#1233 F/A-18D Hornet
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1233 - F/A-18D Hornet, 164880 \'01\', Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina.
Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 was originally commissioned as Marine Night Fighter Squadron 533 (VMF(N)-533) on 1 October 1943 at MCAS Cherry Point, NC. Originally known as “Black Mac’s Killers”, 533 was equipped with the Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat and deployed to the Pacific for the first time in April 1944. 533 conducted night defense operations from Eniwetok Atoll from June 1944 until May 1945. In May, 533 moved to Okinawa and operated from Yontan Airfield and Ie Shima conducting night defense operations until the end of the war. During World War II, aircrew would claim the most aerial victories of any night fighter squadron and the first night fighter ace, Capt Robert Baird. The first Grumman F7F-3N Tigercat replacement aircraft arrived on Okinawa the day before the end of the war. In October 1945, the squadron moved to Peiping, China for occupation duty and completed the transition to the new Tigercat. 533 returned home to MCAS Cherry Point in January 1947 and remained there through the Korean War. In May 1953, the squadron received its first jet fighter, the McDonnell F2H-4 Banshee. Over the next four years, 533 saw several carrier deployments and another transition in 1957 to the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar. Just two years later, 533 transitioned again, this time to the Douglas A4D-2 Skyhawk. With this change, 533 was designated Marine Attack Squadron 533 (VMA-533). In 1965, VMA-533 became VMA(AW)-533 when it gained an all weather attack capability with the transition to the Grumman A-6A Intruder. Now called the Hawks, 533 deployed in 1967 to Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam to support combat operations. They remained until 1969 when they redeployed to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. In 1972, the Hawks left Iwakuni and returned to combat service in Southeast Asia, deploying to Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong, Thailand in June. They returned to MCAS Iwakuni in August 1973 and then finally back to MCAS Cherry Point in November 1975 after eight years in the Western Pacific. Throughout the 1980’s, the Hawks made numerous Westpac and carrier deployments with the Intruder. The squadron deployed to Bahrain in December 1990 for Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. Following participation in these hostilities, VMA(AW)-533 returned home after an around the world deployment that lasted eleven and a half months. In October 1992, VMA(AW)-533 became the first East Coast A-6 squadron to transition to the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet. With this transition the squadron was redesignated VMFA(AW)-533 and moved to its current home in MCAS Beaufort, SC. In July 1993, the Hawks deployed to Aviano AB, Italy to fly combat missions over Bosnia-Herzegovina, later returning three times over the next five years, flying a wide variety of missions to support NATO operations. In 1999, the squadron supported Operation ALLIED FORCE in Yugoslavia from Taszar Air Base Hungary. In February 2003, the Hawks deployed to Al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait supporting Operations SOUTHERN WATCH and IRAQI FREEDOM. From January to August 2006, the squadron returned to CENTCOM deploying to Al Asad, Iraq in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. In addition to combat deployments, the Hawks deployed to Westpac six times between 1998 and 2012. VMFA(AW)-533 is currently stationed at MCAS Beaufort, SC assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
You may also like
-
EA-6B Prowler
164404 '501'Electronic Attack Weapons SchoolNAS Whidbey Island, Washington