VX-6

Air Development Squadron Six
A Lockheed C-121J Constellation of squadron VX-6 in flight near Christchurch on 27 November 1965. This aircraft, named "Pegasus", crashed at Williams Field, McMurdo Station on 8 October 1970. Pegasus Field is named after this aircraft.
Active	17 January 1955–31 March 1999
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Test & Evaluation
Role	logistical support
Part of	Naval Air Systems Command
Garrison/HQ	Naval Air Station Quonset Point
Nickname(s)	"puckered penguins"
Colors	Tail code XD (1955–1957) Tail code JD (1957–1969)
Commanders
Commanding officers	CDR Edward M. Ward, 1955–57[1] CDR Vernon J. Coley, 1957–58[2] CAPT William H. Munson, 1959–61[3] CDR George R. Kelly, 1964[4] CDR F.S. Gallup Jr, 1965[5] CDR Marion Morris, 1966[6] CDR Daniel Balish, 1967[7] CDR Arthur F. Schneider, 1968[8]
Officer in Charge, winter detachment	CDR Gordon K. Ebbe, June 1955–June 1956[9] LCDR Charles J. McCarthy, Ellsworth Station detachment, 1957–58[10] LCDR John K. Allison, 1959[11] LCDR Louis L. Helms, 1961[12] LCDR John A. Morton, 1964[13] LCDR William E. Shockley, 1966[14] LCDR David B. Eldridge Jr., 1967[15]
Aircraft flown
Reconnaissance	P2V-2 Neptune, DHC-3 Otter
Transport	R4D Dakota, R5D Skymaster, LC-130 Hercules

Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6 or AIRDEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, "puckered penguins") was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland on 17 January 1955, the squadron's mission was to conduct operations in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the operational component of the United States Antarctic Program.

Using the tail code XD, the squadron flew numerous fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters over the course of its existence—many of which were pioneering endeavors. For example, the first air link between Antarctica and New Zealand was established by men and aircraft of VX-6 in 1955. The following year, a ski-equipped R4D Dakota of VX-6 became the first aircraft to land at the South Pole. In 1961, the first emergency midwinter medical evacuation flight was conducted from Byrd Station to Christchurch. In 1963, an LC-130F Hercules of VX-6 made the longest flight in Antarctic history. In 1967, a United States Navy LC-130F of VX-6 completed the first scheduled winter flight to Antarctica, landing at Williams Field.

VX-6 changed the tail code of its aircraft to JD in 1957, and was redesignated as Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6) on 1 January 1969. Over the first 14-years of its existence during the time it was designated VX-6, seventeen sailors and marines assigned died in Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze missions.