VFA-41

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Strike Fighter Squadron Four One


caption= VFA-41 Insignia
dates= June 1, 1945
country= United States
allegiance=
branch= US Navy
type= Fighter Attack
role= Close air support
Air interdiction
Aerial reconnaissance
size=
command_structure= Carrier Air Wing 11
garrison= Naval Air Station Lemoore
equipment= F/A-18F Super Hornet
current_commander= Commander Robert R. Osterhoudt
notable_commanders= Captain(deceased) Henry (Hank) Kleeman
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_2=
nickname= "Black Aces"
patron=
motto= First to Fight, First to Strike
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles= Yom Kippur War
Cuban Missile Crisis
Vietnam War
Iranian Hostage Crisis
Operation Desert Shield
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Provide Comfort
Operation Deliberate Force
Operation Deny Flight
Operation Southern Watch
Operation Allied Force
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
anniversaries=
decorations= COMNAVAIRLANT Safety “S” Award, 1975
COMNAVAIRLANT Safety “S” Award, 1981
COMNAVAIRLANT Safety “S” Award, 1989
COMNAVAIRLANT Safety “S” Award, 1992
Battle Efficiency "E", 1981
Battle Efficiency "E", 1985
Battle Efficiency "E", 1989
RADM Clarence Wade McClusky Award
battle_honors=

VFA-41 Strike Fighter Squadron 41 (VFA-41) also known as the "Black Aces" is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Lemoore California.

The "Black Aces" are an operational fleet squadron that flies the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The Black Aces are attached to Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11), and is currently deployed aboard the USS|Nimitz|CVN-68. Their radio callsign is "Fast Eagle" and their tailcode is NH.

Mission

Insignia and nickname

History

1940s

The “Fighting Forty-One” began on June 1, 1945 when it was commissioned at NAS Chincoteague, Virginia, flying the F4U Corsair. In July 1948, the squadron was designated Fighter Squadron 3B (VF-3B), only to be re-designated VF-41 in September of the same year. The squadron made early deployments to the Mediterranean aboard USS|Franklin D. Roosevelt|CV-42|6 and USS|Midway|CV-41|6.

1950s

After being decommissioned for a short period, the "Black Aces" were re-commissioned in 1950 at NAS Oceana. The "Black Aces" began flying the F2H Banshee in 1953, deploying to the Mediterranean and Far East aboard USS|Independence|CV-62|6. In 1959, the Banshee was replaced by the F3H Demon.

1960s

In February 1962, VF-41 transitioned to the F-4 Phantom and made a special deployment to Key West, Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In May 1965, the "Black Aces" deployed to the western Pacific for seven months of combat operations in Vietnam. They flew a wide range of missions: fighter cover, reconnaissance escort, flak suppression and day/night interdiction.

1970s

The next deployment [(Flying the F-4J)] was on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. They were part of the peacekeeping force that helped keep the truce after the October War.

In 1975, VF-41 transitioned from the F-4B to the F-4N and conducted their last cruise with the "Phantom" aboard "Roosevelt". During that year VF-41 was awarded the COMNAVAIRLANT Safety “S”, which they also would receive in 1981, 1989 and 1992. In April 1976 VF-41 transitioned to the F-14 Tomcat and their first cruise began in December 1977 as part of CVW-8 on the USS|Nimitz|CVN-68|6, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to join the Atlantic Fleet. More cruises followed in 1978 and 1979, both to the Mediterranean Sea.

1980s

In 1980, "Nimitz" and CVW-8 took part in a round the world cruise. While on this cruise, the carrier served as the seaborne base in response to the Iran hostage crisis and the subsequent attempted rescue of the U.S. Embassy hostages from Iran. VF-41 (and the rest of the battle group) spent 144 continuous days at sea, the longest period the squadron had spent at sea without break since World War II.

During workups for the 1981-1982 Mediterranean cruise, an EA-6B Prowler crashed on the deck of the "Nimitz" which caused damage and started fires. VF-41 lost three sailors and three F-14s were destroyed.

