Second VA-65 (U.S. Navy)

Attack Squadron 65

VA-65 patch
Active 1945–1993
Country United States of America
Branch United States Navy
Type All Weather Attack
Nickname(s) Tigers
Colors Orange and Black
Mascot Tiger and JOBU
Engagements
Alternate VA-65 aircrew patch

Attack Squadron 65 (VA-65), nicknamed The World Famous Fighting Tigers, was an attack squadron of the United States Navy. It was the second squadron to bear the VA-65 designation. The squadron was established as Torpedo Squadron VT-74 in 1945, redesignated as VA-2B in 1946, as VA-25 on 1 September 1948, and finally redesignated VA-65 in 1959. It was disestablished in 1993. Known as "The World Famous Fighting Tigers", VA-65 was one of the last medium attack squadrons to fly the A-6 Intruder and the A-1 Skyraider.[1]

History

The final home base of VA-65 was NAS Oceana, Virginia (full name Apollo Soucek Field), a Master Jet Base. The squadron occupied the spaces of Hangar 122, port side. Hangar 122 is located next to the water tower and field identifier revolving light. These spaces included maintenance areas on the hangar deck, office spaces on the second floor, and offices plus ready room on the top floor.

VA-65 is in US Navy nomenclature, a shortened acronym for ATKRON-65, this stands for Attack Squadron-65, VA is broken into V for fixed-wing, A for attack. Also called the Bombing 65th, as it was an attack [bombing squadron]. VA-65 was fleet based, meaning attached to an aircraft carrier for deployments. Their last cruise was during Desert Storm /Desert Shield in 1990–1991 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). As was common during the Gulf War, many squadrons painted "nose art" on at least one airplane. VA-65 painted a caricature of comic strip cat Garfield, with a large stick and flight helmet, with the caption, "TR's Big Stick"

VA-65 was scheduled to take part in a UNITAS cruise [started in 1959 UNITAS has been instrumental in improving working relationships among U.S. and Latin American naval forces] around the horn of South America [with multiple stops] on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the summer of 1993. Unfortunately the squadron received word it would disestablished before the cruise. In addition the aircraft carrier did a Mediterranean cruise and a short stint in the Red Sea in 1993, not an UNITAS cruise.

Reasons were budgetary in nature, as the VA-65 Tigers were flying the venerable A-6 Intruder which was being phased out in the early 1990s, and was completely removed from service in 1997. At the time, VA-65 had just won the Atlantic Fleet Battle E Award for best Attack Squadron.[1]

Insignia and "The Beast" nickname

The squadron’s first insignia was approved by CNO on 9 August 1945. During the time when the squadron’s insignia was approved, VT-74 was flying the SB2C which was nicknamed "The Beast". Consequently, the squadron’s insignia took on the shape of a beast riding a torpedo. There is no record of the colors used for this insignia.

After VT-74 was redesignated VA-2B, it continued to use the old insignia until 17 April 1947 when CNO approved a new insignia for the squadron. The insignia adopted by VA-2B reflected the squadron’s new attack mission. The horsehead chess piece was designed to relate the squadron’s power to that of a medieval knight and the fleur-de-lis represented integrity. Colors for the insignia were: a yellow background; red scroll with yellow lettering, black banner with a black and white pole; white knight with a yellow collar; a white lightning bolt; and the Fleur-de-lis was red with a black band.

The Knight insignia continued as the official insignia for the squadron following its redesignation to VA-25 on 1 September 1948. A new insignia for VA-25 was approved by CNO on 4 April 1950. The new insignia was a front view of a tiger on the prowl. Colors were: yellow background; brown tiger with green eyes, and white teeth, whiskers and claws; and a red tongue and mouth. When VA-25 was redesignated VA-65 in 1959 the tiger insignia was retained and remained VA-65’s insignia until its disestablishment. Nickname: Tigers 1950–1993.[1]

Desert Storm

The final VA-65, from around the time of Desert Storm to the bitter end in 1993, had a very strong JOPA group. JOPA stands for Junior Officer Protection Association. A group only open to Lieutenants and below that are commissioned officers. Voting in secret sessions, the officers would decide on any thing, from parties to how they were going to act towards certain policies in the Navy and squadron life itself. One of the slogans of JOPA is "No Major Problems" meaning that they do not allow any Lieutenant Commanders or above in the group, as the officer insignia for an LCDR and CDR (Commander) are identical to that US Army, Air Force, and Marine: Major's oak leaf. The last Carrier Air Group VA-65 belonged to was CAG-8, and there was a JOPA edition of the CAG patch [later banned by a subsequent CAG].

