VFA - 201 The VFA - 201 , Strike Fighter Squadron was an aviation unit of the United States Naval Reserve based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth , Texas ( USA ) . It was established in 1970 as part of Reserve Carrier Air Wing 20 ( CVWR - 20 ) and disestablished in 2007 . During its service VFA - 201 could be identified by the tail code " AF - 1XX " and their nickname is " Hunters " . History . The United States Naval Reserve fighter squadron VF - 201 was established at NAS Dallas on 25 July 1970 , succeeding VF - 124D1 . It first flew the Vought F - 8H Crusader , and in 1976 it transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F - 4N Phantom II . In 1984 the squadron transitioned to the F - 4S , the most advanced Phantom to enter service with the United States Navy . Soon the U . S . Navy moved to the policy that reserve units would have the same equipment as front line units , VF - 201 transitioned to the Grumman F - 14A Tomcat in early 1987 and was the last Navy squadron to fly F - 4 ' s . It took six months to complete the transition and soon VF - 201 was carrier qualified on board the aircraft carrier . Even some of the F - 14As received came directly from the production line at Grumman , and the unit received the final F - 14A ever built . Within years the squadron was capable of dropping unguided bombs , cluster munitions TALD decoys , air laid mines , practice bombs , marker flares and various laser - guided bomb s as the F - 14 was reconfigured as a strike fighter . In 1993 they won the Battle “ E ” award and in 1994 the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) Safety “ S ” award . The strike capability of the F - 14 has been proven in exercises such as the deployment the squadron made to NAS Fallon in 1995 as part of training for the reserve air wing CVWR - 20 . Later the unit would also be able to conduct TARPS reconnaissance missions , which were originally carried out by VF - 202 . But as some front line F - 14 squadrons saw disestablishment during the 1990s , so did the two reserve fighter squadrons and VF - 202 was disestablished . Due to budgetary cutbacks in active fleet aggressor squadrons , VF - 201 also began flying as aggressors when needed . In 1996 VF - 201 , along with the rest of RCVW - 20 , deployed on the , during this deployment VF - 201 had the opportunity to fire live weapons . The unit fired 7 AIM - 9 Sidewinder s , 6 AIM - 7 Sparrow s and 1 AIM - 54 Phoenix , two additional Phoenix missiles were planned to be fired but due to technical difficulties this was aborted . VF - 201 also dropped 17 , 000 lb of bombs . In July 1996 VF - 201 deployed to NAS Key West in Florida to provide dissimilar air training for VFA - 106 " Gladiators " , the U . S . East Coast F / A - 18 training squadron . In August and September the same year , VF - 201 deployed to NAS Oceana and got to fire two Phoenix missiles as well as participating in the SFARP ( Strike Fighter Air Readiness Program ) course . In November 1996 VF - 201 deployed to NAS Fallon where they provided Dissimilar Air Combat Training ( DACT ) for Carrier Air Wing Two . After this deployment to NAS Fallon , VF - 201 moved to NAS Fort Worth . In 1997 the " Hunters " deployed for three days with six aircraft to Elmendorf AFB , Alaska for Exercise " Arctic Express 1 - 97 " . Originally this deployment had been scheduled for an active F - 14 squadron , but they were unable to attend and so VF - 201 filled the slot . Less than two weeks later . In late January , VF - 201 took part in a scheduled deployment to NAS Fallon and the squadron dropped 195 , 000 lb of ordnance and shoot 3500 rounds of 20 mm cannon ammo . In March , VF - 201 deployed to NAS Key West for a two - week detachment providing training to new F - 14 crews from VF - 101 . In January 1999 the " Hunters " transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F / A - 18A Hornet , because the F - 14 Tomcat was out of production and the Navy wanted the ones the Reserves were using , and were re - designated VFA - 201 to signify its multi - mission capability as a strike fighter squadron . Some of their deployments included : Carrier detachments : USS Dwight D . Eisenhower , USS John F . Kennedy , USS Kitty Hawk , and the USS John C . Stennis . Tours of Duty locations : Roosevelt Roads , Puerto Rico , Sigonella Airbase , Sicily , Key West NAS , FL . , Fallon , NV . , Oceana , VA . , Point Magu , CA . , and Eglin AFB , FL . 2003 combat deployment . VFA - 201 was the seventh tactical Navy reserve squadron mobilized since the Korean War ( three East Coast based and three West Coast based USNR squadrons were activated during the Vietnam war on 28 January 1968 ) , but were the only squadron to actually deploy for combat operations . After completing the Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program ( SFARP ) from their home base in Fort Worth and the Carrier Air Wing Eight coordinated strike detachment in Fallon , Nevada , they deployed on board from 6 January to 29 May 2003 , where they received numerous awards for their performance over Iraq during the first phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom . In fact , the squadron delivered over 220 , 000 pounds of ordnance on Iraq targets . Additionally , VFA - 201 had an unprecedented 84 . 6 target acquisition rate during Iraqi Freedom and won the Carrier Air Wing Eight landing grade competition for their entire workup and combat deployment . Decommissioning . VFA - 201 was officially deactivated on 30 June 2007 , and all hardware assets transferred to their sister squadron , VFA - 204 , or other active duty Navy and Marine Corps units .