VF-101
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VF-101 Grim Reapers were the F-14 training unit of the United States Navy for all the east coast F-14's until the mid-1990's when the west coast training unit was disestablished and VF-101 became the sole F-14 training unit at Naval Air Station Oceana until disestablished in 2005.
History
VF-10 Grim Reapers
The original Grim Reapers were activated on June 3, 1942 as VF-10 and NAS San Diego flying the F4F Wildcat. They were deployed with USS Enterprise (CV-6) to the Southern Pacific where they participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal. After their return to the U.S. and NAS Sand Point they transitioned to the F6F-3 Hellcat and once again deployed to the South Pacific with the Enterprise. During their second combat tour, VF-10 participated in operations in the Marshall Islands, Jaluit, Emirau, Western Caroline Islands, Hollandia, Truk Lagoon and the Battle of the Philippine Sea (Marianas Turkey Shoot). The squadron returned to the East Coast at NAS Atlantic City and transitioned to the F4U-D Corsair and took part in strikes against Ryukyu Islands, Kyushu, Okinawa and the Wake Island. VF-10 returned to NAS Alameda where it was decommissioned in November 1945.VF-101
VF-101 Grim Reapers were commissioned at NAS Cecil Field on May 1, 1952, the lineage of the present squadron goes back to 1952, and the two squadrons only share the name Grim Reapers. VF-101 flew the FG1-D Corsair and participated in the Korean War and later in 1952 VF-101 received the jet powered F2H-1 Banshee and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. In 1956 they transitioned to the F4D-1 Skyray, their first radar equipped aircraft. In April 1958 VF-101 was merged with the Fleet All Weather Training Unit Atlantic and thus stopped being a deployable unit and began to train all weather fighter pilots on both the F4D-1 and the F3H-2 Demon. In becoming part of the training structure, VF-101 became part of Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4. In June 1960, VF-101 established “Detachment A” at NAS Oceana which where to operate the F4H-1 and later the F-4 Phantom.
In the end of 1962, the Skyray and the Demon had been phased out in favour of the F-4 and Detachment A was disestablished and the F-4 training moved to NAS Key West. On May 1, 1966 a new detachment was formed at NAS Oceana which took over the training of replacement pilots and RIO’s in the areas of aerial refuelling, carrier qualification and conventional weapons. The Key West unit concentrated on air-to-air combat, missile firing and radar intercept techniques. In August 1967 VF-101 introduced the second generation F-4, the F-4J, to squadron service. VF-101’s administrative command, Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4, was disestablished on June 1, 1970, with VF-101 shifting control of Command Fleet Air Key West, but this moved lasted only a year, and the Grim Reapers moved from NAS Key West was completed with a detachment remaining at Key West. Their third change of control happened in July when they moved under the command of Commander Fighter Wing 1.
In January 1976 VF-101 time with the F-14 Tomcat started, they trained Tomcat air and ground crews as well as those of the F-4. Their transitioned to the F-14 began in June to support VF-41 and VF-84 in their move from the F-4N to the F-14A. In 1975 and 1976 they were awarded the CNO Aviation Safety Awards and in November 1976 the unit received its fourth Safety Citation due to 36 continuous months without accident. As the Navy got more and more F-14s, it was decided to form separate units for both F-14 and F-4 training and on August 5, 1977 VF-101 was split into two squadrons. VF-101 continued to train F-14 crews on the east coast while a new squadron VF-171, was established to carry on the F-4 east coast training. VF-171 was disestablished in 1984 as the F-4 had been phased out of service.
In 1986 VF-101 had completed 3 years of accident free operations earning them another Safety Citation and in March 1988 they received a third CNO Safety Award. The same year, VF-101 began to receive the F-14A+ (now F-14B), which cured the most serious problem of the F-14, that of sensitive and troublesome engines, the new engines also had improved fuel economy and 14,600 pounds-force (65,000 newtons) of thrust over the F-14A. The new fuel economy gave the F-14B one third more time on-station and sixty percent more range. On September 12, 1990 VF-101 opened another new door for the F-14, dropping Mark 84 bombs. Due to these efforts, the F-14 community was trying to persuade policy makers to restart the F-14 production, but instead it led to the F-14’s role as a strike fighter, rather then an air-to-air fighter.
VF-124 was disestablished in 1994 and VF-101 became the sole F-14 training unit and created a detachment at NAS Miramar to train crews and ground personnel on the F-14A and D (the F-14B is only flown by east coast squadrons). The aircraft of the Miramar detachment were all numbered in the 200 series while those based in Oceana were numbered in the 100 series. When NAS Miramar became MCAS Miramar in 1996, all F-14 squadrons were moved to NAS Oceana, as well as the VF-101 detachment, although VF-101 maintained its NAS Key West detachment until VF-101 was disestablished. VF-101’s weapons training encompasses a whole range of air-to-ground weapons, from general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, naval mines, laser-guided bombs, air-launched decoys, JDAM weapons and air-to-air weapons.
Several VF-101 aircraft also featured the markings of disestablished F-14 squadrons—among them were VF-1, VF-21, VF-24, VF-33, and VF-74. As the only F-14 training unit until its disestablishment in 2005, VF-101 had around 130 F-14s of all three variants as well as a small number of T-34 Mentors for currency training and range control work.
References
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