The Association of Old Crows (AOC) held an awards presentation to commemorate the opening of their newest chapter on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island at the Chiefs Club, April 25.

This is only the fourth military roost established by the AOC, the second of which to be at NAS Whidbey.

The AOC supports the electronic warfare and information operations communities with 13,500 members in 47 countries. This roost will support the Fleet Air Reconnaissance (VQ) Squadrons at NAS Whidbey Island and their EP-3E Aries II aircraft.

“It’s a big deal to have this electronic warfare center of excellence here with two roosts at NAS Whidbey Island,” said Capt. Gerral David, NAS Whidbey Island commanding officer. “I’m proud of you for establishing this roost and letting me be a part of it. You’re out there saving lives everyday, you can’t ask for a better mission than that. I’m really proud of all of you and we get to recognize four of you as representatives today.”

The awards were presented by retired Lt. Col. Joe Johnson, AOC North Pacific Regional Director to Lt. Kevin Kuczynski of VQ-2, Lt. William Norgaard of

Navy Information Operations Command Whidbey Island; Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class (AW/NAC) Glenn Hunter of VQ-1; and Cryptologic Technician 2nd Class (AW/NAC) Stephanie Henning of VQ-2.

“It’s truly an honor to be recognized, but I didn’t do it solo,” said Norgaard. “I really thank my crew who supported me the whole way. It’s great that we have a charter up here lined up with the VQ squadrons for the recognition of their operations in support of the global war on terrorism.”

Due to the nature of its mission, most people aren’t very well informed on the contributions being made by the VQ community. The AOC roost intends to try to change that and educate people on what they do.

“This basically represents a group of people affiliated with electronic warfare coming together to talk about ideas and push our mission,” said Lt. Brian O’Donnell, VQ/EP-3E AOC Chapter president. “It gives us a forum to share ideas, talk, and network. It’s like a fraternity of people coming together based around our type of work. With VQ-2 moving here three years ago and having both EP-3 squadrons here, it made sense to form our own chapter and get our story out there because not a lot of people know what EP-3 does and what we represent.”