15-3369 —

This is another photo that I found while looking thru my old pictures, and I have no doubt that that everyone will understand why I definitely want it in my FA folder. I snapped this pic of 153369, a Boeing Vertol CH-46E Sea Knight, also referred to as a "Phrog," on Armed Forces Day in 2014. On the day I took this pic, I had no way of knowing that this Phrog would be the last one to be retired from military service and I certainly did not know that today it would be on display in the Smithsonian Institute in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The fresh coat of green paint it now wears in the Smithsonian makes it look completely different from the way it looked when I snapped it here in 2014 as it departed KRNO, but despite how it looks in this click, I am very, very pleased to have been able to get this shot of the last "active duty" Sea Knight and have it in my FA folder.

To read more about 153369's "retirement" and placement into the Smithsonian Institute, click on the links below ...

https://news.usni.org/2015/04/10/marines-bid-phrog-farewell-to-last-active-ch-46e-sea-knight-squadron

https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/marine-legend-arrives-national-air-and-space-museum-180956670/