VFA-87 Emblem
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VFA-87 Emblem
The Strike Fighter Squadron 87 (VFA-87) is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana. The squadron is equipped with the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet and is nicknamed the ''Golden Warriors'', its call sign is ''War Party''. Currently, the squadron is assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (tail code "AJ"). Insignia and Nickname The squadron's insignia and nickname were approved by CNO on 29 July 1968 and have remained essentially unchanged. History 1960s In June 1968, the squadron was established as VA-87, an attack aircraft squadron and the first fleet squadron to fly the LTV A-7 Corsair II, at NAS Cecil Field, Florida. In March 1969, the squadron flew its first combat missions from , striking targets in South Vietnam. In April 1969 following the shoot down of a Navy EC-121 Warning Star aircraft by the North Koreans, ''Ticonderoga'', with VA-87 embarked, was ordered to the Sea of Japan. 1970s In the 1970s, VA-87 made 12 deployments aboard three ...
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Close Air Support
Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of all forces involved. CAS may be conducted using aerial bombs, glide bombs, missiles, rockets, autocannons, machine guns, and even directed-energy weapons such as lasers.''Close Air Support''. United States Department of Defense, 2014. The requirement for detailed integration because of proximity, fires or movement is the determining factor. CAS may need to be conducted during shaping operations with special forces if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire and movement of those forces. A closely related subset of air interdiction, battlefield air interdiction, denotes interdiction against units with near-term effects on friendly units, but which does not ...
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Operation Iraqi Freedom
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted as an insurgency arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency. The Iraq invasion was part of the Bush administration's broader war on terror, launched in response to the September 11 attacks. In October 2002, the US Congress passed a resolution granting Bush authority to use military force against Iraq. The war began on March 20, 2003, when the US, joined by the UK, Australia, and Poland, initiated a " shock and awe" bo ...
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Carrier Air Wing 8
Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8), is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier Mission The mission of Carrier Air Wing Eight is: "[T]o conduct offensive and defensive air operations against land and sea targets, as directed by higher authority, while also providing Carrier Strike Group defense. Currently assigned to Commander, Carrier Strike Group TWO, CVW-8 employs a mix of sophisticated aircraft to perform strike warfare, amphibious warfare, electronic warfare, airborne early warning, airborne command and control, sea control, air refueling, antisubmarine warfare and combat search and rescue missions." Subordinate units CVW-8 consists of eight squadrons. History 1940s The first air group to carry the CVG-8 designation existed from June 1943 to November 1945. Carrier Air Group 8 (CVG-8) moved to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) in Norfolk, Virginia ...
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Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 million in plant replacement value. The total Navy community (which includes spouses) numbers around 20,000 people. The base is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic and is the headquarters of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic and Carrier Air Wing 1, Carrier Air Wings 1, Carrier Air Wing Three, 3, Carrier Air Wing Seven, 7 and Carrier Air Wing Eight, 8. As home to all East Coast strike fighter jet squadrons, the Naval Air Station is classified as a master jet base. The airfield is known as Apollo Soucek Field, named after Lieutenant (later Admiral) Apollo Soucek, a Navy test pilot who set the global altitude record in 1930 by flying a Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Curtiss ''"Hawk"'' biplane to an altitude of 43,166 feet. Con ...
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Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force. In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some military forces (including the United States Air Force, United States Space Force, French Air and Space Force, Royal Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component and Republic of Singapore Air Force) also use the term "squadron" for non-flying ground units (e.g. radar squadrons, missile squadrons, air defense squadrons, aircraft maintenance squadrons, security forces squadrons, civil engineering squadrons, range operations squadrons, range management squadrons, weather squadrons, medical squadrons, etc.). Comparative organization Germany In World War I, the Imperial Ge ...
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Strike Fighter
In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers, and is closely related to the concept of Interdictor, interdictor aircraft, although it puts more emphasis on aerial combat capabilities. Examples of notable contemporary strike fighters are the American McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Lockheed F-35 Lightning II, the Russian Sukhoi Su-34, and the Chinese Shenyang J-16. History Beginning in the 1940s, the term "strike fighter" was occasionally used in navies to refer to fighter aircraft capable of performing air strike, air-to-surface strikes, such as the Westland Wyvern, Blackburn Firebrand and Blackburn Firecrest. The term "light weight tactical strike fighter (LWTSF)" was used to describe the aircraft to meet the December 1953 NATO specificati ...
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United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with List of aircraft carriers in service, eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of 18 July 2023. The U.S. Navy is one of six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during ...
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Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are a series of American supersonic twinjet, twin-engine, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The Super Hornet is in service with the armed forces of the United States, Australia, and Kuwait. The F/A-18E single-seat and F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced versions of the F/A-18C and D Hornet, respectively. A strike fighter capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground/surface missions, the Super Hornet has an internal 20mm M61 Vulcan, M61A2 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, and a variety of other weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks and the aircraft can be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external Aerial refueling, air-to-air refueling system. Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in ...
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McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system, designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Corporation, Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels. The F/A-18 was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, glass cockpit, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform escort fighter, fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of en ...
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LTV A-7 Corsair II
The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was derived from the Vought F-8 Crusader; in comparison with the F-8, the A-7 is both smaller and restricted to subsonic speeds, its airframe being simpler and cheaper to produce. Following a competitive bid by Vought in response to the United States Navy's (USN) ''VAL'' (Heavier-than-air, Attack, Light) requirement, an initial contract for the type was issued on 8 February 1964. Development was rapid, first flying on 26 September 1965 and entering squadron service with the USN on 1 February 1967; by the end of that year, A-7s were being deployed overseas for the Vietnam War. Initially adopted by USN, the A-7 proved attractive to other services, soon being adopted by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Air National Guard (ANG) to replac ...
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Dominic Gorie
Dominic Lee Pudwill Gorie (born May 2, 1957) is a retired United States Navy officer and NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. Personal Gorie was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His father, Capt. Paul Pudwill, was killed when the B-47 Stratojet he was flying developed ice on its wings and crashed; Dominic was six years old. He enrolled in the United States Naval Academy where he studied offshore construction, ocean engineering. Following graduation in 1979, he trained as a pilot and served tours of duty aboard the aircraft carriers and . In 1987, he trained as a test pilot and worked at the Naval Air Test Center until the Gulf War, where, stationed aboard the carrier , he flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. He currently resides in Salida, Colorado. Education Gorie graduated from Miami Palmetto High School in Pinecrest, Florida, in 1975. He then obtained his bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering from the United States Naval Academy ...
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Patrick M
Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or Patricius, Bishop of Dublin * Patrick, 1st Earl of Salisbury (c. 1122–1168), Anglo-Norman nobleman * Patrick (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian right-back * Patrick (footballer, born 1985), Brazilian striker * Patrick (footballer, born 1992), Brazilian midfielder * Patrick (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian right-back * Patrick (footballer, born May 1998), Brazilian forward * Patrick (footballer, born November 1998), Brazilian attacking midfielder * Patrick (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian defender * Patrick (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian defender * John Byrne (Scottish playwright) (born 1940), also a painter under the pseudonym Patrick * Don Harris (wrestler) (born 1960), American professional wrestler who uses the ring name Pa ...
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