After completing a home training cycle, VP-4 conducted a split-site deployment to Misawa AB and Kadena AB in 1995. During this deployment the squadron flew around the clock for seventeen straight days during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, providing intelligence support and protection against anti-surface and subsurface threats to both the and carrier battle groups. In early 1997, VP-4 completed a quad-site deployment to Diego Garcia; Masirah, Oman; Manama, Bahrain, and Kadena AB, Japan. While on deployment, VP-4 aircrew and maintenance personnel conducted the first permanent detachment in the Persian Gulf. In addition, VP-4 acted as the armed patrol aircraft detachment from Doha, Qatar, flying 21 straight days with weapons and exercised the first 24-hour armed ready alert Maritime Patrol Aviation (MPA) posture in the Persian Gulf. VP-4 acted as the fleet's "eyes in the sky" in support of Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and the Iraqi Oil for Food program. In 1998, pursuant to the BRAC decision to close NAS Barbers Point, VP-4 relocated to NAS Kaneohe Bay, now known as Marine Corps Base Hawaii. In December 1998, VP-4 again deployed to six sites around the Middle East, during their deployment, the squadron participated in three combat operations: Operation Desert Fox, where they were awarded the Navy Unit Commendation; Operation Southern Watch, where VP-4 triggered the initial strike and delivered pre and post-strike imagery; and Operations Allied Force/Noble Anvil in Kosovo, which resulted in VP-4's Combat Air Crew 10 being awarded eleven (11) Air Medals. In home waters that same year, VP-4 also hosted 35 countries during RIMPAC 98.
