My first deployment from Naval Security Group Activity, Athens, Greece to fly with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron II (VQ-2) came June 14, 1985. We provided coverage of the TWA 847 highjacking which departed Athens and finally ended up in Beirut, Lebanon. The aircraft with its passengers and crew endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal during which one passenger, a U.S. Navy diver that had been stationed at Nea Makri, a base 20 miles from Athens, was murdered. Dozens of passengers were then held hostage over the next two weeks, until released by their captors. That deployment lasted four months for me after which I returned to Athens flying aboard EP-3P Orion aircraft with VQ-2.

My second deployment was a very sad one only because I volunteered to go back to the Nimitz at the request of my Commanding Officer after the crash of VQ-2 Ranger 12 Jan. 25, 1987, in which seven Crew Members of NSGA Athens and VQ-2 perished, including my good friend and mentor Rick Herzing. I flew with all of these individuals in the past and it was very difficult and frightening waiting for my first Catapult Launch especially after having viewed the flight deck video of the crash. Flying off the carrier was more exciting than any roller coaster you can imagine but probably the most dangerous job in the world and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was shaking in my flight boots on that first launch. Thank God VQ-2 had brought their best Pilot aboard to take us off and return safely to Nimitz. We remember our Fallen Shipmates every Year on the Anniversary of the crash and I make it a point to call Rick Herzing’s parents to express my condolences.

John J. Elko
CSC Security Specialist/Certifier
Global Security Solutions
Global Network Security
Annapolis Junction, Maryland