FM FLTLOGSUPPRON TWO ONE
TO CNO
  CINCPACFLT
  COMNAVAIRPAC
INFO ( See attached list of info addees.)
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UNCLAS  //05750//
DISESTABLISHMENT OF VR-21
A. ECCLESIASTES 1:4; 3:22
B. CNO 222024Z FEB 77

1. ONE GENERATION PASSETH AWAY, AND ANOTHER GENERATION COMETH: BUT THE EARTH ABIDETH FOR EVER.

2. IAW REF B. TODAY, 30 MAR 77, FLEET LOGISTICS SUPPORT SQUADRON TWENTY-ONE IS DISESTABLISHED.

3. WE HAVE SERVED YOU UNDER VARIOUS NAMES FOR THIRTY YEARS, BASED AT NAS BARBERS POINT, HAWAII FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES. PINEAPPLE AIRLINES HAS CARRIED YOUR BOMBS, YOUR CHOW, YOUR MEDEVACS, YOUR EQUIPMENT AND YOU, MORE OR LESS ON SCHEDULE BUT ALWAYS IN ONE PIECE. IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE WEATHER WE TOOK YOU THROUGH, TAKE COMFORT IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE DIDN'T LIKE IT EITHER, BUT THAT, AND WORSE, WAS OUR STEADY DIET. IT NEVER SEEMED FITTING THAT YOU HAD TO GO TO WAR IN OUR " COAL HAULERS ", BUT COMING BACK YOU DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE LONG RIDE, OR THE CROWDED SEATS, OR THE COLD BOX LUNCH, JUST AS LONG AS WE GOT YOU HOME. YOU MEN AND WOMEN OF THE FLEET WERE ALWAYS OUR MOST PRECIOUS CARGO. IT WAS OUR PRIVILEGE TO SERVE YOU.

4. GOOD-BYE AND THANKS TO ALL THE BASES THAT SUPPORTED OUR MISSIONS IN CONUS AND OVERSEAS. THANK YOU TO THE MEN WHO SWEPT SNOW FROM THE RUNWAYS SO WE COULD LAND, TO THE SUPPLY PEOPLE WHO OPENED YOUR SHOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SO WE COULD MAKE REPAIRS, TO THE NAMELESS DUTY OFFICERS AND WATCH STANDERS WHO WOULD NOT SLEEP UNTIL YOU HAD HELPED US WITH OUR PROBLEMS, TO FACELESS VOICES WHO TALKED US DOWN ON NIGHTS WE WOULD LIKE TO FORGET.

5. THANK YOU STARS, FOR BEING THERE WHEN ALL ELSE FAILED A THOUSAND MILES FROM LAND.

6. TO OUR PREDECESSORS IN THIS SQUADRON, WHO ESTABLISHED THE RECORD OF PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY WHICH WE WERE PRIVILEGED TO SUSTAIN, WE GIVE SPECIAL THANKS. YOU PASSED ON YOUR SKILLS AND THE WISDOM OF YOUR EXPERIENCE. BECAUSE YOU TAUGHT US WELL, WE HAVE FINISHED THESE TWENTY YEARS - 358,918.3 FLIGHT HOURS - WITH OUT AN ACCIDENT. THAT RECORD IS OUR LEGACY TO NAVAL AVIATION. IT IS THE LAST WISH OF VR-21 THAT IT'S SAFETY RECORD BE BROKEN BY EVERY SQUADRON IN THE NAVY.

7. WE LEAVE THE FLEET WITH GREAT PRIDE IN OUR ACHIEVEMENTS AND A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLICAL LESSON: WHEREFORE I PERCEIVE THAT THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN THAT A MAN SHOULD REJOICE IN HIS OWN WORKS; FOR THAT IS HIS PORTION; FOR WHO SHALL BRING HIM TO SEE WHAT SHALL BE AFTER HIM?

8. TO ALL OF YOU, FROM THE MEN AND WOMEN OF PINEAPPLE AIRLINES, ALOHA AND FAREWELL.
BT