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#1682 AV-8B FRD Harrier II print

AV-8B FRD Harrier II print
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
£10.00 €12.05 $12.52
43.8 cm x 29.2 cm
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Print
AV-8B Harrier II; TAV-8B Harrier II
164113 '01'; 163867 '20'
AV-8 FRD
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina
US - Marine Corps
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Description

Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1682 - AV-8B Harrier II and TAV-8B Harrier II, AV-8B Fleet Replacement Detachment (AV-8B FRD), MCAS Cherry Point. North Carolina.

The AV-8B Fleet Replacement Detachment is assigned the mission of training “world class attack pilots” as it prepares them for service and success in the Fleet Marine Force. The history of the squadron began on the first day of July, 1947 when the Marine Corps established Marine Training Squadron 1 (VMT-1) at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron was temporarily established to provide instrument training in the Vought F4-U Corsair. Upon permanent establishment in 1967, the squadron was tasked with the training of light attack pilots in the TA-4F Douglas Skyhawk, Grumman F9F-6 Cougar and Lockheed TV-2 Shooting Star. That same year VMT-1 would change its title and become Marine Training Squadron 203 (VMT-203). Four years later in 1972, VMT-203 would become VMAT-203 reflecting a shift to training Marine attack pilots. The squadron has been training the world’s finest attack pilots ever since. In 1974 the squadron would take on its biggest challenge to date and pioneer the unknown frontier of V/STOL flight. The squadron received its first AV-8A Harrier on September 29, 1974 and just 12 days later it would take its maiden Marine Corps flight. Due to the complex and arduous nature associated with flying the new Harrier, a two seat variant was created in order to conduct advanced training. A decade later, in January of 1984, VMAT-203 would oversee the introduction of the AV-8B Harrier II, an aircraft of improved technology that would replace the AV-8A. In April of 1986, VMAT-203 retired the last AV-8A in the squadron’s inventory. After 47 years of instructing Harrier pilots, VMAT-203 stood down as a standalone squadron.  On October 29, 2021, VMAT-203 became the AV-8B FRD reflecting the sundown of the Harrier as the Marine Corps looks toward the future of aviation.  The AV-8B FRD continues to produce the last exceptional attack pilots in support of the Marine Harrier Fleet. 

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