VF-21

The VF-21 "Freelancers" was a U.S. Navy fighter squadron flying the F-14 Tomcat until disestablished in 1996.

History

VF-21 "Freelancers" was first established in 1944 as VF-81, acquiring its last designation in 1959, thus becoming the second US Navy squadron to be designated VF-21. VF-21 Freelancers was formed at Alameda, California July 1 1959 when VF-64 was redesignated as part of the United States Navy to “tidy-up” the Carrier Air Groups. Operational control was given to "Carrier Air Group 2" and VF-21 was part of "Carrier Air Group 2" for the next 20 years. The VF-21 embarked on it’s major deployment with the McDonnell F3H-2 Demon on USS Midway (CV-41) in mid August the 1959. In June 1961 VF-21 was reassigned to Miramar it was here VF-21 transitioned to the F-4 Phantom in 1963 and between November of that year to March 1964 it would be the last peace-time cruise for the next 10 years. VF-21 returned to sea in March 1965 and were bound for the Vietnam war and VF-21's first aerial victories would be the first confirmed kills achieved by a U.S. Navy fighter squadron during the course of that long conflict. On June 17 1965 Commander Louis Page and Lieutenant John Smith destroyed a MiG-17 with an AIM-7 Sparrow and moments later Lieutenant Jack Batson, jr and Lieutenant Commander Robert Doremus destroyed another MiG-17 with an "Sparrow" missile. VF-21 made six further deployments to the war zone aboard the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS Ranger (CVA-61) between 1966 and 1973. In 1968 VF-21 upgraded to the F-4J and continued to operate this model until 1979.

Some important changes were faced by VF-21 in the end of the 1970s. By December 1979 VF-21 was re-equipped with the F-4S, but it was decided that the F-4S was not ideally suited to be used from the "USS Coral Sea" which VF-21 would deploy on the next cruise, and instead VF-21 deployed with the less effective F-4N which it was decided better suited for the "Coral Sea". CVW-14 assigned control over VF-21 and the squadron returned to sea in 1981, spending seven months in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. A new deployment followed in 1983, where VF-21 was one of several squadrons that took part in the "Coral Sea"´s world cruise of that year which culminated in a change of fleet assignment to conduct operations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The 1983 tour was also noteworthy in that it marked the last occasion on which US Navy "Phantom"s were to deploy from a US base, VF-21 joining with sister squadron VF-154 in a nostalgic and impressive final "fly-in" to Miramar in mid-September. Although this was not the end of the F-4, some aircraft lingered on until November 4, VF-21 and VF-154 participated in a ceremony which was the end of an era, these two were the last US based squadrons to fly F-4s (although there were two forward deployed squadrons continued to operate the F-4). VF-21 now transitioned to the F-14 "Tomcat", the process was managed by VF-124 and it was not until later half of 1984 that VF-21 was declared fully operational, the first cruise was on with CVW-14 aboard USS Constellation (CV-64) in early 1985. A significant cruise for VF-21, this cruise was more memorable as the debut of the F/A-18 Hornet.

In 1987, VF-21 launched AIM-7 Sparrow missiles against an Iranian F-4 that had engaged an P-3 Orion in the Persian Gulf.

A number of cruises followed until 1990 when the squadron, with the rest of its air wing, moved to the USS Independence (CV-62). The carrier was the first to reach the Persian Gulf in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. However, the squadron did not take part in Operation Desert Shield, as by that time the carrier had returned to the US, but VF-21 played an important part in protecting the build up of allied forces in the Persian Gulf.

In August of 1991 the squadron moved to Japan, when "USS Independence" took over the role of USS Midway in being the only carrier home ported outside the USA, at Yokosuka. During this change the squadron stayed with the same carrier but moved air wings, from CVW-14 to CVW-5. This was, because the "Midway" air wing had been without "Tomcat"s, as the older ship could not accommodate the F-14's size and weight. During the whole VF-21’s F-14 career VF-21 has been partnered by VF-154. The last cruise of the "Independence" was not without incident or tension. Along with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), "Independence" and her air wing were involved in operations to demonstrate US resolve in support of Taiwan. The 1995 Chinese military exercises once raised tension in the region and signalled China's opposition to Taiwans' Presidential Election.VF-21 returned from deployment onboard the "Independence" in late 1995. Unfortunately this was their last at sea period and the squadron was soon after disestablished, the official ceremony was on the January 31 1996.

References

* [http://www.tomcatalley.com/squadron/vf21hist.htm VF-21 History]
* [http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-squadron-vf021.htm VF-21 Freelancer History]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/taiwan_strait.htm Taiwan Strait 1995-1996 crisis]
*F-14s And The Tanker War