VMFA - 531 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 ( VMFA - 531 ) was a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of F / A - 18 Hornet s . Known as the " Grey Ghosts ” , the squadron participated in action during World War II and the Vietnam War . They were decommissioned on March 27 , 1992 . History . World War II . Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531 ( VMF ( N ) - 531 ) was activated on November 16 , 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina . On January 9 , 1943 the squadron became part of the Fleet Marine Force and on April 1 was absorbed by Marine Aircraft Group 53 ( MAG - 53 ) . The squadron took delivery of its first non - trainer aircraft , the Ventura PV - 1 on February 15 . Due to the uniqueness of their night fight mission , VMF ( N ) - 531 was placed under the direction of the Commandant of the Marine Corps until it was ready to deploy to combat . Responding to Japanese night attacks on Guadalcanal , MAG - 53 was reassigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing on April 15 , 1943 and was quickly ordered to deploy to the South Pacific as soon as possible . VMF ( N ) - 531 was the first combat squadron to leave MCAS Cherry Point . After layovers in Hawaii and Espiritu Santo , the squadron finally arrived at Renard Field on Banika in the Russell Islands on September 11 . Joining Marine Aircraft Group 21 , 1st Marine Aircraft Wing , the Grey Ghosts flew their first combat patrol on September 16 making them the first naval aviation night - fighter squadron to operate in the South Pacific . The squadron ' s first kill was made by Captain Duane Jenkins , who stumbled upon a Betty Bomber on the evening of November 13 , 1943 . The first kill aided by GCI did not come until December 6 . During their tour in the Pacific , the squadron operated out of fields in the Russell Islands , Vella Lavella and Bougainville . They accounted for 12 enemy planes shot down by 5 different crews , all at night , with a loss of 6 of their own aircraft and 17 crew members , none of them a result of enemy fire . The squadron returned to MCAS Cherry Point on September 1 , 1944 and was quickly deactivated only to be reactivated a short time later on October 13 at Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Kinston ( MCAAF Kinston ) , North Carolina and reassigned to MAG - 53 , 9th Marine Aircraft Wing . A short time later the squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake near Fort Worth , Texas to operate as a training squadron for replacement pilots and ground control intercept operators being sent overseas . Following the conclusion of World War II , the squadron was relocated back to MCAS Cherry Point and in March 1947 reassigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing ( 2nd MAW ) . The Vietnam War . On April 10 , 1965 , 15 F - 4Bs from the squadron arrived at Danang , South Vietnam becoming the first land based Marine Corps jets during the Vietnam War . They immediately began flying bombing missions under radar guidance and standard close air support missions in support of Marines on the ground . The 1980s to 1992 . On May 29 , 1983 , 531 received its first F / A - 18 Hornet , becoming the 3rd fleet squadron to receive the new fighter . Lt . Col . Keith J . Stalder was the commanding officer from December 1990 to the time the squadron was decommissioned March 21 , 1992 .