VF - 33 Fighter Squadron 33 ( VF - 33 ) was an aviation unit of the United States Navy . The first VF - 33 was originally commissioned in 6 August 1942 and disestablished on 19 November 1945 . A second VF - 33 was then reactivated on 11 October 1948 . With the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War , this squadron was disestablished on 1 October 1993 . VF - 33 History . World War II . The first fighter squadron ( " FitRon " in USN parlance ) to be designated as Fighter Squadron 33 ( VF - 33 ) was originally established as VGS - 16 on 6 August 1942 and then redesignated as VC - 16 on 1 March 1943 . VC - 16 was redesignated VF - 33 on 15 August 1943 and equipped with the Grumman F6F Hellcat making their combat debut in the Solomon Islands . VF - 33 was the first US Navy unit to use the F6F in the Solomon Islands campaign , being joined soon after by VF - 38 and VF - 40 . VF - 33 was land based at this time , supporting the island - hopping Pacific War campaign . By the end of 1943 VF - 33 was credited with 60 Japanese aircraft shot down , and had produced three aces ( five or more kills ) ; Lt . ( jg ) Frank E . Schnieder with seven kills , Lt . C . K . Hildebrandt with five kills , and Lt . ( jg ) James J . Kinsella also with five kills , three on VF - 33 , two flying F4F - 4s with VF - 72 . During the Second World War VF - 33 ' s patch was a black " Hellcat " leaping out of red flames on a white circle outlined in red ; the motto " The Hellcats " was written in black script . After the war , VF - 33 was disestablished on 19 November 1945 . Korean War . A second Fighter Squadron 33 was established on 11 October 1948 and equipped with the Chance - Vought F4U - 4 Corsair . It was assigned to Carrier Air Group Three ( CVG - 3 ) and made two deployments on the aircraft carrier . The first was to the Mediterranean Sea in mid - 1950 quickly followed by a combat deployment to Korea from September 1950 to February 1951 . For its action in the Korean war VF - 33 earned the Navy Unit Citation . The squadron called themselves the " Tarsiers " , which was a fierce monkey . The squadron affectionately called their Tarsier " Minky " . Jet transition . Following its deployment to Korea VF - 33 returned to the U . S . East Coast and transitioned to the Grumman F9F - 6 Cougar . The squadron was assigned to Carrier Air Group Six ( CVG - 6 ) and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea aboard the in 1954 . After this tour the " Tarsiers " again transitioned to the North American FJ - 3 Fury and made three deployments in 1956 and 1957 to the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea , this time aboard the carriers , , and . Aboard " Intrepid " VF - 33 took part in the NATO exercise Operation Strikeback . As part of a series of exercises to simulate an all - out Soviet attack on NATO , Operation Strikeback was tasked with two objectives . Its initial objective was the deployment of NATO ' s naval forces ( designated the " Blue Fleet " ) against other NATO forces attempting to simulate an " enemy " navy that featured a large number of submarines ( designated the " Orange Fleet " ) . Its other objective was to have the Blue Fleet execute carrier - based air strikes against " enemy " formations and emplacements along NATO ' s northern flank in Norway . Operation Strikeback involved over 200 warships , 650 aircraft , and 75 , 000 personnel . In 1958 VF - 33 transitioned to the supersonic Grumman F11F - 1 " Tiger " and was renamed " Astronauts " . As part of CVG - 6 VF - 33 made two tours to the Mediterranean Sea aboard the " Intrepid " . In early 1961 the squadron changed already to its fourth jet fighter in seven years , the Vought F8U - 1E Crusader , and changed its name back to " Tarsiers " . VF - 33 took its F8U - 1E ( F - 8B ) again aboard " Intrepid " to the Med in 1961 - 62 and was then equipped with the F8U - 2NE ( F - 8E ) version . The squadron was then deployed aboard the first nuclear - powered aircraft carrier , to the Mediterranean Sea in August 1962 . However , " Enterprise " was recalled in October to reinforce the naval blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis . In 1963 " Enterprise " and CVW - 6 were again deployed to the United States Sixth Fleet , before taking part in Operation Sea Orbit in 1964 . This was the around - the - world cruise of the United States Navy ' s Task Force One , consisting of , , and . This all - nuclear - powered unit steamed 56 , 606 km ( 30 , 565 nm ) unrefuelled around the world for sixty - five days . In 1964 the unit transitioned to the McDonnell F - 4 Phantom II and would fly the Phantom for the next seventeen years alongside its sister squadron VF - 102 . The first VF - 33 Phantom was the F - 4B , which they flew until 1967 at which time they moved up to the F - 4J which featured better radar , higher thrust engines , slatted tailplanes , extra fuel cells and a larger main wheels to handle the increased weight . Between 1965 and 1968 Carrier Air Wing Six made the shakedown cruise and three deployments aboard the . Vietnam operations . It would not take long until VF - 33 deployed to combat in South - East Asia aboard USS " America " . During their time in the theatre VF - 33 would drop over three million pounds of ordnance , flying 4000 combat hours over a period of 5 months . On July 10 , 1968 VF - 33 downed a MiG - 21 , the first air - to - air kill by an East Coast Fighter Squadron over North Vietnam . Middle East crises . After their return , VF - 33 was re - assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seven , and made eight deployments aboard the to the Mediterranean Sea between 1969 and 1981 . In September 1970 " Independence " , , and were deployed to the Middle East in case of any crisis evolving after the death of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser . A real crisis finally evolved in 1973 when Israel took heavy losses during the Yom