Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 134 (VMFA-134) was a reserve

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...

squadron in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. Known as "Smoke", the squadron was based at

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the av ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and fell under

Marine Aircraft Group 46 Marine Aircraft Group 46 (MAG-46) was a United States Marine Corps reserve aviation group based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California with subordinate units spread throughout California. It previously composed of one adversary squadron ...

(MAG-46) and the

4th Marine Aircraft Wing The 4th Marine Aircraft Wing is the reserve airwing of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana but its subordinate units are scattered throughout the United States. Mission Conduct air operations in support ...

(4th MAW). On April 1, 2007, the squadron was transitioned to cadre status and its gear and personnel were redistributed throughout the remaining F/A-18 Hornet squadrons.

Mission

Conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground operations in support of U.S. Marine Corps ground troops.

History

World War II

Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 134 (VMSB-134) was activated on May 1, 1943, at

Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara (MCAS Santa Barbara) was a United States Marine Corps air station that was located in Goleta, California north of Los Angeles during World War II. It was also known as the Goleta Air Station in the 1940s. ...

, California, and assigned to Marine Base Defense Aircraft Group 42, Marine Fleet Air, West Coast. Shortly thereafter it was redesignated as Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 134 (VMTB-134) on June 1, 1943. From October to November 1943 the squadron deployed to

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

, and detached from the Marine Base Defense Aircraft Wing. In November 1943 the squadron was reassigned to

Marine Aircraft Group 11 Marine Aircraft Group 11 is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of two F-35C squadrons, one F-35B squadron, two F/A-18C squadrons, one fleet replacement squadron, one KC- ...

1st Marine Aircraft Wing The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps that serves as the Aviation Combat Element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The wing is headquartered at Camp Foster on the island of Okinawa, Japan. Activ ...

. During the course of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the squadron supported operations on Bougainville, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

and

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. H ...

. Following these campaigns the squadron went through numerous reassignments to include the following: *Reassigned during January 1944 to

Marine Aircraft Group 24 Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. MAG-24 is subordinate to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). Mission Pro ...

. *Reassigned during March 1944 to

Marine Aircraft Group 14 Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina that is currently composed of four AV-8B Harrier squadrons, one F-35C squadron, one UAV squadron, one ...

. *Reassigned during May 1944 to

Marine Aircraft Group 12 Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) is an active air group of the United States Marine Corps, tasked with providing fighter and assault support aircraft. It is currently part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), itself an integral part of t ...

. *Reassigned during June 1944 to

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) is the major east coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Wing provides the aviation combat element for the ...

. *Reassigned during December 1944 to

. Following the war, VMTB-134 was assigned to

Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during October 1945 to participate in the occupation of

Northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

from October 1945 to April 1946. During this time they were again reassigned in November 1945 to

Marine Aircraft Group 32 Marine Aircraft Group 32 (MAG-32) was a United States Marine Corps aviation unit established during World War II. History World War II Marine Aircraft Group 32 was commissioned on 1 February 1943 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North ...

and to

in April 1946 upon their return from

. The squadron was deactivated on April 30, 1946.

1958-1986

The squadron was reactivated on April 15, 1958, at

Naval Air Station Los Alamitos A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, California, as Marine Fighter Squadron 134 (VMF-134) in the Marine Air Reserve. Redesignated again on July 1, 1962, as Marine Attack Squadron 134 (VMA-134), Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment, Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Los Alamitos, California. In February 1965 they were again reassigned to

Marine Aircraft Group 43 Marine Aircraft Group 43 (MAG-43) was a fixed wing aviation group in the United States Marine Corps Reserve based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. The group was originally formed during World War II as the admin ...

. 1971 saw the squadron move to

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast ...

, California, assigned to

, flying Douglas A-4F (Skyhawk) aircraft and with squadron designation of, heSkyhawks. The last redesignation of the squadron occurred on October 1, 1983, as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 134 with transition to the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

, still attached to MAG 46.

1990s & 2000s

On July 21, 2004, two

s of VMFA-134 suffered a mid-air collision over the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, 120 miles east of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, shortly after 1430, killing both Marines in F/A-18B, BuNo ''162870''.Allport, Dave, "''Accident Report Updates''", Air Forces Monthly, Stamford, Lincs., U.K., November 2005, Issue 212, page 76. The pilot of F/A-18A, BuNo 163097, 'MF-04', ejected and landed nearby on a hillside west of

Arlington, Oregon Arlington is a city in Gilliam County, Oregon, Gilliam County, Oregon, United States. The city's population was 586 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and has a 2019 estimate of 591. History The account of how the city received its n ...

, suffering minor injuries. The fighters were on their way to the

Boardman Air Force Range Boardman may refer to: People *Boardman (surname) Places United States * Boardman, Florida, unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida *Boardman, North Carolina, town in Columbus County, North Carolina *Boardman, Ohio, census-designated p ...

, where the

Oregon Air National Guard The Oregon Air National Guard (OR ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Oregon, United States of America. It is, along with the Oregon Army National Guard, an element of the Oregon National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the Ore ...

trains, when they collided. Another spokesman told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

that the planes were on a low-altitude training exercise.Green, Kristen, and Steele, Jeanette, "''Reservists on training mission; one injured''", July 22, 2004, The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, California.

In Popular Media

In the seventh season episode of The West Wing "The Mommy Problem" an F/A-18 with the call sign 'Badger' belonging to VMFA-134 is shown being piloted by Democratic presidential candidate Matt Santos (

Jimmy Smits Jimmy L. Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s-1990s legal drama ''L.A. Law'', NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s-2000s police drama '' NYPD Blue'', Matt Santos ...

) as part of his USMC Reserve duty.

Awards

Navy Unit Commendation Streamer A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...

** Peleliu - 1944 * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon

Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Streamer with Three Bronze Stars * World War II Victory Medal ribbon

World War II Victory Streamer * China Service Medal ribbon

China Service Streamer

References

;Notes :

External links

VMFA-134's official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vmfa-134 Fighter attack squadrons of the United States Marine Corps

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...