Attack Squadron 176 (U.S. Navy)
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Attack Squadron 176 (VA-176), known as the "Thunderbolts", was a
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 millio ...
carrier-based medium attack squadron that saw combat service in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and later in 1983 in both
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
.


History

VA-176 was established on 4 June 1955 and equipped with the Douglas AD-6 ''Skyraider'' and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. A year later the first deployment followed on board the aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Air Task Group 2 (ATG-2). In 1958, the squadron was assigned to Carrier Air Group 17 (CVG-17), but was not deployed as CVG-17 was disbanded. The next cruise in 1959/60 was aboard the as part of CVG-10. In November and December 1960 VA-176 was assigned to Carrier Anti-submarine Air Group 52 (CVSG-52) aboard the . After this short deployment VA-176 returned to CVW-10 and made three deployments to the Mediterranean Sea with the between 1961 and 1965. CVW-10 was shifted in 1966 to the , which was used as an attack carrier for three deployments to Vietnam. During the 1966 deployment two members of the squadron became known by successfully engaging a
Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...
MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...
, an unusual instance of propeller-driven aircraft defeating a jet-powered adversary. In 1967 VA-176 was back in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the as part of CVW-3. This was the last cruise with the Douglas A-1H ''Skyraider'', as the squadron converted to the Grumman A-6A ''Intruder'' all-weather attack plane. From its first deployment with the ''Intruder'' in 1970 to the last in 1991, VA-176 was assigned to
CVW-6 Carrier Air Wing Six (CVW-6) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier Carrier air wing, air wing whose operational history spans from the middle of World War II to the end of the Cold War. Established in 1943 as Carrier Air Group Seventeen (CVG ...
. From 1970 to 1975, CVW-6 was assigned to the . The next three years were spent aboard the . In 1979 the wing moved to the , followed by the from 1986 to 1991. Flying the ''Intruder'', VA-176 made eighteen deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, three of which also led to the Indian Ocean. The squadron earned three consecutive Battle "E" awards, for the years 1988-1991. The squadron was decommissioned from active service on 30 October 1992.


Aircraft

* Douglas AD-6 Skyraider (after 1962 A-1H) — 1955–1967 *
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D und ...
* Grumman A-6A Intruder — 1969–1975 * Grumman KA-6D Intruder — 1972–1992 * Grumman A-6C Intruder — 1973–1975 * Grumman A-6E Intruder — 1975–1992


See also

*
History of the United States Navy The history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that became notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy" ...
*
List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons Most of the United States Navy aircraft Squadron (aviation), squadrons established since the Navy designated its first aircraft squadrons in 1919 no longer exist, having been "disestablished". Another 40 or so have been "deactivated", currently e ...
*
List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons This is a list of active United States Navy aircraft squadrons. ''Deactivated'' or ''disestablished'' squadrons are listed in the list of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons. The U.S. Navy uses the term "squadron" only to describe uni ...


External links

{{Commons category, Attack Squadron 176 (United States Navy)
VA-176's Official Website
Military units and formations established in 1955 Attack squadrons of the United States Navy 1955 establishments in the United States