VA-172 (U.S. Navy)

Operational history

• 28 Jan 1949: Squadron aircraft, while secured to the flight deck and engines running, were used to assist in berthing in Augusta, Sicily. This procedure is known as Operation Pinwheel.
• 23 Aug 1951: The squadron participated in its first combat sortie over Korea. This also marked the first use of the F2H-2 in combat.
• 25 Aug 1951: The squadron’s F2H-2 aircraft, along with F9Fs from VF-51, provided escort for 30 U.S. Air Force B-29 bombers raiding the marshalling yards at Rashin, North Korea.
• Nov–Dec 1956:, with VA-172 embarked, was ordered to deploy and operate off the coast of Spain as a result of the Suez crisis.
• Sep–Oct 1957: A detachment of squadron’s F2H-2 aircraft were embarked on to provide fighter support for the antisubmarine warfare carrier during a NATO exercise in the North Atlantic.
• