VP-68 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy Reserve. The squadron was established on 1 November 1970 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Its home port moved to Naval Air Facility Washington in 1985. The squadron was disestablished on 16 January 1997, after 26 years of service. Its nickname was the Blackhawks from 1972 onward. Elements of the squadron made 28 major overseas deployments.
VP-68 patch
VP-68 P-3A at NAS Patuxent River, May 1972
VP-68 P-3 over Washington D.C.
Naval Air Station Patuxent River
Naval Air Station Patuxent River, also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River.
A US Navy P-8A Poseidon flies with a P-3C Orion, prior to landing at NAS Patuxent River, 2010.
Aerial view of NAS Patuxent River in the mid-1940s
An aerial view of the hangars in the late 1940s
A Vought XF7U-1 Cutlass prototype being photographed by the press on 18 November 1948 at NAS Patuxent River