The P-3 Orion is a long-range patrol plane. From Moffett Field, the squadrons flew on regular refugee location flights. The Vietnamese refugees faced life-threatening situations due to extreme crowding and lack of an operating engine. The refugees are sometimes at sea for weeks before they are rescued. The Navy rescued more than 5,000 Vietnamese boat people since President Jimmy Carter ordered an active search for refugees in July, 1979. Vietnamese refugees arrived in Bangkok from Saigon in the first phase of an orderly departure program between the United States and Thailand. And then launch their sometimes barely seaworthy boats to flee the Communist regime.