VF - 124 Fighter Squadron 124 ( VF - 124 ) was a fleet replacement squadron of the United States Navy . Known as the " Gunfighters " , they were active from 1958 through 1994 . The squadron ' s task was the training of pilots for the F - 8 Crusader and later the F - 14 Tomcat . History . VF - 124 was established on 16 August 1948 as VF - 53 and became VF - 124 at NAS Moffet Field on 11 April 1958 due to a need for an increased number of flight training squadrons , itself necessary because of introduction of swept wing fighters into Navy service . VF - 124 had four missions assigned . One was fleet readiness evaluation in the early 1950s of the Chance Vaught F7U = 3 Cutlass . 124 was assigned to go aboard the USS Hancock to test the British steam catapult system and then deployed on a Pac cruise to Japan . The Cutlass was deemed to be unsatisfactory for fleet use and was stricken from Naval Air inventory in 1955 . 124 was used to do initial training of F - 8 Crusader pilots , bringing them to a standard where they were ready to join a fleet squadron , refresher training for aviators returning to the Pacific Fleet , and also providing maintenance training for ground personnel on the F - 8 . This last mission is often overlooked , but was a crucial part of the training provided by a Fleet Readiness Squadron . In addition to these training roles , VF - 124 maintained its instructor crews as combat ready pilots in case of national emergency . Flying the F8U - 1 , TV - 2 and F9F - 8T the Gunfighters won the Safety S awards for 1958 and 1959 . After three years at Moffet Field VF - 124 moved to Naval Air Station Miramar . In 1953 124 took over the task of evaluating the F7U - 3 Cutlass from UT 12 Project Cutlass then assumed the roll of F - 8 training continued throughout the years and by 1970 VF - 124 became the Pacific Fleet training squadron for the new F - 14 Tomcat . VF - 124 stopped training F - 8 pilots in August 1972 and responsibility for the small number F - 8 ’ s left was handed over to VFP - 63 . VF - 124 received their first F - 14A ’ s on October 8 , 1972 . A few days later the two first active fleet F - 14 squadrons , VF - 1 and VF - 2 were commissioned . In December 1973 , US Marine Corps officers reported to VF - 124 to start training as instructors . USMC involvement continued until 1976 when it was decided that the F - 14 was too expensive for the USMC to operate . The first set of replacements pilots trained by VF - 124 took to sea in December 1974 , flying day and night carrier qualifications of the deck of USS Kitty Hawk ( CV - 63 ) . In 1976 personnel from the Imperial Iranian Air Force arrived to begin training on the F - 14 until the overthrow of the Shah three years later . As a new decade began the role of reconnaissance was introduced to the F - 14 with the TARPS pod . VF - 124 began to teach air and ground crews how to operate the pod . By December 1988 VF - 124 had trained 1502 aircrew , over 14 . 400 maintenance personnel and flown over 153 , 193 flight hours and VF - 124 also achieved 124 days without any Foreign Object Damage . With the introduction of the improved F - 14D Super Tomcat , VF - 124 was assigned the role of training air and ground personnel on the new aircraft and the first F - 14D was accepted on November 16 , 1990 , with four aircraft undertaking the first fleet F - 14D carrier qualifications on board the USS Nimitz ( CVN - 68 ) on October 2 , 1991 . On March 11 , 1993 a VF - 124 F - 14 made the final landing on USS Ranger ( CVA - 61 ) , Lieutenant Mark A . Garcia and Lieutenant Tim Taylor completed the carrier ’ s 330 , 683rd landing . With the downsizing of the F - 14 squadrons in the early 1990s the Navy ’ s training squadrons were reduced and VF - 124 was disestablished in September 1994 and the responsibility of all F - 14 training went to VF - 101 . VF - 124 would operate the F - 14A Tomcat and the F - 14D Super Tomcat as all F - 14B Tomcats were flown by the Atlantic Fleet Squadrons .