VMFP-3 80s Flashback

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VMFP-3 Thru The Eyes Of The Corps
By Marc "Devil Dog Of The Web" Iseli / Updated Dec. 2025
VMFP-3: the Marine Corps’ answer to the question nobody asked, what happens if you give a bunch of Gyrenes cameras, infrared gizmos, and a radar that can see through fog, darkness, and probably your skivvies? From 1975 to 1990, we flew around snapping photos, peeking at heat signatures, and generally making sure the Fleet Marine Force had all the embarrassing evidence it needed. If it moved, we caught it on film. If it didn’t, we probably still took a picture just to be sure.

Back in the day, recon was a three-ring SNAFU: VMCJ-1, 2, and 3, each with its own zip code and enough alphabet soup to make a S-3 clerk dizzy. They flew RF-4Bs and EA-6As, which meant half the time you didn’t know if you were taking pictures or jamming Soviet radios. Eventually, the brass got tired of keeping track and mashed it all together: VMAQ-2 got the flying jammers, and VMFP-3 got stuck with all the recce pigs. We’d still get shipped off to Iwakuni to do the same missions, just with fewer people and more paperwork.

If you thought we just lounged around stateside, think again. VMFP-3 kept the 7th Fleet guessing, and the FMF was supplied with glossies of things that went boom. Our RF-4Bs were basically bolted to the deck of the USS Midway from ‘75 to ‘84, racking up sea stories and flight hours nobody believed. We rolled with Carrier Air Wing Five but kept our own tail code because, even at sea, we liked to remind everyone we were the weird cousins at the family reunion. Zap RFs!

By 1990, the powers that be decided it was time to let the computers do the snooping. Enter the F/A-18D Hornet with its fancy new gadgets, and out went the RF-4Bs, sent to the boneyard with a salute and maybe a tear or two. VMFP-3 got the axe, but not before leaving behind a trail of questionable photos, legendary hangovers, and enough sea stories to keep the next generation of Marines rolling their eyes.

Marine Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 3 "VMFP-3"
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California
Ready Room
Special Tribute, Officers Roster, Commanding Officers 1975-1990.
RF-4B Phantom
Everything RF-4B Phantom
VMFP-3 Flight Line
Plane Captains, Flight Line, Hangar, and Hush House.
Carrier Quals
USS Ranger, USS Constellation, USS Dwight D Eisenhower.
Barracks Life
VMFP-3 , Open Squad Bays, and endless field days.
Squadron Patches
Check out these VMFP-3 patches from the 80s.
Squadron Plaques
Plaques from Dets, Ready Room, and Misc.
End Of An Era
1990 VMFP-3 Deactivation

Alright, you glorious Rat Phixers and Phlyers, if we ever survived a TAD, a Det, or a BOHICA, who haven't, and you didn’t think I was the biggest gaff off in the squadron. Got a sea story, or some grainy photos your ex didn’t set on fire, and they’re only slightly illegal? Send ‘em by email, snail mail, or safety wire it to a carrier pigeon. I collect ‘em all, just nothing that would incriminate me.
80svmfp3@gmail.com

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