VFA-213

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Strike Fighter Squadron 213
Image:Blacklions.jpg VFA-213 Insignia
Active	June 22, 1955 - present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Fighter/Attack
Role	Close air support Air interdiction Aerial reconnaissance
Garrison/HQ	NAS Oceana
Nickname	"Blacklions"
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Operation Restore Hope Operation Southern Watch Operation Desert Fox Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom

Strike Fighter Squadron 213 (VFA-213) is a U.S. Navy fighter squadron based at NAS Oceana. Their tail code is AJ, their radio callsign is Lion, and as of April 2006 are transitioning to the more advanced F/A-18F Super Hornet.

1 History
2 References

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

The Blacklions were established as VF-213 on June 22, 1955 at NAS Moffett Field, California. They are quite rare as that they retain the original designation they were established with. The first cruise was onboard the USS Bon Homme Richard flying the F2H Banshee. When they returned they transitioned to the F4D Skyray which they flew for two deployments on USS Lexington. They then transitioned to the F3H Demon which followed with a third cruise onboard USS Lexingon. Returning home, VF-213 moved to NAS Miramar which became their home for the next 36 years.

[edit] Vietnam War

In 1965 they flew the F-4 Phantom for the very first time on a cruise with USS Kitty Hawk in South East Asia. On December 20, 1966 the Blacklions scored their first air-to-air kill when Lieutenant D.A. McRae and Ensign D.N. Nichols shot down an AN-2 Colt. Between the years 1965 and 1972 VF-213 flew several combat cruises, flying 11,500 combat missions and delivering 6000 tons of ordnance.

[edit] 1970s & 1980s

In 1976, VF-213 began the transition to the F-14 which was replacing the F-4 Phantom. The first cruise with the F-14 was on USS Kitty Hawk with VF-114 Aardvarks, these units were paired together until the disbanding of VF-114 in 1993. After the Kitty Hawk cruise, the carrier air wing switched to the USS America and took part in two Mediterranean cruises which was an oddity for west coast squadrons.

A F-14D Tomcat of VF-213 about to land on USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2006

In 1982 the squadron began training with tactical reconnaissance equipment. That year, they deployed on the USS Enterprise on the Indian Ocean.

On January 24, 1986 their cruise began with the USS Enterprise and they ventured out to the Western Pacific which included stops at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay in the Philippines. They continued into the Indian Ocean where VF-213 often intercepted Soviet and Indian aircraft. During this time with operations against Libya the decision was made to move the Enterprise battle group to the Mediterranean Sea, to do this they transited through the Suez Canal. Once they arrived at the “Line of death”, CVW-11 aircraft flew patrols for two months, although encounters with Libyan aircraft were rare. The carrier group got to visit Naples and Toulon. Instead of returning through the Suez Canal they transited through Strait of Gibraltar and then cruised the southern cape of Africa before continuing onto Perth, Australia and after that across the Pacific to their home port.

In 1988 saw VF-213 flying cover over reflagged tankers in the Persian Gulf and participated in Operation Praying Mantis on April 18, 1988. In 1989 VF-213 and the rest of the air wing switched aircraft carrier once again to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The first cruise on 'Abe' was a six week transit from NAS Norfolk to NAS Alameda, via the tip of South America. The first WestPac cruise began in May 1991 and saw the Blacklions enforcing the UN sanctions over Iraq.

[edit] 1990s

In 1993, VF-213 became the sole F-14 squadron on USS Abraham Lincoln. The same year VF-213 flew in support of Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and Operation Southern Watch over Iraq.

The 1995 WestPac cruise again saw the Blacklions flying over the skies of southern Iraq. The cruise also saw the rare event of every squadron Tomcat being airborne at the same time, 14 aircraft over the skies of Iraq and Kuwait. On April 27, 1995, air crew from a Blacklions F-14 bailed out 800 miles west of Guam and were recovered safely. The crew had been on routine maneuvers (making a low level supersonic run) while their carrier battle group was returning to America from a six-month deployment.

In late 1996, VF-213 transitioned to the F-14D Super Tomcat, becoming the third F-14 squadron to receive the Delta model. At the same time VF-213 received LANTIRN capability.

At the end of Operation Desert Fox on December 19, 1998, F-14Ds from VF-213, as well as the rest of the embarked carrier air wing onboard USS Carl Vinson, joined other US air assets in the final strikes of that operation.

Following Operation Desert Fox, VF-213 flew air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions in support of Operation Southern Watch. After Operation Desert Fox the Iraqi Air Force adopted a more aggressive stance that almost resulted in the first US Navy air-to-air kill with the AIM-54 Phoenix, when two F-14Ds from VF-213 fired two of these missiles on January 5, 1999 at Iraqi MiG-25s that had ventured into the Southern No-Fly Zone. The Iraqi jets had turned back north and were making a high speed run home by the time the F-14s got to fire their missiles.

