VAW-78

VAW-78, nicknamed the Fighting Escargots or Slugs was a reserve Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron of the U.S. Navy. It was established on 1 July 1970 as part of a major reorganization of the Naval Air Reserve, and disestablished on 31 March 2005. Initially equipped with E-1B Tracer radar warning aircraft, it was modernized in 1977 with the acquisition of the E-2B Hawkeye, and in 1983 was further upgraded to the E-2C version.

VAW-78 operated on board aircraft carriers on five extended periods for active duty training of its Navy Reserve personnel. The squadron participated in many exercises, including the UNITAS exercises with Latin American navies. The squadron also coordinated missile shoots and provided search and rescue support for space shuttle launches. Its most important contribution was with the tracking and interdiction of drug running aircraft and vessels in the Caribbean area from the 1990s onward. In 1999, after Hurricane Floyd struck the U.S. East Coast, the squadron provided air control for federal, state, and local aircraft bringing relief to 20,000 flooded residents. Before being deactivated, VAW-78 transferred some of its aircraft to VAW-77 to replace older E-2Cs in that squadron.