About

What is the “West Coast” Reunion?
We are a reunion of VP officers held on the West Coast, and are not associated with the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force Professional Symposium (VP Reunion) hosted by CNO (N782C1) annually in April in Washington, DC. Nor are we officially associated with the U.S. Navy.

Since when and why?
In 1993, a group of retired officers and spouses in San Diego decided to try to organize a West Coast reunion, and activated their network of VP friends and contacts. Though most of those who attended the first reunions had served at Moffett Field or Barbers Point at some time in their careers, we are definitely not restricted to those who served or are currently living on the West Coast. We are not a formal organization, but an informal network of active and retired VP officers who live in the San Diego, Santa Clara Valley, SF Bay, and Monterey Bay areas.

Why only “VP Officers” and not “all hands”?
We are a community reunion, not a unit reunion, and do not want to compete with or repeat squadron all-hands reunions.

How often and where are the reunions held?
The first reunion was held in San Diego in 1993, at the Mexican Village in Coronado. Another reunion was held the following year, again in San Diego, this time at the Holiday Inn on the Bay. Reunions III and IV took place in 1996 and 2000, at the Hyatt in Monterey. Reunion V returned to San Diego in 2002, at the Marriott, and Reunion VI was held at the Red Lion Hanalei (now Crowne Plaza) in San Diego in 2005. Reunion VII returned to the Bay Area and was held at the Santa Clara Marriott. We now try to organize them every 2-3 years, in alternating or alternate venues. Our reunions normally take place in late October/early November, when the weather is finest on the West Coast and calendars are light. We’re open to suggestions for other locations, as long as it’s on the West Coast, and volunteers are available at the location to organize.

How do I get invited?
We openly invite all active duty, reserve, and retired Navy Maritime Patrol (VP) officers of any type VP aircraft (including allies), and their spouses to attend our reunions. If your address or email is in our contact list database, we have tried to contact you, formerly by postcard or telephone, but more recently by email alone. If you haven’t been contacted recently or at all, we encourage you to register, so you can receive notices of reunion planning activities and keep track of your shipmates.

What is the Contact List Database?
It’s the database of VP officer contacts first assembled in 1993 through personal networking. It has since been updated by reunion attendees, and is now maintained by individual subscribers via this web site. There are currently close to 1000 names in the list, over half of whom are non-subscribers (and may be unaware of this site). If you register, you help us keep your information current.

Why should I register?
Registration enables us to notify you about the next reunion. It doesn’t commit you to attend, but does make it easier for you to reserve attendance if you choose to attend, as well as find out who else may be attending. We do email occasional notices to those in our database (replacing the hundreds of post cards we mailed in the past), but do not send spam or provide contact data to anyone else. Only your name and squadron history will be visible to other members. (See our Privacy Policy.) You can unsubscribe at any time. To ensure you receive notices, and your mail service employs a strong spam filter, make sure vpreunion.com is on your list of “safe” or “allowed” domains.

Who is attending the next reunion?
The R.S.V.P. (and regrets) list may be viewed in the database. However, you need to be be registered and logged in to see it.

I have contact with someone on the “lost contact” list, or I know VP shipmates who aren’t on any list.
By all means, please pass along the contact information, or contact your “lost” or missing shipmate yourself and direct him or her to this site.

Also, please notify us if you see the name of a contact who you know is deceased.