While on deployment in the Mediterranean Sea on August 19, 1981, during a routine combat air patrol mission over the Gulf of Sidra, two Libyan Su-22 “Fitter” aircraft were shot down by "Black Aces" aircraft. The incident marked the first Navy air combat confrontation since the Vietnam War and the first ever for the F-14A Tomcat. It was the first time a variable wing geometry aircraft shot down another variable wing geometry aircraft. 1981 was also the first year in which the Black Aces won the COMNAVAIRLANT Battle Efficiency "E", signifying them as the most efficient squadron in the Atlantic Fleet. VF-41 was also awarded the Battle “E” in 1985 and 1989.

In November 1982, the squadron embarked on an extended deployment off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon, in support of a multinational peacekeeping force.

During 1985, VF-41 spent 68 days off the coast of Lebanon in response to the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. If not that situation had been solved by other means, it's quite probable that VF-41 (and its sister squadron VF-84) would have been employed in the same way as VF-74 and VF-103 during the Achille Lauro incident, to intercept the hijackers and force them down to be arrested.

The 1986 cruise was the last with "Nimitz"; it began in December and ended in June 1987 when "Nimitz" got to her new home in San Diego. In October that year, CVW-8 was deployed with USS|Theodore Roosevelt|CVN-71|6 and the first cruise was in the North Atlantic for Exercise Teamwork ’88 which involved operations with the Royal Norwegian Air Force and the first Mediterranean deployment was in December.

1990s

On December 28, 1990, VF-41 embarked on "Theodore Roosevelt" to support Operation Desert Shield, arriving in the Persian Gulf shortly after hostilities with Iraq began. By the end of the war, the squadron had amassed over 1,500 combat flight hours. After the war, the "Black Aces" remained in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea as part of a military presence enforcing the Operation Desert Storm cease fire until late April 1991, when the squadron was tasked with providing air support for ground forces assisting Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort.

VF-41 was soon training for the F-14’s new role: air-to-ground bombing. In late 1991, VF-41 had flown over 46,500 hours without an accident over a period of 11 years.

In 1995 VF-84 was disestablished and VF-41 picked up the TARPS mission. The disestablishment of VF-84 was the only occasion in which a TARPS capable unit was disestablished instead of a non-TARPS capable unit.

In early 1995 VF-41 deployed on a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and the Adriatic Sea. During this cruise VF-41 conducted combat operations in support of Operation Deliberate Force and Operation Deny Flight over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. On September 5 1995, two VF-41 F-14A’s dropped laser-guided bombs for the first time in combat during Operation Deliberate Force. The target was an ammunition dump in eastern Bosnia. The bombs were guided by F/A-18s. VF-41 adopted the slogan “First To Fight, First To Strike” in recognition of being the first F-14 squadron to score air-to-air kills and drop bombs in combat. During this deployment VF-41 logged over 600 combat hours and 530 sorties.

In 1996, VF-14 joined VF-41 in CVW-8.

In 1999, USS "Theodore Roosevelt" departed for the Mediterranean and joined NATO forces for Operation Allied Force. VF-41’s first strike was against an ammunition storage facility in Pristina, Kosovo on April 6. Their targets were destroyed with laser guided bombs and everything within a three block radius was destroyed. The resulting fire would continue for a week and other pilots would use it as a directional beacon.

VF-41 would plan and lead one of air wing’s most successful missions during the war, against the Podgorica airbase in Montenegro which posed a great threat to US Army AH-64 Apache helicopters in Albania. The Serbs had moved a significant number of attack aircraft to the base and General Wesley Clark wanted the airbase destroyed. The airbase sat at the base of a mountain and the primary target was a huge underground hangar dug into the mountain. VF-41’s F-14’s carried GBU-24s and attacked the main target. By the end of the mission on April 15, F-14s, EA-6Bs and F/A-18s destroyed runways, hangars, MiG-21s, surface-to-air missile sites and other targets in four waves.

In July, "Theodore Roosevelt" was ordered to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, where VF-41 became the first squadron to expend ordnance in two theatres on a single deployment.

The squadron won the RADM Wade McClusky Award in 1999, which previously been given only to A-6 and F/A-18 units. This marked the first time an F-14 squadron won the award.

2000s

In April 2001, VF-41 embarked on their final F-14 cruise aboard USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6, supporting Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom. As the carrier headed for home, they were given order to head to the North Persian Gulf after the September 11, 2001 Attacks. During the build-up to war, VF-41 conducted several TARPS missions near the Pakistani/Afghani-border. [Tony Holmes (2008). "F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Enduring Freedom, Osprey Publishing Limited - Chapter One – Build-up To War, page 22] .

