WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy is scrapping an anti-submarine squadron that operated out of Maine.
"The VP-92 Minutemen will stop flying its six P-3 Orions in late summer and stage a decommissioning ceremony in November," the Navy Times reported Friday.
The squadron operated out of the Naval Air Station at Brunswick, Maine, and began its operations in 1970, the newspaper said.
Shutting down the squadron will reduce the U.S. Navy reserve to only two remaining patrol squadrons for the entire United States: VP-62 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., and VP-69 at NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., the Navy Times said
Almost all of VP-92's 198 personnel will remain active but be sent to serve in other units with their aircraft, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Gaynor, a flight officer for the squadron told the newspaper.
The base was closed as part of the operations of the U.S. Department of Defense's Base Closure and Realignment Committee, or BRAC, the report said.
There had been several previous initiatives to close the base down over the past decade, but its fate was sealed when BRAC targeted it in 2005, the report said.
"The one-time cost of closing the base will be $147.2 million, but the Navy will realize savings of $34.9 million every year thereafter, according to a statement released by the BRAC program management officer," the Navy Times said.
