transitioning ten F-5 aircraft from NAS Fallon to NAS New Orleans replacing VFC-204’s legacy F/A-18C aircraft, including all parts and equipment.”
“To be mission-ready, we hired and trained a workforce with less than 10% having F-5 experience into passing the government Safe-For-Flight evaluation in short order,” said Site Manager Jeff Lundy. “The well-trained team passed the first inspection and immediately hit the deployment schedule.” First the Amentum team went to Fallon, NV to support Top Gun for ten weeks, then to Key West NAS for three weeks, and returned to Fallon to support Top Gun back-to-back for six weeks.
Additionally, the squadron provided on-site New Orleans Adversary Support to deploying squadrons and support to local air shows and multiple events. The maintenance team completed six phases and a major 1,200-hour inspection while supporting VFC-111 phase as well.
The squadron has 100+ Amentum employees who take great pride in doing their part to ensure the fleet readiness. The Navy customer expressed appreciation for Amentum’s ability to meet mission goals with ready aircraft for adversary events that trained fleet pilots for deployment overseas.
