VF - 101 Fighter Squadron 101 , also known as VF - 101 and the " Grim Reapers " , was a United States Navy F - 14 Fleet Replacement Squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana until disestablishment in 2005 . After the west coast F - 14 FRS , VF - 124 , was disestablished in the mid - 1990s , VF - 101 became the sole F - 14 FRS . It has since been reactivated as Strike Fighter Squadron 101 ( VFA - 101 ) , the sole single - site F - 35C Fleet Replacement Squadron as a subordinate unit of the joint 33d Fighter Wing ( 33 FW ) at Eglin AFB , Florida . History . Two distinct squadrons have been called the " Grim Reapers " , VF - 10 and later VF - 101 , which is the main subject of this article . Officially , the US Navy does not recognize a direct lineage with disestablished squadrons if a new squadron is formed with the same designation or nickname . Often , the new squadron will assume the nickname , insignia , and traditions of the earlier squadrons . 1950s . On May 1 , 1952 , VF - 101 was commissioned at NAS Cecil Field , Florida . This new squadron assumed the nickname and traditions of the previous " Grim Reapers " and flew the FG1 - D Corsair in the Korean War . Later in 1952 VF - 101 received the jet - powered F2H - 1 Banshee and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea . In 1956 they transitioned to the F4D - 1 Skyray , their first radar equipped aircraft . In April 1958 , VF - 101 was merged with the Fleet All Weather Training Unit Atlantic and began to train all weather fighter pilots on both the F4D - 1 and the F3H - 2 Demon . In becoming part of the training structure , VF - 101 became part of Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4 and ceased to be a deployable unit . 1960s . In June 1960 , VF - 101 established “ Detachment A ” at NAS Oceana , Virginia which operated the F4H - 1 and later the F - 4 Phantom . By the end of 1962 , the Skyray and the Demon had been phased out in favor of the F - 4 . Detachment A was disestablished and F - 4 training moved to NAS Key West , Florida . On May 1 , 1966 , a new detachment was formed at NAS Oceana primarily to train replacement pilots and Radar Intercept Officer ’ s in the areas of aerial refueling , carrier qualification and conventional weapons . The Key West unit concentrated on air - to - air combat , missile firing and radar intercept techniques . In August 1967 , VF - 101 received the F - 4J . 1970s . VF - 101 ’ s administrative command , Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4 , was disestablished on June 1 , 1970 , with VF - 101 shifting control of Command to Fleet Air Key West . This moved lasted only a year , and the " Grim Reapers " moved from NAS Key West to NAS Oceana under the command of Commander Fighter Wing One . A detachment remained at Key West until the 2000s . In January 1976 , VF - 101 began operating and instructing aircrews and maintainers in the F - 14 Tomcat . The first two Oceana F - 4 squadrons , VF - 41 and VF - 84 , to transition to the F - 14 at VF - 101 began in June 1976 . In 1975 and 1976 the " Grim Reapers " were awarded the CNO Aviation Safety Award and in November 1976 the unit received its fourth Safety Citation due to 36 continuous months without accident . On August 5 , 1977 , the F - 4 training department of VF - 101 was split into a separate new squadron , VF - 171 , which continued to train F - 4 crews until disestablishment in 1984 after the last two Oceana F - 4 squadrons ( VF - 74 and VF - 103 ) began to transition to the Tomcat . VF - 101 continued to train F - 14 crews . 1980s . In 1986 , VF - 101 had completed 3 years of accident free operations earning them another Safety Citation , and in March 1988 they received a third CNO Safety Award . The same year , VF - 101 began to receive the F - 14A + ( later redesignated F - 14B ) , which upgraded the F - 14A ' s underpowered and troublesome engines with new engines that improved fuel economy and added 14 , 600 pounds - force ( 65 , 000 newton s ) of thrust over the F - 14A . The new fuel economy gave the F - 14B one third more time on - station and sixty percent more range . 1990s . Following a year of dedicated fleet efforts , led primarily by the " Fighting Renegades " of VF - 24 at NAS Miramar , California , the first - ever bomb - dropping mission conducted by fleet Tomcats occurred on August 8 , 1990 ( a joint VF - 24 / VF - 211 division of aircraft ) . Following that , on September 12 , 1990 , a VF - 101 Tomcat dropped bombs from a " fleet aircraft " for the first time on the east coast . Previously , although initially designed as both a fully capable fighter " and " strike aircraft , the Tomcat had been assigned strictly to the air - to - air role . Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s , and continuing to build on the earlier groundwork at both VX - 4 and the west coast squadrons , VF - 101 continued to add to its air - ground weapons training , eventually encompassing a whole range of air - to - ground weapons , from general - purpose bomb s , cluster bomb s , laser - guided bomb s , air - launched decoy s , and JDAM . VF - 101 ' s west coast counterpart , VF - 124 at NAS Miramar , was disestablished in 1994 , making the " Grim Reapers " the sole F - 14 Fleet Replacement Squadron . A VF - 101 detachment was created at Miramar to continue F - 14 crews and ground personnel training . When NAS Miramar became Marine Corps Air Station ( MCAS ) Miramar in 1996 , all F - 14 squadrons were moved to NAS Oceana and the VF - 101 detachment was disestablished . 2000s . As F - 14 squadrons began to transition to the F / A - 18E / F Super Hornet , VF - 101 ' s mission diminished . During this time , several VF - 101 aircraft featured the markings of disestablished F - 14 squadrons — among them were VF - 1 , VF - 21 , VF - 24 , VF - 33 , VF - 74 , VF - 84 , VF - 111 , and VF - 142 . As the only F - 14 FRS until its disestablishment in 2005 , VF - 101 at one point had as many as 130 F - 14s of all three variants , as well as a small number of T - 34 Mentor s for currency training and range safety . VF - 101 was disestablished on September 30 , 2005 , at a ceremony at NAS Oceana . Honored guests at the ceremony were the surviving members of the Flatley family ( three generations of which were Grim Reaper pilots ) , who were presented with the squadron flag . Reactivation as a Fleet Replacement Squadron . On 1 May 2012 , the squadron was reactivated and redesignated as Strike Fighter Squadron 101 ( VFA - 101 ) , with a homeport change from Naval Air Station Oceana , Virginia to Eglin Air Force Base , Florida . VFA - 101 again serves as a U . S . Navy Fleet Replacement Squadron ( FRS ) , this time for the F - 35C Lightning II , the aircraft carrier - capable variant of the F - 35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter ( JSF ) that will serve in the U . S . Navy and selected carrier - deployable squadrons of the U . S . Marine Corps . The squadron will administratively fall under Commander , Naval Air Force U . S . Atlantic Fleet and Commander , Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic . However , VFA - 101 will operationally function as a subordinate squadron of the U . S . Air Force ' s 33d Fighter Wing , a joint USAF - USN - USMC organization at Eglin AFB , Florida .