NORFOLK, Va. – It happens every day at Naval Station Norfolk – helicopters take off, but Wednesday’s flight isn’t just routine.
It was the final flight for the elite team of sailors with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 (HSC-22), known as the “Sea Knights.”
“It’s a pretty sad day for the squadron,” said Matthew Estep, the leading chief petty officer with HSC-22.
Commander Aaron Berger has been the Commanding Officer leading the combat squadron for the past two years.
“It was amazing,” Berger said. “It was an honor.”
He said this was the team everyone wanted to be on.
“Everyone has a smile on their face,” said Berger. “When I walk in and I see everyone has a smile, everyone’s happy, and everyone enjoys what they’re doing and they see pure happiness in executing their mission, that’s the best thing.”
The flight started like any other in their 16-year history – with a meeting to go over the flight plan.
After the briefing, crews check the helicopter on the flight deck to make sure everything is working as it should be. Then it’s time for take-off for the last flight, but not before sailors gear up.
The Sea Knights squadron is shutting down June 30 as part of a reorganization in the Navy.
“HSC-22’s been around since 2006,” Berger said. “[It’s] been involved in every conflict all over the world, from peace-keeping missions to humanitarian aid, disaster relief missions to theater security cooperation missions. We’ve left an impact.”
After two hours in the air, there was a full circle moment for the unit. HSC-22 flew to the spot it first went when the squadron started in 2006 – to the Wright brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk, NC.
“We took the last flight, and we flew down to first flight,” Berger said. “We got a picture with the monument.”
At the end of June, sailors with the unit will get new orders with a different squadron or they’ll retire.
“Everyone here truthfully is a team,” Matthew Estep said. “It’s sad to see the squadron shut down but we are sending ourselves off with a true legacy of teamwork and successful operations.”
