In March 1943, Lieutenant Moore moved to Pearl Harbor to meet with Fighter Squadron 1 and later that summer VF1 joined the new . The VF-1 squadron was established in March 1943, operating Grumman F6F Hellcats and was assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet to participate in numerous missions during World War II. With Lieutenant Moore as the executive officer, VF1 first fought the Japanese at the Battle of Tarawa, flying off from November 20 to November 22, 1943. The VF-1 squadron flew a total of 106 missions and spent 237 hours of flying time in three days of operations without losing a single plane or pilot.