Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 75 are slated to return home to Naval Air Station North Island on Dec. 11 after an extended deployment.
Tragically, two members of HSC-6 were killed in September when their MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter crashed in the Red Sea during that deployment. Killed were Lt. Cmdr. Landon L. Jones, 35, of Lompoc, Calif., and Chief Warrant Officer Jonathon S. Gibson, 32, of Aurora, Ore.
As Home Post reported after the tragedy, Gibson earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma, and joined the Navy in 1999. He left behind a wife and two young children.
Jones grew up in Lompoc, a town about 50 miles north of Santa Barbara. He was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Jones is survived by his wife and two young sons.
According to a NAS North Island news release:
The squadrons’ arrival to NASNI will mark HSC-6’s first deployment since transitioning from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 6 in 2011 and HSM-75’s first deployment as a carrier-based squadron.
HSC-6 was embarked aboard USNS Rainier and USS Nimitz, while HSM-75 personnel and MH-60R Seahawk helicopters were embarked aboard USS Shoup, USS Stockdale, USS William P. Lawrence, USS Princeton and USS Nimitz.
