VAW - 122 VAW - 122 ( aka ' STEELJAWS ' , colloquially the " Fightin ' - Bitin ' Steejaws " ) was a U . S . Atlantic Coast VAW squadron ( Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron ) that was stood up on 1 April 1967 and dis - established March 30 , 1996 . When ashore , VAW - 122 was stationed aboard NAS Norfolk , VA . During its 30 years of existence , the high - tempo Steeljaws were deployed around the world and saw action from Vietnam to Desert Storm , conducting operations from the Arctic to the tropics . The Steeljaws conducted Airborne Early Warning , Air Defense , Air Intercept Control , ISR , NCTR activity , Command , Control , Communications and Intelligence ( C4I ) , Strike Control , Combat Search and Rescue ( CSAR ) , Drug Interdiction , Forward Air Control ( FAC ) handoff , Air Traffic Control , Netcentric Warfare , Data Link , and other missions . History . Originally equipped with the E - 2A Hawkeye , VAW - 122 was first on the scene , establishing communications and directing fighter coverage for the USS " Liberty " in the Mediterranean in June 1967 after the intelligence - gathering ship was attacked by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats . During a 1968 deployment on board the USS " America " off Vietnam , VAW - 122 crews assisted a VF - 33 F - 4 Phantom crew in downing a North Vietnamese MiG - 21 fighter as well as controlling interdiction strikes against North Vietnam . After a 1970 deployment to the Mediterranean during the Jordanian crisis with CVW - 7 on board the USS " Independence " , VAW - 122 upgraded to the somewhat more capable E - 2B . The squadron ' s next two deployments to the Mediterranean returned its crews to international crises — the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1974 Cyprus Crisis . In April 1975 , VAW - 122 upgraded to the definitive E - 2C Hawkeye . In 1978 , the squadron rejoined after a Pacific deployment embarked in USS " Kitty Hawk " CVW - 6 and over the next 13 years deployed to the Arabian Sea , Mediterranean , and North Atlantic on board the Independence and the USS " Forrestal " . During the 1983 deployment , VAW - 122 supported combat operations in Grenada and Lebanon , and , on its last combat carrier deployment in 1991 , supported Operation Provide Comfort over Iraq during and subsequent to Operation Desert Storm . Throughout its operational lifetime , VAW - 122 participated in numerous cold - war , North Atlantic , Mediterranean , African , Indian Ocean , Eastern European , and Middle Eastern operations , supported several several NASA Space Shuttle launches , and devised a variety of original operational tactics and procedures ( such as performing ABCCC missions in lieu of other airborne assets ' doing so ) . VAW - 122 made its first major drug - interdiction deployment as a squadron to the Caribbean / Central America in 1990 ( previously it had been smaller detachments of shorter duration beginning in 1983 with Operation Thunderbolt ) , and in 1992 became permanently assigned to this role . By 1996 , the unit had completed eight deployments in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific areas , conducting some missions deep over South or Central America , and far into the Pacific Ocean — and was credited with the seizure of more than 16 metric tons of illegal drugs . VAW - 122 was disestablished at NAS Norfolk on 31 March 1996 . Its drug - interdiction mission and aircraft were assumed by a new reserve squadron at that time , VAW - 77 , stationed at NAS Atlanta , GA . Deployments . Notes :