VF-2
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Strike Fighter Squadron 2 (VFA-2) also known as the "Bounty Hunters" is a
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
F/A-18F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...
strike fighter squadron based at
Naval Air Station Lemoore Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a censu ...
, California. Their tail code is NE and their callsign is "Bullet". They are attached to
Carrier Air Wing 2 Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . Subordinate units CVW-2 consists of 9 Squadrons History 1940s-50s Origi ...
(CVW-2), a composite unit made up of a wide array of aircraft performing a variety of combat and support missions that deploy aboard the .


History

Four distinct squadrons have been designated VF-2. Officially, the US Navy does not recognize a direct lineage with disestablished squadrons if a new squadron is formed with the same designation. Often, the new squadron will assume the nickname, insignia, and traditions of the earlier squadrons.


1970s

VF-2, known as the "Bounty Hunters," was established on 14 October 1972 flying the
F-14A Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after t ...
. VF-2 completed aircrew training and received its first Tomcats in July 1973, attaining full strength of 12 F-14As in the spring of 1974. VF-2's initial deployment was in 1974 with her sister squadron
VF-1 Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established on 14 October 1972 it was disestablished on 30 September 1993. It was the fifth US Navy squadron to be designated VF-1. Known as the "Wolfpack" the ...
aboard . The squadron flew over Saigon in support of
Operation Frequent Wind Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saig ...
, the evacuation of US personnel in April, 1975. Deployed on USS Enterprise Westpac 1978 Ports of call: Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Subic Bay Philippines, Singapore, Perth Australia, Hong Kong


1980s

VF-2 was assigned to for the September 1980 deployment, 4 months of which were spent in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
and
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
during the
Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
. The squadron was the first Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (
TARPS The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) was a large and sophisticated camera pod carried by the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. It contains three camera bays with different type cameras which are pointed down at passing terrain. It was ori ...
) unit for both
CVW-14 Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14), was a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Mission To conduct carrier air warfare operations and assist in the planning, control, coordination and integr ...
and later
CVW-2 Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . Subordinate units CVW-2 consists of 9 Squadrons History 1940s-50s Origi ...
. VF-2 deployed aboard in 1984 and returned for multiple ''Ranger'' deployments throughout the 1980s. On 2 June 1984, VF-2 became the first squadron to launch an F-14 from an aircraft carrier while towing an air-to-air gunnery target. In 1987, the squadron logged ''Ranger''’s 260,000th landing.


1990s

The unit participated in
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-Ma ...
, flying over 500 combat mission from USS ''Ranger'' operating in the Persian Gulf. VF-2 performed escort, reconnaissance and Combat Air Patrol (CAP) missions. After the 1992-1993 cruise, USS ''Ranger'' was decommissioned (along with VF-2’s sister squadron
VF-1 Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established on 14 October 1972 it was disestablished on 30 September 1993. It was the fifth US Navy squadron to be designated VF-1. Known as the "Wolfpack" the ...
), and VF-2 was switched to the . At the same time, VF-2 transitioned to the F-14D Tomcat. Several months after the 1995 cruise, VF-2 was awarded the battle "E" and relocated from
NAS 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 avi ...
to
NAS Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mil ...
due to a
Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end ...
(BRAC) decision to make Miramar a Marine Corps Air Station. In April 1996, VF-2's F-14Ds were modified to carry the
LANTIRN LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night) is a combined navigation and targeting pod system for use on the United States Air Force fighter aircraft—the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon (Block 40/42 C & D mod ...
infrared targeting pod, giving them precision strike capabilities. During their 1999 cruise, VF-2 supported
Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of mon ...
and on September 9, attacked Surface-to-Air Missile sites and anti-aircraft guns around Basra. The same day, a VF-2 Tomcat engaged 2 Iraqi Air Force MiG-23’s that were heading south into the No-Fly Zone from Al-Taqaddum Air Base, west of Baghdad with AIM-54 Phoenixes. The missiles did not score as the MiGs turned north once they detected the missile launch.


2000s

In mid 2001, VF-2 deployed aboard in support of
Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of mon ...
. During the 2002-2003 deployment, the final cruise with the Tomcat, VF-2 participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom flying a wide range of missions including reconnaissance, close air support, CAP and strike missions. On February 28, 2003, during Operation Southern Watch, a VF-2 aircraft delivered the 1st Tomcat Joint Direct Attack Munition, JDAM in combat. During this deployment, VF-2 flew 483 sorties and dropped 294 Laser-guided bomb's/JDAMs/MK-82 bombs. On 1 July 2003, VF-2 was redesignated VFA-2, and began transition to the
F/A-18F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...
receiving its first aircraft on 6 October 2003. VFA-2 deployed to the Western Pacific aboard with CVW-2 in October, 2004. They returned in March 2005 after supporting Operation Unified Assistance which provided humanitarian support to Southeast Asia after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2006, VFA-2 and CVW-2 embarked on a WESTPAC deployment. On 13 March 2008, VFA-2 embarked with CVW-2 aboard USS ''Abraham Lincoln'' on a 7-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, returning home on 8 October.


2010s

Between 24 and 31 March 2006, during Foal Eagle 2006 exercises, strike squadrons VFA-2, VFA-34, VFA-137, and VFA-151 teamed with U.S. Air Force aircraft from the 18th Wing based at Kadena Air Base to provide combat air patrols and coordinated bombing runs via the exercise's Combined Air Operations Center. On 11 September 2010, VFA-2 deployed with CVW-2 aboard USS ''Abraham Lincoln'' to the Arabian Sea and
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
. The squadron has transitioned to newer Block II F/A-18F Super Hornet equipped with the Active electronically scanned array, AESA radar.


2020s

The squadrons current Commanding Officer, CDR Timmester, will be the last navy squadron commander to have flown in the F-14 Tomcat.


See also

*Naval aviation *Military aviation *List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons *List of Inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons *VF-2 (1927-42) *VF-2 (1943-5)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vfa-2 Strike fighter squadrons of the United States Navy Military units and formations in California