Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72) was an aviation unit of the
U.S. Navy. It was established as Bomber Fighter Squadron 18 (VBF-18) on 25 January 1945. The squadron was redesignated as Fighter Squadron 8A (VF-8A) on 15 November 1946, as VF-72 on 28 July 1948, and finally as VA-72 on 3 January 1956. It was disestablished on 30 June 1991.[1]
The squadron's nickname from 1945 to 1950 was "Bearcats", followed by "Hawks" until 1962, and the Blue Hawks from that point forward. Its first insignia, a bearcat, was approved in 1946; a new one, featuring a
peregrine falcon, was approved in 1950. Its last insignia, with a blue hawk, was current from 1956 until the squadron's disestablishment 35 years later.[2]
22 October–22 November 1962: Participated in the
Cuban Quarantine while embarked on Independence.
10–16 May 1963: A detachment of three aircraft deployed on
USS Wasp to provide courier service during a
Project Mercury space flight of the
Faith 7 capsule.
17 October 1965: The squadron’s executive officer, Commander H. B. Southworth, led the first successful strike against a surface-to-air
SA-2 missile installation in
North Vietnam. The strike was composed of four VA-72 A-4Es and one A-6A from
VA-75.
October 1973: With the outbreak of the
Yom Kippur War, Kennedy and her air wing, while operating in the
North Atlantic after just completing a Mediterranean deployment, were ordered back to the Mediterranean. VA-72 conducted flight operations while the carrier was on station south of
Crete, from the latter part of October through mid November.
17–19 September 1985: VA-72, along with other units of
CVW-1, were the first to conduct flight operations from a carrier operating inside a
fjord.
USS America operated in
Vestfjorden,
Norway, during this evolution.
22–27 March 1986: During
Freedom of Navigation Exercises in the
Gulf of Sidra and the resulting combat action with
Libyan forces, VA-72 flew patrols to protect the task force from attack by surface ships or submarines and also provided
aerial refueling missions for fighters flying
combat air patrols.
September–October 1990 and December 1990–January 1991: The squadron participated in
Operation Desert Shield, the buildup of American and Allied forces to counter a threatened invasion of
Saudi Arabia by
Iraq and as part of an economic blockade of Iraq to force its withdrawal from
Kuwait.
17 January 1991:
Operation Desert Storm, combat operations to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait, was launched. The squadron’s A-7Es participated in the first combat strike against Iraqi targets in
Baghdad.
29 January 1991: Squadron aircraft flew their first combat mission in the Kuwait theater, striking Iraqi troops, tanks and artillery positions.
27 February 1991: Squadron aircraft participated in the last naval air combat strike of the war, hitting retreating Iraqi troops east of
Najaf, Iraq. During the 43 days of war the squadron flew 362 sorties without the loss of a pilot or aircraft.
8 June 1991: The last two squadron aircraft participated in the Desert Storm Victory Parade
flyover in Washington, D.C.[2]
Home port assignments
The squadron was assigned to these home ports, effective on the dates shown:[2]