VA - 65 ( US Navy ) Attack Squadron 65 ( VA - 65 ) , nicknamed " The World Famous Fighting Tigers " , was an attack squadron of the United States Navy established in 1945 and disbanded in 1993 . Known as " The World Famous Fighting Tigers " , VA - 65 was one of the last medium attack squadrons to fly the A - 6 Intruder and the A - 1 Skyraider . History . The final home base of VA - 65 was NAS Oceana , Virginia ( full name Apollo Soucek Field ) , a Master Jet Base . The squadron occupied the spaces of Hangar 122 , port side . Hangar 122 is located next to the water tower and field identifier revolving light . These spaces included maintenance areas on the hangar deck , office spaces on the second floor , and offices plus ready room on the top floor . VA - 65 is in US Navy nomenclature , a shortened acronym for ATKRON - 65 , this stands for Attack Squadron - 65 , VA is broken into V for fixed - wing , A for attack . Also called the Bombing 65th , as it was an attack [ bombing squadron ] . VA - 65 was fleet based , meaning attached to an aircraft carrier for deployments . Their last cruise was during Desert Storm / Desert Shield in 1990 – 1991 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt ( CVN - 71 ) . As was common during the Gulf War , many squadrons painted " nose art " on at least one airplane . VA - 65 painted a caricature of comic strip cat Garfield , with a large stick and flight helmet , with the caption , " TR ' s Big Stick " VA - 65 was scheduled to take part in a UNITAS cruise [ started in 1959 UNITAS has been instrumental in improving working relationships among U . S . and Latin American naval forces ] around the horn of South America [ with multiple stops ] on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the summer of 1993 . Unfortunately the squadron received word it would disestablished before the cruise . In addition the aircraft carrier did a Mediterranean cruise and a short stint in the Red Sea in 1993 , not an UNITAS cruise . Reasons were budgetary in nature , as the VA - 65 Tigers were flying the venerable A - 6 Intruder which was being phased out in the early 1990s , and was completely removed from service in 1997 . At the time , VA - 65 had just won the Atlantic Fleet Battle E Award for best Attack Squadron . Insignia and " The Beast " nickname . The squadron ’ s first insignia was approved by CNO on 9 August 1945 . During the time when the squadron ’ s insignia was approved , VT - 74 was flying the SB2C which was nicknamed " The Beast " . Consequently , the squadron ’ s insignia took on the shape of a beast riding a torpedo . There is no record of the colors used for this insignia . After VT - 74 was redesignated VA - 2B , it continued to use the old insignia until 17 April 1947 when CNO approved a new insignia for the squadron . The insignia adopted by VA - 2B reflected the squadron ’ s new attack mission . The horsehead chess piece was designed to relate the squadron ’ s power to that of a medieval knight and the fleur - de - lis represented integrity . Colors for the insignia were : a yellow background ; red scroll with yellow lettering , black banner with a black and white pole ; white knight with a yellow collar ; a white lightning bolt ; and the Fleur - de - lis was red with a black band . The Knight insignia continued as the official insignia for the squadron following its redesignation to VA - 25 on 1 September 1948 . A new insignia for VA - 25 was approved by CNO on 4 April 1950 . The new insignia was a front view of a tiger on the prowl . Colors were : yellow background ; brown tiger with green eyes , and white teeth , whiskers and claws ; and a red tongue and mouth . When VA - 25 was redesignated VA - 65 in 1959 the tiger insignia was retained and remained VA - 65 ’ s insignia until its disestablishment . Nickname : Tigers 1950 – 1993 . Desert Storm . The final VA - 65 , from around the time of Desert Storm to the bitter end in 1993 , had a very strong JOPA group . JOPA stands for Junior Officer Protection Association . A group only open to Lieutenants and below that are commissioned officers . Voting in secret sessions , the officers would decide on any thing , from parties to how they were going to act towards certain policies in the Navy and squadron life itself . One of the slogans of JOPA is " No Major Problems " meaning that they do not allow any Lieutenant Commanders or above in the group , as the officer insignia for an LCDR and CDR ( Commander ) are identical to that US Army , Air Force , and Marine : Major ' s oak leaf . The last Carrier Air Group VA - 65 belonged to was CAG - 8 , and there was a JOPA edition of the CAG patch [ later banned by a subsequent CAG ] . Even civilians have had some contact with VA - 65 . On the final cruise , a " final checker " was sucked into an engine inlet , and was caught on the carrier close circuit TV . Subsequently , this video was shown on multiple TV video shows . the crew member survived , as his shoulder jammed into the " bullet " of the engine , and due to the quick thinking and training of the aircrew ( pilot LT . Bill ' Gillie ' Gillcrist . . B / N LT Chris ' Rasta ' Shay ) and deck crew , they were able to shut down before he was sucked down through the blades . His cranial and radio equipment were sucked in , and destroyed the engine . Later that night bandaged and bruised he appeared on the closed circuit TV station ( TR TV ) on the USS Theodore Roosevelt with the boat ' s CO , and discussed his ordeal . At one point VA - 65 ' s tactical call sign , used when flying , for example " Tiger 06 " , was something not so tactical . . . it was " cupcake " . It was suggested by the wife of the VA - 65 commanding officer after tiger cubs were born , and one was named " cupcake " . The name came back to haunt the squadron after one of its members , LTjg Tracy Thorne , declared he was a homosexual on Ted Koppel ' s news show , " NightLine " . This was one of the first fights over service in the military by open homosexuals . Location Assignment Date