VFA-11

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VFA-11
VFA-11 Insignia
Active	1927
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Fighter/Attack
Role	Close air support Air interdiction Aerial reconnaissance
Garrison/HQ	NAS Oceana
Nickname	"Red Rippers"
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom

VFA-11, also known as the "Red Rippers", are a United States Navy fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. Their call sign is Ripper, tail code is AC, and they have transitioned to the F/A-18F Super Hornet.

1 History
2 References
3 Notes

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

The Navy fighter squadron known as the Red Rippers were established as VF-5S in 1927 at Hampton Roads, Virginia. They flew the Curtis F6C-3 Hawk and have served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. From 1927 to World War II, the Rippers flew several propeller aircraft including the Boeing F3B-1 and F4B-1, the Grumman FF-1 and F3F-1 and also held the following designations: VF-5S, VB-1B, VF-5 and VF-4. During World War II the Rippers were known as VF-41 and supported the allied invasion of North Africa, downing sixteen enemy aircraft in the Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat. They conducted the first air strikes against German forces in Norway in September 1943. The Red Rippers were designated VF-A when they transferred to the Pacific Theatre in 1944 on board USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) and USS Essex (CV-9). In the Pacific they flew the first air strikes against Tokyo in the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

F-4 Phantoms from VF-11 launch from USS Forrestal.

In 1948 the Red Rippers were redesignated as VF-11. After World War II, the Red Rippers leaped into the jet age, flying the McDonnell F2H Banshee during the Korean War from the USS Kearsarge (CV-33). On 15 Feb 1959, the original Red Rippers were disestablished, but when VF-43 was redesignated as VF-11 on the following day, they decided to adopt the traditions and insignia of the Red Rippers. The "new" VF-11 Red Rippers transitioned to the Chance-Vought F-8 Crusader on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) where they helped quell the unrest in the Dominican Republic in 1961. In 1965 the Rippers moved to NAS Oceana flying the F-4 Phantom and saw action in North Vietnam in 1967 flying from the decks of USS Forrestal (CVA-59).

[edit] 1980s & 1990s

An F-14 Tomcat from VF-11 aboard the USS Forrestal.

VF-11 transitioned to the F-14 in 1980 and made their first Tomcat cruise in 1982. Their combat debut occurred in early December 1983 as VF-11 F-14s were under fire from Syrian surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery as well as engaging eight Syrian MiGs over Lebanon. On December 4, 1983 the squadron flew combat air patrols over a Navy strike force from the carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), attacking Syrian positions in Lebanon. The strikes were in response to Syrian SAM and AAA. Two of the twenty-eight strong strike package were shot down, one A-7 from USS Independence (CV-62) and one A-6, the pilot of the A-6 crew died while the B/N was held prisoner by the Syrians for a year before being released. While they were deployed for operations in Lebanon, one aircraft sustained damage from a suspected surface-to-air missile.

After cruises with Kennedy the squadron shifted air wings and carriers, joining the USS Forrestal and stayed with the carrier until December 1991. In January 1992 VF-11 had been chosen to move to NAS Miramar and transition to the F-14D Super Tomcat. Around 100 VF-11 personnel moved to Fightertown USA while the rest moved to other units at Oceana. VF-11’s F-14As were transferred to VF-24 and VF-211. In March the same year, VF-11 members reported to VF-124 for transition training which continued to June 1992 as VF-11 accepted their first F-14D and one month later VF-11 flew the first F-14Ds of the Pacific fleet and carrier qualifications followed on board USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in August and in September VF-11 took their F-14Ds out and participated in Cope Thunder’92 between September 4-September 20 in Alaska at Elmendorf Air Force Base. By 1993, VF-11 had mastered the F-14D and was ready for WESTPAC work-ups.

THe Red Rippers celebrated 66 years of tradition in January 1993. 1993 also saw the disestablishing of several F-14 squadrons so VF-11 bought VF-114’s squadron bus, beginning a Ripper tradition that still carries on with VFA-11. In March 1993, VF-11 sent a detachment to NAS Fallon and in April VF-11 went to sea on board USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), completing Combat Systems Sea Qualification Tests and swiftly following this up with Tailored Ship Availability Training I, II & III - focusing on moving from unit level to airwing level training and getting VF-11 used to working as part of CVW-14 on board the Carl Vinson. Later in the summer, VF-11 sent a detachment to NAF El Centro for the High Noon air to air gunnery competition, where the F-14D's new gunsight proved highly effective. September held a real test, CVW-14's airwing work up at Strike U, NAS Fallon. During this training VF-11 set a new record for the numbers of bogeys killed to friendlies lost.

In January 1994, VF-11 made the final preparations for their next cruise, Fleet Air Superiority Tactics (FAST) swiftly followed by the last pre-cruise at sea period, with carrier qualifications and battle group ops. In the first two days of February VF-11 used the PMTC ranges for a missile shoot, successfully employing an AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder. Later in February, VF-11 departed NAS Miramar for WESTPAC on board USS Carl Vinson. After a few days, VF-11 lost an F-14D, on February 22, during the transit from Miramar to Hawaii, a jet suffered an airborne catastrophic engine failure. Although the airframe was lost the aircrew ejected safely. After leaving Pearl Harbor the Vinson transited westwards, stopping for port visits at Yokosuka, Hong Kong and Singapore during March. April 13 saw the battle group come under the command of Central Command and complete planning for Iraq contingency ops. May and June saw intense Operation Southern Watch missions, interspersed with Jebel Ali port visits. VF-11 flew 197 sorties and 676.8 hours, attaining a 96% completion rate for OSW sorties. On the June 24 the Vinson battle group left the Persian Gulf and headed west and after months in the Gulf VF-11 was able to enjoy port calls in Perth and Hobart. By early August VF-11 returned to Pearl Harbor, where family members came on board for a Tiger cruise to San Diego. The Red Rippers flew back into NAS Miramar on August 15.

It didn’t take long until the end of September VF-11 began with physical readiness tests and a dual Phoenix shoot at PMTC. VF-11 also provided aircraft for the APG-71 ECCM evaluation with VX-4. Between late October and early November VF-11 deployed to NAF El Centro for air-to-air gunnery training. The last major event of the year for VF-11 was to provide adversary flights for CVW-11 as they prepared for cruise. 1994 also saw the addition of Night vision goggles. The NVG's were mounted on the pilot's helmet and flipped up out of view when not needed. As NVG's multiply available light hundreds of times, changes had to be made to the F-14's internal and instrument lighting, which if left at their normal level would blind pilots wearing NVG's. Thus VF-11 developed a set of filters and lenses to fit over F-14 cockpit instruments and controls to allow the flight crew to change between normal and NVG lighting. Unusually the VF-11 NVG system was developed in house by the squadron, rather than first being tested by Naval test and evaluation squadrons. This saved time and money over normal methods.

Early March 1995 saw 2 days of air-to-air refuelling training, allowing aircrews to perfect their skills with the notoriously tough KC-135 basket (renowned for removing F-14 probes). April saw plenty of detachment time, first to NAF El Centro for guns training (where VF-11 set a new F-14 record of 38.84% in the High Noon competition). Straight after, VF-11 participated in Roving Sands '95, the DoD's biggest air defence exercise. Preparations for WESTPAC 96 began in earnest during June, when the Rippers deployed on board USS Carl Vinson for Tailored Ships Availability Training (TSTA) level I and II. In the summer of 1995 saw a new era open for VF-11, as their jets began flying with the D-02 tape - providing air to ground ordnance capability. Within 2 weeks VF-11 began exercising these new capabilities, dropping their first Mk-76 practice bomb in August. Late August through to mid-September saw a mini cruise to Hawaii on board USS Carl Vinson, participating in events to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II. With air to ground skills growing VF-11 sent six aircrews to Forward Air Controller (Airborne) - FAC(A) - school in September. Other crews expanded their joint force skills by taking part in MAWTS Weapons Tactics Instructor courses at MCAS Yuma. By mid-September saw CVW-14 deploy to NAS Fallon for airwing work-ups, including VF-11's first drops of live Mk-80 unguided bombs. The annual Fighter Derby kicked off in November, followed by TSTA III back on board USS Vinson. 26th November through to the 20th December saw COMPUTEX, ending with the battle group being certified for blue water ops - a crucial accomplishment on the path to WESTPAC.

January 1996 began with VF-11 undetaking the Advanced Attack Readiness Program (AARP) during the last 3 weeks of January, being immediately followed by a conventional weapons proficiency exam. In February saw the 1995 Fightertown Derby awards and VF-11 walked away with 1st place in both the High Noon gunnery and ECCM competitions. In the same month, VF-11 departed with Carl Vinson and the following two weeks saw more COMPUTEX exercise and examinations. For VF-11 the highlights included the first night drop of an Mk-82 series bomb at night using NVG's and successful launches of 2 AIM-7s and 2 AIM-9 Sidewinders. On February 18, VF-11 suffered their second F-14D loss, sadly Lt. Terry Clark of VF-11 and Commander Scott Lamoreaux were both killed in the incident and a Navy wide two day F-14 safety stand-down was followed this incident. The rest of the spring saw Carrier Landing Practises, a Joint Force Task Exercise which ended in a two-day simulated war. VF-11 departed in May 1996 for their next cruise with the Carl Vinson. The cruise saw port calls in Yokosuka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jebel Ali and Muscat. VF-11 participated in OSW and August 31 1996 saw Iraqi army units attacking the town of Irbil in northern Iraq and at the same time SAMs were firing against US aircraft policing the northern and southern no-fly zones. It didn’t take long until the US responded with attacking 14 targets in the southern no-fly zone with cruise missiles launched from B-52s escorted by F-14s from VF-11 and their sister squadron VF-31. Operation Desert Strike continued on September 4 with another 17 cruise missiles launched from destroyers in the Gulf. To back up the airstrikes the USA and UK announced an extension of the southern no fly zone, north from the 32nd parallel to the 33rd parallel. With the expanded no fly zone VF-11 rose to the challenge and spent the rest of September overflying southern Iraq. On October 1, Vinson left the Gulf and began the voyage home with port calls at Hobart, Tasmania and Pearl Harbor. VF-11 didn’t return to Miramar, instead they, as other Miramar-based F-14s, returned to NAS Oceana. VF-11 also transitioned to the F-14B and changed its carrier air wing affiliation.

January 1997 VF-11 was awarded the Battle E and Clifton Awards and VF-11 pilots reported to VF-101 for their transition to the F-14B and the Red Rippers celebrated their 70th Anniversary. The rest of the year saw extensive Strike Fighter training, carrier qualifications and Forward Air Controller training. In November, VF-11 dropped their very first laser guided bomb, a GBU-16. The move to F-14B was needed due to the limited numbers of F-14D airframes in the fleet, it was impossible to support three active F-14D squadrons, a training unit and various test units. The Rippers began work-ups for their 1998 cruise which featured three firsts, first cruise with CVW-7, first cruise with the F-14B and first cruise with LANTIRN capable F-14's. It was also the first deployment of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). They departed in late February 1998 and crossed the Atlantic, Mediterranean and took up station in the Persian Gulf, relieving the USS George Washington (CVN-73). After the Gulf, Stennis travelled to Australia and Pearl Harbor before the carrier arrived at it’s new home, Naval Air Station North Island.

[edit] 2000s

VF-11 Red Rippers have participated on several deployments in support of Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom (where they dropped JDAM bombs in combat) and Operation Iraqi Freedom Phase II. The last deployment with the F-14 was in 2004 on board USS George Washington in support of Iraqi Freedom. During that cruise F-14s (from both VF-11 and VF-143) would participate in 40 sorties, dropping bombs during a 48 hour period over Fallujah between April 28-April 29. After the cruise, VF-11 began the transition to the F/A-18F Super Hornet and was re-designated VFA-11 and was moved to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (as VFA-103 moved to Carrier Air Wing Seven). From April 2005 to may of 2005 VFA-11 took part in Joining of the Americas on board the USS George Washington. VFA-11 has since moved to Carrier Air Wing Three aboard the USS Truman, sporting the tail code "AC".

In late March 2007, VFA-11 and the rest of CVW-3 embarked on USS Truman for a 25-day Tailored Ship’s Training Availability (TSTA) assessment, evaluating the combat readiness of CVW-3 and USS Truman.^[1].