The USS "Enterprise"/CVW-8 were the night carrier during OEF and thus didn’t see action until October 8, when VF-41 attacked several cave complexes. [Tony Holmes (2008). "F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Enduring Freedom, Osprey Publishing Limited - Chapter Two – OEF Begins, pages 32-37] . One of the first target hit was the Shindand airbase, in western Afghanistan, where the Taliban were storing aircraft, radar and vehicles. Upon return to the US in November, VF-41 had dropped over 200,000 lbs of ordnance (202 laser guided bombs) [Tony Holmes (2008). "F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Enduring Freedom, Osprey Publishing Limited - Chapter Three – Ground War, page 52] .

Shortly after their return in late 2001, VF-41 transitioned to the F/A-18F Super Hornet and was redesignated VFA-41.

On October 18, 2002 four VFA-41 aviators were killed when two F/A-18Fs collided in mid-air off the coast of California.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Two F/A-18Es (VFA-14) and two F/A-18Fs (VFA-41) were forward deployed to USS "Abraham Lincoln" in late March 2003. These F/A-18s were requested to boost the aerial refueling capabilities of CVW-14, as well as to provide additional qualified Forward Air Controllers. The F/A-18s flew from "Nimitz" to "Lincoln", a 2700-mile trip. On April 6, the Hornets returned to "Nimitz". During the war VFA-41 expended laser guided bombs, as well as JDAM and AGM-65 Maverick missiles.

In May of 2005 VFA-41 again deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2007 VFA-41 deployed aboard "Nimitz" for a WESTPAC cruise and participated in Operation Valiant Shield, a joint-force exercise in the vicinity of Guam.

On January 18, 2008, it was announced that CVW-11 would deploy on January 24 to the Pacific for a surge-deployment aboard "Nimitz" [ [http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34414 Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Set to Deploy] ] . On February 13, 2008, it was reported that several Russian Tu-95 bombers were intercepted over the Pacific by F/A-18s from "Nimitz" while on a surge deployment in the region. One Tu-95 was escorted and flew directly over the carrier at 2000 feet, escorted by VFA-41 Hornets. [ [http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=55192 Picture of one Tu-95 intercepted by an F/A-18F] ] [ [http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=55193 Picture of one Tu-95 intercepted by an F/A-18 Super Hornet] ] . The Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughead called the incident “benign” [ [http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34966 CNO Calls USS "Nimitz" Incident 'Benign'] ] and said: “they came out to look. We joined up (and) flew with them until they went home”. A total of four Russian bombers were involved; two remained about 500 miles east of the carrier strike group, and another orbited about 50 miles away as one Tu-95 did two low passes over the Nimitz carrier group.During the 2008 deployment, the squadron was featured on PBS's "Carrier".

After their return to the United States, VFA-41 began trading in their Lot 26 F/A-18Fs for Lot 30 F/A-18Fs which are fitted with AESA radar technology [ [http://www.csfwp.navy.mil/VFA-41/westpac2008.html Black Aces Return from 2008 WESTPAC] ] .

References

cite web
title = Global Security.org: Strike Fighter Squadron 41
url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/vfa-41.htm
accessdate = 2006-10-31

cite web
title = Official Website: Strike Fighter Squadron 41
url= http://www.lemoore.navy.mil/vfa-41/
accessdate = 2006-10-31
* [http://www.tomcatalley.com/squadron/vf41hist.htm VF-41 History]
* [http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-history-combat.htm#terror Strike missions against terror]
*Tony Holmes (2005). "US Navy F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom", Osprey Publishing Limited.
*Robert K. Wilcox (2002). "Black Aces High", St. Martin's Press.
*Tony Holmes (2005). "US Navy Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom Part One", Osprey Publishing Limited.

External links

* [http://www.csfwp.navy.mil/VFA-41/ Strike Fighter Squadron 41] (official site)

ee also

*Naval aviation
*Modern US Navy carrier air operations
*List of military aircraft of the United States (naval) / List of US Naval aircraft
*United States Naval Aviator
*Military aviation
*List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons
*List of Inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons