VF-24

Fighter Squadron 24
Fighter Squadron 24
	F-14 Tomcat (1975–1996)

Fighter Squadron 24 (VF-24), called the Fighting Renegades was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as Fighter Squadron 211 in June 1955, it was redesignated VF-24 on 9 March 1959 and disestablished on 31 August 1996.

Background

VF-211 was established in June 1955 at

F8U Crusader in 1957.^[1]

History

VF-24 made deployments to the

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.^[1]

Vietnam War

While deployed aboard Bon Homme Richard (Carrier Air Wing 21), Lieutenant Commander Bobby C. Lee and Lieutenant Phillip R. Wood became the first VF-24 pilots to shoot down

MiG aircraft over North Vietnam on 19 May 1967. The MiGs were downed with AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Then on 21 July 1967, Commander Marion H. Issacks (XO) and Lieutenant Commander Robert L. Kirkwood made the 3rd and 4th MiG kills for their Squadron with 20 mm guns and Sidewinder missiles. VF-24 became one of the Navy's first "Ace" squadrons.^[1]

1970s

VF-24 made its last F-8 Crusader cruise aboard

CNO Aviation Safety Award, and two Sea Service Deployment Awards. The Squadron clean record was completed with six years and 22.000 flight hours without an accident.^[1]

VF-24 had F8C's for 63-64 cruise on Midway and again for 64-65 cruise on Hancock. They made a short turn around in 65 and must have still flown the F8C, no time to convert to new A/C(F8E) There was no talk of new planes when I left in Sept of 65!

1980s

Further records were made in 1980s. In 1983, VF-24 along with

F/A-18 Hornet capability added and the Ranger cruise was nicknamed "DeathCruise '83/'84" due to the loss of 11 crewmen. In August 1984, VF-24 and its airwing began workups with the USS Kitty Hawk

with another WESTPAC and Indian Ocean cruise in July 1985.

In April 1986, VF-24 was called upon to execute Operation Coyote which involved positioning four fully

NAS Miramar, VF-24 was again selected to deploy to Adak, Alaska, for their second Operation Coyote mission. VF-24 was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and Navy Expeditionary Medal

for the 1987 deployment.

VF-24 was busy in 1988 as they spent 70% of the year deployed and had joined USS Nimitz with the rest of the airwing. They deployed to the northern and western Pacific and the Indian Ocean and provided security for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul during Operation Olympic Presence as well as doing exercises with Midway and the Singapore, Malaysian and Thailand Air forces. 1988 was another year where VF-24 received a CNO Aviation Safety Award. Another cruise began in 1989 with the Nimitz through the Bering Strait. Upon their arrival in San Diego in August they began the transition to the F-14B. VF-24 was one of the first Pacific Fleet Fighter Squadrons to do so.

1990s

One year later, VF-24 made history as the first F-14 squadron to drop air-to-ground ordnance at

NAS Fallon during Integrated Air Wing Training. In November 1990, they began preparations for deployment and headed for the Persian Gulf in February 1991 and were one of two west coast squadrons to deploy the F-14B. In April 1991, VF-24 began flying missions in support of Operation Provide Comfort over Iraq and Kuwait and participated in detachments to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates

. In June of the same year, VF-24 had completed nine years and 36.000 flight hours without incident. They returned to Miramar in August the same year.

VF-24 began an aggressive turnaround cycle by participating in

VF-211

as part of Carrier Air Wing Nine. Their last cruise took place from November 1995 to May 1996, on board the USS Nimitz. VF-24 was disestablished on 31 August 1996.