After the end of the combat cruise to Iraq, the Blacklions planned and conducted an eight-missile Phoenix shoot to expand the AIM-54 envelope. Despite marginal weather, the event went successfully due to the hard work and preparation from everyone involved. Less than one month later, the Lions were packing their bags for NAS Key West, Florida for a two-week air-to-air gunnery training program. This was part of the annual High Noon derby, when Tomcat squadrons compete for top honors as the most proficient aerial gunners. After expending over to 7,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition into towed 40’ x 8’ banners, the Blacklions emerged as the High Noon champions, claiming the trophy for the first time in recent years. LT Joseph Dalton received honors for the highest percentage of bullets hitting the target. Winning the High Noon was the culmination of several weeks of effort by the Lion maintenance department preparing the aircraft for a flawless performance.

Returning from Key West in mid-August 1999, the Lions continued to train. With a small detachment of personnel at NAS Fallon, Nevada, to support the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), the Lions used the opportunity to practice air-to-ground bombing and simulated strike missions on the extensive ranges in Nevada. The Lion crews dropped twenty-six MK-82 series bombs over their four weeks in Fallon and were able to participate in multiple exercises in support of the Weapons School. The detachment successfully maintaining a 100% sortie completion rate, flying several times daily with live ordnance. While some Lions were bombing in Fallon, others were participating in carrier certifications on two aircraft carriers. LCDR Vince Saporito and LTjg Andy Mickley logged the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)’s 5000th arrested landing. Two weeks later, the Lions sent two jets out to the USS Abraham Lincoln for its deck certification. This was important training for the Lions, since it was the first time performing sea-based operations since deployment. Four pilots renewed their day and night qualifications while on the LINCOLN and the squadron Landing signal officers (LSOs) had the opportunity to practice as well.

In 1999, VF-213 were invited by the US Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. VF-213 were to provide training support fo the F-15E Strike Eagle Weapons School, similar to Top Gun. The Lions flew as simulated enemy fighters, also called "Red Air", for the F-15 students. The Black Lions provided realistic presentations of what the F-15's could expect when flying against enemy aircraft. Many of these missions were at night, allowing both the Lions and the Eagles to train using night vision goggles (NVGs). This was the first time that several of the Strike Eagle pilots and Blacklion crews had trained against each other. Both squadrons were very impressed by the others’ capabilities, noting the similarities and differences between systems on the Tomcat and Eagle. The Lions also had the opportunity to dogfight F-16 Falcons from 422nd Fighter Squadron, which was valuable training for both squadrons.

[edit] 2000's & The Global War on Terror

In January 2000, VF-213 was back at its home base at NAS Oceana. Soon VF-213 participated in a combined Carrier Air Wing 11 exercise at NAS New Orleans. Once aircraft from VF-213, VFA-22, VFA-94, VFA-97, VAW-117 and HS-6 had arrived the planning began. Led by the CVW-11 Commander, Air Group, the strike allowed airwing aircraft to work together, attacking north from the Gulf of Mexico onto land ranges. Opposition was provided by F/A-18s of VFA-204 'River Rattlers', home based at NAS New Orleans and simulated SAM sites in the range areas.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, F-14s from VF-213 carried out long-range attacks from the Indian Ocean from USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on October 7, 2001.

After the 2001 cruise had ended in 2002, VF-213 changed air wings, from CVW-11 to Carrier Air Wing Three. VF-213's first cruise with the new air wing and carrier began in early 2003.

On March 22, 2003, VF-213 and carrier air wing 8 on USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean Sea was committed to Operation Iraqi Freedom as the designated night air wing, their first mission called the squadron to attack Republican Guard encampments in Fallujah with four VF-213 jets armed with three 2000-lb JDAM bombs each. During the war VF-213 would fly a myriad of missions, from strike missions, combat air patrols and support of ground forces. VF-213 flew 198 sorties totalling 907 flight hours, achieving a 100 percent sortie completion rate and delivered 102 laser guided bombs and 94 JDAM bombs.

From May 1-27 2005, the Blacklions flew its last Tomcat detachment at NAS Fallon, but continued to operate the aircraft whilst deployed.

The last American F-14 to fly a combat mission lands at Sherman Field on Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

VF-213 was paired up with VF-31 Tomcatters for the 2005-2006 final F-14 Tomcat cruise onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. On February 7, 2006 was the last recovery of F-14 Tomcats from a combat mission. At 12:35 a.m., a VF-213 aircraft 204 landed on the carrier. It was piloted by CAPT William G. "Size" Sizemore II, Commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, and his RIO, LT(jg) James "Mr. Hanky" Cunningham. During their final deployment with USS Theodore Roosevelt, VF-31 and 213 collectively completed 1,163 combat sorties totaling 6,876 flight hours, and dropped 9,500 pounds of ordnance during reconnaissance, surveillance, and close air support missions in support of OIF.

On March 10, 2006, VF-31 and VF-213 returned to NAS Oceana after the final F-14 cruise. All 22 tomcats flew together in a wedge formation over NAS Oceana as hundreds of people cheered.

VF-213 began their transition to the F/A-18F Super Hornet in April 2006.