Even civilians have had some contact with VA-65. On the final cruise, a "final checker" was sucked into an engine inlet, and was caught on the carrier close circuit TV. Subsequently, this video was shown on multiple TV video shows. the crew member survived, as his shoulder jammed into the "bullet" of the engine, and due to the quick thinking and training of the aircrew (pilot LT. Bill 'Gillie' Gillcrist..B/N LT Chris 'Rasta' Shay) and deck crew, they were able to shut down before he was sucked down through the blades. His cranial and radio equipment were sucked in, and destroyed the engine. Later that night bandaged and bruised he appeared on the closed circuit TV station (TR TV) on the USS Theodore Roosevelt with the boat's CO, and discussed his ordeal.

At one point VA-65's tactical call sign, used when flying, for example "Tiger 06", was something not so tactical ... it was "cupcake". It was suggested by the wife of the VA-65 commanding officer after tiger cubs were born, and one was named "cupcake". The name came back to haunt the squadron after one of its members, LTjg Tracy Thorne, declared he was a homosexual on Ted Koppel's news show, "NightLine". This was one of the first fights over service in the military by open homosexuals.[1]

Assignments

VT-74 Helldiver on the USS Midway in 1946
VA-25 AD-6 on the USS Intrepid in 1957
Patch worn by all A-6 Intruder aircrew
Squadrons
Aircraft
Home ports

Location Assignment Date

Chronology of significant events

VA-65 A-6Es in 1972.
Two A-6Es of VA-65 in 1987

Major overseas deployments

Departure Return Air Wing Carrier Aircraft Area of Operation
29 October 1947 11 March 1948 CVBG-1 CVB 41 AD-1 Med
3 May 1949 25 September 1949 CVG-2 CVB 43 AD-1 Med
10 January 1951 18 May 1951 CVG-6 CVB 42 AD-4 Med
9 January 1952 5 May 1952 CVG-6 CVB 41 AD-4 Med
26 August 1952 8 October 1952 CVG-6 CVB 41 AD-4 NorLant
1 December 1952 19 May 1953 CVG-6 CVA 41 AD-4 Med
4 January 1954 4 August 1954 CVG-6 CVA 41 AD-6 Med
9 October 1955 30 April 1956 CVG-6 CVA 39 AD-6 Med
3 September 1957 21 October 1957 CVG-6 CVA 11 AD-6 NorLant
12 February 1959 30 August 1959 CVG-6 CVA 11 AD-6 Med
4 August 1960 17 February 1961 CVG-6 CVA 11 AD-6 Med
3 August 1961 1 March 1962 CVG-6 CVA 11 AD-6 Med
3 August 1962 11 October 1962 CVG-6 CVAN 65 A-1H Med
19 October 1962 6 December 1962 CVG-6 CVAN 65 A-1H Carib
6 February 1963 4 September 1963 CVG-6 CVAN 65 A-1H Med
8 February 1964 3 October 1964 CVW-6 CVAN 65 A-1H Med/World Cruise
12 May 1966 3 December 1966 CVW-15 CVA 64 A-6A WestPac/Vietnam
6 June 1967 15 September 1967 CVW-17 CVA 59 A-6A WestPac/Vietnam
30 December 1968 4 September 1969 CVW-11 CVA 63 A-6A/B WestPac/Vietnam
23 June 1970 31 January 1971 CVW-7 CVA 62 A-6A Med
16 September 1971 16 March 1972 CVW-7 CVA 62 A-6A/KA-6D NorLant/Med
21 June 1973 19 January 1974 CVW-7 CV 62 A-6E/KA-6D Med
19 July 1974 21 January 1975 CVW-7 CV 62 A-6E/KA-6D Med
15 October 1975 5 May 1976 CVW-7 CV 62 A-6E/KA-6D NorLant/Med
31 March 1977 21 October 1977 CVW-7 CV 62 A-6E/KA-6D Med
16 January 1979 13 July 1979 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Med
15 April 1980 22 December 1980 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D IO
20 August 1981 7 October 1981 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D NorLant
5 January 1982 13 July 1982 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Med
27 April 1983 2 December 1983 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Med
8 May 1984 20 June 1984 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Carib/NorLant
10 October 1984 8 May 1985 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Med
8 July 1985 22 August 1985 CVW-7 CVN 69 A-6E/KA-6D Carib
29 September 1987 28 March 1988 CVW-13 CV 43 A-6E Med
31 May 1989 30 September 1989 CVW-13 CV 43 A-6E Med
28 December 1990 28 June 1991 CVW-8 CVN 71 A-6E Med/Red Sea/Persian Gulf

