The Strike Fighter Squadron 87 (VFA-87) is 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 ...

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 co ...

squadron based at

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 mi ...

. The squadron is equipped with the

Boeing F/A-18E 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 Ho ...

and is nicknamed the ''Golden Warriors'', its call sign is ''War Party''. Currently, the squadron is assigned to

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: " conduct off ...

(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 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 ...

, at

NAS Cecil Field Naval Air Station Cecil Field or NAS Cecil Field was a United States Navy air base, located in Duval County, Florida. Prior to October 1999, NAS Cecil Field was the largest military base in terms of acreage in the Jacksonville, Florida area. ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In March 1969, the squadron flew its first combat missions from , striking targets in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

. In April 1969 following the

shoot down ''Shoot Down'' is a 2006 documentary regarding the events surrounding the Brothers to the Rescue organization and the eventual shootdown of two of its aircraft. Based on five reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an A ...

of a Navy

EC-121 Warning Star The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star is an American airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy (USN) and United States Air Force (USAF). The military version of the Lock ...

aircraft by the

North Koreans The demographics of North Korea are determined through national censuses and international estimates. The Central Bureau of Statistics of North Korea conducted the most recent census in 2008, where the population reached 24 million inhabitants ...

, ''Ticonderoga'', with VA-87 embarked, was ordered to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

1970s

In the 1970s, VA-87 made 12 deployments aboard three different carriers—, and . In 1973, the squadron protected U.S. interests during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. Transitioning to the improved A-7E Corsair II, the squadron returned in October 1976 to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

following the assassination of the American ambassador to

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 ...

Francis E. Meloy Jr, assisting in the evacuation of U.S. citizens, while embarked on ''America''.

1980s

A-7E over Port Salines airfield Grenada 1983

During the

Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...

and the Israeli-

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n disputes of 1981, VA-87 deployed to the region for 195 days aboard ''Independence''. One year later the squadron returned, supporting U.S. peacekeeping operations in Lebanon. In October 1983, the squadron participated in

Operation Urgent Fury The United States and a coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation with ...

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 ...

. During the same deployment, VA-87 participated in strikes against Syria in response to hostile fire against U.S. reconnaissance aircraft from Syrian positions in Lebanon. On 24 October 1986, the squadron transitioned to the F/A-18A Hornet and was redesignated Strike Fighter Squadron 87 (VFA-87).

1990s

F-18As VFA-87 with A-6E during 1991 Gulf War

On 28 December 1990, following the

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i invasion of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, the squadron deployed for

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, flying 629 sorties over 43 days of intense combat. The squadron, equipped with the newer F/A-18C, deployed to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

and

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

from March to September 1993, flying hundreds of missions in support of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Operation Deny Flight Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation that began on 12 April 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations (UN) no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United Nations and NATO later expanded the ...

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

and

Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of moni ...

. Embarked for the last time on ''Theodore Roosevelt'', VFA-87 returned in March 1995 to

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

for a month to participate in Operation Southern Watch. Following a hasty transit to the Adriatic, the squadron spent four months flying combat sorties over the increasingly embattled former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. On 30 August 1995, squadron jets were the first to strike Bosnian

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

targets as the

Operation Deliberate Force Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by NATO, in concert with the UNPROFOR ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), which had threatened and attacked UN-desig ...

campaign commenced. VFA-87 again headed to the Adriatic to fly over

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

in support of Operation Deliberate Guard and again in Operation Southern Watch before coming home in October 1997 to

Naval Air Station Cecil Field Naval Air Station Cecil Field or NAS Cecil Field was a United States Navy air base, located in Duval County, Florida, Duval County, Florida. Prior to October 1999, NAS Cecil Field was the largest military base in terms of acreage in the Jackson ...

for the last time in the squadron's history. The squadron was forced to relocate to

NAS 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 mi ...

, in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

from

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

due to a 1993 post-

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Base Realignment and Closure Commission Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was a process by a Federal government of the United States, United States federal government commission to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and ...

