Fighting Tigers Return Home

US Navy personnel from Patrol Squadron 8 (VP-8) returned to NAS Jacksonville, Florida, after a seven month multisite deployment in early July 2014. The final VP-8 crew arrived home on 8 July, completing the squadron's last flight in a P-3C Orion before transitioning to the P-8A Poseidon. Throughout the deployment, VP-8 personnel achieved an exceptional ninety-six percent mission completion rate while flying almost 800 sorties encompassing more than 5,100 mishap-free flight hours. VP-8, known as the Fighting Tigers, operated from both Manama, Bahrain, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and from Comalapa, El Salvador, conducting counter-transnational organized crime missions. VP-8, known as the Fighting Tigers, was the first squadron to transition to the P-3A in July 1962