Air Wing Assignments

Air Wing Tail Code Assignment Date
CVG-74 1 May 1945
CVBG-1* M 15 November 1946
CVG-2† M 1 September 1948
CVG-6 C August 1950
CVG-6 AF‡CVG-6/CVW-6§ AE§ RCVW-4 AD 1 January 1965
COMFAIRNORFOLK 5 June 1965
CVW-15 NL 20 February 1966
COMFAIRNORFOLK 3 December 1966
CVW-17 AA 22 December 1966
COMFAIRNORFOLK 15 September 1967
CVW-11 NH 1968
COMFAIRNORFOLK September 1969
CVW-7 AG February 1970
CVW-13 AK 1 September 1986
CVW-8 AJ 30 October 1989
 * CVG-74 was redesignated CVBG-1 on 15 November 1946.
 † CVBG-1 was redesignated CVG-2 on 1 September 1948.
 ‡ CVG-6’s tail code was changed from C to AF in the latter part of 1957. The effective date was most likely the beginning of FY 58 (1 July 1957).
 § CVG-6’s tailcode was changed from AF to AE sometime in the latter part of 1962. Carrier Air Groups (CVG) were redesignated Carrier Air Wings (CVW) on 20 December 1963, hence, CVG-6 became CVW-6.

Unit Awards

Final VA-65 Battle E patch from Desert Storm
Unit Award
Inclusive Dates Covering Unit Award
 
Navy Battle E Ribbon
1948
1 July 1951 30 June 1952
1 July 1959 30 June 1960
1967
1 October 1977 30 September 1978
1 October 1979 30 September 1980
1 January 1984 31 December 1984
1 January 1991 31 December 1991
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
24 October 1962 21 November 1962
15 May 1969
25 May 1969 27 May 1969
5 June 1969
7 June 1969 15 June 1969
25 June 1969
6 June 1983 14 June 1983
27 July 1983 30 August 1983
1 September 1983 19 October 1983
27 October 1983 20 November 1983
Meritorious Unit Commendation
9 September 1970 5 October 1970
30 March 1988 30 September 1989
Navy Expeditionary Medal
29 April 1980 16 July 1980
22 July 1980 8 December 1980
25 May 1983 27 May 1983
Navy Unit Commendation
12 May 1966 3 December 1966
15 January 1969 27 August 1969
29 April 1980 10 December 1980
21 July 1983 20 November 1983
27 October 1984 24 April 1985
17 January 1991 7 February 1991
Vietnam Service Medal
14 June 1966 13 July 1966
27 July 1966 31 August 1966
8 September 1966 1 October 1966
19 October 1966 9 November 1966
23 July 1967 30 July 1967
12 August 1967
27 January 1969 1 March 1969
12 March 1969 5 April 1969
17 April 1969 10 May 1969
28 June 1969 15 July 1969
27 July 1969 16 August 1969
Kuwait Liberation Medal
7 January 1991 28 February 1991
Southwest Asia Service Medal
(includes Desert Storm)
14 January 1991 20 April 1991
Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation
5 April 1991 16 July 1991
 * The award covers the competitive year 1948.
 † The award covers the competitive year 1967.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons.

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Grossnick, Roy A. (1995). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons, Volume 1, Chapter 2, Section 5: Attack Squadron Histories for VA-64 to VA-75 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. pp. 115–119. Retrieved 2014-02-16.

See also

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