Golden Dragons ‘Top Hook’ winners in CVW-5

The VFA-192 World Famous Golden Dragons have re-claimed the honor of being the ‘Top Hook’ squadron in Carrier Air Wing FIVE.

This award distinguishes the squadron with the highest landing grades for the most recent line period. The Golden Dragons, aboard Independence, were awarded this honor for performance occurred following a rapid deployment to the Arabian Gulf.

"One key to the success was traced back to the squadron’s pre-deployment field carrier landing practice (FCLP) detachment where the Golden Dragons put in extra training flights," Lt. Cmdr. Mike Vance, VFA-192 Operations Officer said.

Senior Landing Signals Officers, Lt. Scott ‘Steamer’ Raupp and Lt. Terry ‘Hacksaw’ Reynolds created a rigorous training plan for the squadron’s 18 pilots. The extra effort paid off as the Golden Dragons not only were the best squadron collectively, but also placed three pilots in the Top Ten.

Claiming Top Ten honors were Lt. Cmdr. Patrick ‘VOODOO’ Voors, Lt. Cmdr. Mike ‘PIG’ Vance, and CVW-5 individual Top Hook Cmdr. Carlos ‘JUICE’ Ayuso. Also recognized were Lt. Matt ‘POTZO’ Pothier and Lt. Bill ‘Doc’ Shoemaker as Top Five Nuggets.

According to Ayuso, these notable achievements could never have been realized had it not been for the superb quality aircraft and sensational effort provided by the award winning Dragon maintenance team.

"It was truly an ‘all hand’s’ effort," Ayuso said.

The Golden Dragons of VFA-192, the ‘Top Hook’ awardees, continue to prove they can respond at a moment’s notice and operate at the "Tip of the Spear."

Caption: The 18 pilots that make up the World Famous Golden Dragons. They are the CVW-5 ‘Top Hook’ winners.