(BRAC) decision mandating the closure of NAS Cecil Field by 1 Oct 1999. The Golden Warriors made history again by participating in combat operations in two different theaters during a single deployment, operating from . While en route to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

in April 1999, crisis erupted in the former Yugoslavian republic of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, prompting the largest aerial bombing campaign since the Vietnam War. In just 68 days, Golden Warrior FA-18s dropped 430,000 pounds of ordnance and flew 595 combat missions during Operation ALLIED FORCE, contributing to a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

victory, and expelling Serbian oppressors from the war-torn province of Kosovo. In July, VFA-87 returned to the Persian Gulf and flew 176 combat missions in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. The Golden Warriors returned to their first new home in over thirty years,

2000s

In April 2001, VFA-87 deployed on a

cruise enforcing the

no fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's terri ...

over

Southern Iraq The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into five main regions: the desert (west of the Euphrates), Upper Mesopotamia (between the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers), the northern highlands of Iraq, Lower Mesopotamia, and the alluvial plain ...

aboard until the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

occurred. The squadron was then held on station along with the entire ''Enterprise'' battle group, to conduct first strike combat missions over

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

against embedded

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

targets. VFA-87 returned to NAS Oceana in November 2001.

Iraq and Afghanistan

In January 2003, USS ''Theodore Roosevelt'' battle group along with VFA-87 conducted combat operations over Iraq, initiating

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 governm ...

. VFA-87 deployed again in September 2005 aboard ''Theodore Roosevelt'', returning on 11 March 2006, and received the Atlantic Fleet "

Battle E The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other deployable combat coded units that win the ...

" award later that year. In September 2006, the squadron transitioned from the F/A-18C to the F/A-18A+ and was again named the "Battle E" squadron for the Atlantic Fleet in March 2007. It deployed again in September 2008 to the North Arabian Sea, in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

and returned home to NAS Oceana on 18 April 2009.

2010s

2010 was a year of significant accomplishment for the squadron. VFA-87 participated in three embarked periods in preparation for the maiden deployment of , including a deck qualification, Independent Steaming Exercise (ISE), and Tailored Ship's Training Assessment (TSTA). Additionally the "War Party" completed three command detachments; one to NAS Key West for the Air-to-Air Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program (SFARP) and two to NAS Fallon for Air-to-Ground SFARP. In May 2011, VFA-87 departed on a deployment aboard USS ''George H. W. Bush''. While deployed the squadron flew combat missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn flying over Afghanistan and Iraq respectively in support of combat troops on the ground. In 2012 VFA-87 successfully completed four operational detachments, transitioned back to the F/A-18C by transferring 10 F/A-18A+ and accepting 11 F/A-18C aircraft. The squadron made another deployment aboard ''George H. W. Bush'' to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean from February to November 2014. Following this deployment, VFA-87 converted to the F/A-18E Super Hornet.

Syria

VFA-87 made a single deployment aboard USS ''George H. W. Bush'' from January to August 2017. During this desployment, Lieutenant Commander Michael Tremel, flying a VFA-87 F/A-18E shot down a Syrian

Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32; NATO reporting name: Fitter) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet Union, Soviet military. Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to ent ...

after multiple observed

ROE Roe, ( ) or hard roe, is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, c ...

violations on 18 June 2017. The

had been bombing US-backed forces fighting the Islamic State.

2020s

After having been assigned to CVW-8 since 1988, VFA-87 was re-assigned to Carrier Air Wing 11 in 2020. The squadron made two deployments aboard to the Western Pacific from January and July 2020 and from December to May 2021. Following these deployments, the squadron returned to CVW-8. In 2021, CVW-8 was re-assigned to .

Notable squadron members

* Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie *

Timothy J. Keating Timothy John Keating (born November 16, 1948) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral. During his career, he served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, Carrier Group Five, the United States 5th Fleet, the United States ...

* Patrick Walsh * Amanda Lee - first female F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot in the

Blue Angels The Blue Angels, formally named the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, are a Aerobatics, flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.. Blue Angels official site. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatics ...

References

External links

navy.mil
{{United States Navy Aircraft Squadrons Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy