Strike Fighter Squadron 32 (VFA-32), nicknamed the "Fighting Swordsmen", are a United States Navy strike fighter squadron presently flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet and based ashore at Naval Air Station Oceana. Their radio callsign is Gypsy and their tail code is AC. The Fighting Swordsmen of VFA-32 were the 2023 recipients of the Mutha Fighter Spirit Award, awarded annually at the Navy’s Strike Fighter Ball in Norfolk, VA.

Their mission is: "Strike Fighter Squadron 32, as a part of United States Naval Aviation, utilizes the F/A-18F aircraft to project power ashore and at sea, to defend the Fleet against air and sea threats and to carry out all other missions which may be assigned by cognizant authority."

Insignia and nickname

thumb|left|upright|Early VBF-3 insignia

thumb|left|upright|Early VF-32 insignia

Originally, the squadron used the Fighting Three Felix the Cat symbol and called themselves the "Crazy Cats" because so many pilots were from Fighting Three. At one time, the squadron was known as the "White Lightning." In 1950, the squadron adopted the insignia of a traditional heraldry lion under Naval Aviation wings of gold and the motto "Deus et Patria" that has endured with only slight modernization through today. The VF-32 squadron radio callsign is "Gypsy" and most alumni refer to themselves as "Gypsies". The squadron picked up the nickname Swordsmen after it switched to the F-8 Crusader and added a sword to the lion's hand.

History

1940s

VFA-32 was established as Bombing Fighting Three (VBF-3) on 1 February 1945, flying the F6F Hellcat, when it was split off from VF-3, the famed Felix squadron. Fritz Wolf, a former member of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) or Flying Tigers, was assigned as the first VBF-3 commanding officer. At the time, U.S. Navy carriers were closing on the Japanese home islands and were facing aggressive Kamikaze attacks. VBF-3 was assigned to Carrier Air Group THREE on board in the Pacific theater. On 16 February 1945, VBF-3 pilots became the Navy's first carrier-based pilots to strike the Japanese islands. During the heavy action on that day, the squadron shot down 24 Japanese aircraft, earning the Presidential Unit Citation. Although the attempted rescue failed, Hudner received the Medal of Honor and Brown received, posthumously, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In 1974, VF-32 switched to the F-14 Tomcat at NAS Miramar before moving to NAS Oceana as one of the first fleet Tomcat squadrons based there. VF-32 made the first Atlantic Fleet F-14 deployment in June 1975. On that cruise, VF-32 was awarded the Joseph Clifton Award as the Navy's top fighter squadron. VFA-32 and the rest of CVW-3 returned home on 4 June 2008. VFA-32 was awarded the Battle Effectiveness Award for maintaining the highest state of battle readiness and sustained superior performance in February 2009.

Throughout the 2010s, VFA-32 saw numerous deployments and conducted extensive combat operations in the Middle East with their F/A-18Fs.

In October 2023, VFA-32 began a combat deployment within Air Wing Three onboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower. The deployment focused heavily within the CENTCOM AOR. For the majority of the deployment, VFA-32 operated from the Red Sea. Constant combat operations against Houthi-Iranian military units in Yemen and over the Red Sea occurred during the deployment. VFA-32 was heavily involved in defensive and offensive operations against Houthi-Iranian drones, as well as fixed and mobile targets. At some point in this deployment, which ended on July 14, 2024, a woman in VFA-32 became the first American female pilot to engage and kill an air-to-air contact.

Traditions

VF-32 Awards

  • Navy Expeditionary Medal, for 19-Oct-1962 to 23-Oct-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis.
  • Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 24-Oct-1962 to 15-Nov-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis.
  • Navy Unit Commendation, as part of Naval Forces Central Command, 19-Oct-2023 to 30-May-2024.

VFA-32 Awards

  • Navy E Ribbon, 01-Jan-2008 to 31-Dec-2008.
  • Mutha Fighter Spirit Award, 26-May-2023.

See also

  • Naval aviation
  • Modern US Navy carrier air operations
  • Military aviation
  • List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons

References

Notes

  • Tony Holmes (2005). US Navy F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Osprey Publishing Limited.

The squadron did sustain combat losses in VietNam contrary to the information above. At least one A-4 was hit by a SAM and destroyed, an Rf-8 was lost on a photo mission and other aircraft were lost due to operational accidents not during combat on the cruise.

In the French-Belgian strip series Buck Danny, the squadron served as home unit for the protagonist and his two fellow pilots, Jerry Tumbler and Sonny Tuckson, during the trilogy 'Operation Apocalypsis', operating the F-14A Tomcat from the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy (CV-67). In the strip, 2 F-14s were stolen during an airshow at the fictitious Central American country of Managua.

  • Official site
  • VF-32 Fighting Swordsmen on Facebook