Kippur War . To support Israel the U . S . initiated Operation Nickel Grass , which was a was an overt strategic airlift operation conducted by the United States to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel during the Yom Kippur War . The Military Airlift Command of the U . S . Air Force shipped 22 , 325 tons of tank s , artillery , ammunition , and supplies in C - 141 Starlifter and C - 5 Galaxy transport aircraft between 12 October and 14 November 1973 . The USAF planes only flew over international waters and were escorted by U . S . Navy fighters over the Mediterranean , provided by " CVW - 1 " ( on " John F . Kennedy " ) , " CVW - 6 " ( on ) and " CVW - 7 " . The carriers operated about every 500 km , " Independence " operating as the eastern - most carrier off Crete . The carriers also served as refueling stops for Douglas A - 4E " Skyhawk " fighters , which were taken from U . S . Navy stocks to replace the losses of the Israeli Air Force . VF - 33 won several awards including the CNO Safety Award in 1969 and 1970 and during the 1975 – 1976 cruise they won the Golden Tailhook Award as the Navy recognised their skill at carrier landing . In February 1979 VF - 33 had flown three years without accident . In early 1979 VF - 33 also operated from the during that carrier ' s shakedown cruise . Tomcat transition . In 1981 VF - 33 transitioned to the Grumman F - 14A Tomcat along with VF - 102 and joined Carrier Air Wing One assigned to . Until 1992 VF - 33 made twelve deployments with CVW - 1 aboard the " America " to the Atlantic Ocean , the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean . Their first deployment was a grueling North Atlantic NATO deployment ( Northern Wedding ) between August and October 1982 . VF - 33 has used stars as part of their tail markings since the Crusader days and settled on a large star for their latter F - 4 tenure and as the main symbol on the Tomcat . In 1987 , they abandoned " Minky " and changed their name from " Tarsiers " to " Starfighters " , which was their radio callsign . The new patch featured a large star with a head - on view of a Tomcat . On 20 August 1985 VF - 33 was the first squadron to complete 50 missile firings without a single failure . Gulf of Sidra operations . In March 1986 VF - 33 would bring their F - 14s into a combat environment for the first time on board USS " America " with Carrier Air Wing 1 as they took part in Operation Attain Document in the Mediterranean Sea alongside the " Saratoga " and . VF - 33 engaged two Libyan MiG - 25 s with intent on shooting down the F - 14s , but the Tomcats outmaneuvered the Libyans and ended behind the Libyan fighters , but the pilots did not have permission to open fire . Along with VF - 102 they provided air cover during the operation as the carrier group moved into the Gulf of Sidra , which was claimed by Libya to be the Line of Death . Libya claimed its territorial waters extended across the entire Gulf of Sidra as opposed to the internationally recognised limit of 12 miles , and because of this claim , any airplane or ship within these waters was in Libyan territory and liable to attack . US carriers occasionally challenged this assertion resulting in the first VF - 41 Tomcat engagements with Libyan fighters in August 1981 . On 15 April 1986 , after a terrorist attack on disco hall La Belle in Berlin , killing two American servicemen and a Turkish woman , President Ronald Reagan ordered airstrikes , called Operation El Dorado Canyon , against targets in Libya . F - 111 bombers based at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Upper Heyford in the United Kingdom attacked targets in Tripoli while U . S . Navy A - 6 Intruder s from " America " and " Coral Sea " attacked targets in Benghazi . Navy and United States Marine Corps F / A - 18 Hornet s and Navy A - 7 ’ s attacked surface - to - air missile sites with AGM - 88 HARM missiles . F - 14 squadrons deployed in the Mediterranean , including VF - 33 , flew cover for the strike force . In 1986 , VF - 33 flew 895 continuous sorties without an abort . In 1987 VF - 33 made a short cruise on board the Navy ’ s newest carrier , the . After workups in 1988 , VF - 33 deployed on board " America " to the North Atlantic in February 1989 , and again for a six - month Med - IO cruise from May through November . In February 1990 VF - 33 made a two and a half month transit from San Diego to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard providing fighter protection as the carrier made the journey around the southern tip of South America . VF - 33 took part in several joint exercises with South American nations during the transit . Desert Storm operations . When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 , four aircraft carriers were deployed to the region to provide carrier based air support for Operation Desert Shield . As the deadline for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait approached in January 1991 , " Theodore Roosevelt " and " America " deployed to the region via the Suez Canal . VF - 33 deployed with USS " America " arriving just as Operation Desert Storm commenced . " America " flew sorties alongside " John F . Kennedy " and " Saratoga " in the Red Sea before moving to the Persian Gulf to join , and " Theodore Roosevelt " . VF - 33 and her sister squadron VF - 102 were the only Tomcat squadrons to fly missions from both the Red Sea and Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm . Disestablishment . In 1993 a VF - 33 airframe became the first F - 14 to log 5 , 000 flight hours . When the Navy decided to assign only a single TARPS Tomcat squadron per carrier air wing after the end of the Cold War , VF - 33 was not TARPS capable and despite the squadron ' s success in Desert Storm , it was disestablished on 1 October 1993 . However , the tradition of VF - 33 lives on through a very active alumni group that hosts a website and periodic reunions .