to the establishment of Marine Corps Barracks Sanford aboard the air station. On 6 February 1959, NAS Sanford was dedicated as Ramey Field in honor of Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Ramey, USN, who lost his life in 1958 by electing to guide his crippled A3D Skywarrior away from a residential area. By staying with the aircraft, LCDR Ramey not only gave his flight crew time to bail out of the aircraft, but also saved the lives of numerous families in the residential community. In the early 1960s, the A3D aircraft (redesignated as the A-3B in 1962) began to be replaced by the Mach 2+ North American A3J Vigilante (redesignated the A-5A in 1962). But by 1964, the strategic nuclear strike mission for carrier-based aircraft was eliminated and the Navy's strategic nuclear strike mission under the SIOP was transferred to the Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) nuclear submarine force. As a result, all Vigilante squadrons were converted to a carrier-based tactical reconnaissance mission and redesignated as Reconnaissance Attack Squadrons (RVAH). Existing A-5A and A-5B aircraft were modified to the RA-5C Vigilante configuration and the North American production line shifted to producing all subsequent aircraft as RA-5Cs. Heavy Attack Wing ONE was renamed Reconnaissance Attack Wing ONE (RECONATKWING ONE) and its subordinate squadrons as Reconnaissance Attack Squadrons (RVAH). Unlike HATWING ONE, which concentrated on supplying aircraft squadrons to the Atlantic Fleet, RECONATKWING ONE would be the Navy's sole functional wing for the RA-5C and would supply squadrons to both the Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet. NAS Sanford-based squadrons routinely deployed aboard both Atlantic and Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers of the , and Enterprise classes, seeing extensive action during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Numerous RA-5C flight crews and aircraft were also lost to enemy action in the Vietnam War, with several NAS Sanford-based Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers becoming prisoners of war in Vietnam until repatriation in 1973. In addition to RA-5C aircraft, NAS Sanford also continued to operate the TA-3B variant of the Skywarrior, several examples of which were attached to the RA-5C Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), Reconnaissance Attack Squadron THREE (RVAH-3), for training Naval Flight Officers as Reconnaissance Attack Navigators (RAN) in the RA-5C. NAS Sanford also operated the R4D-8/C-117 Skytrain as an operational support aircraft assigned to the air station proper. Transient aircraft from NAS Key West, NAS Jacksonville and NAS Cecil Field, Florida and NAS Glynco,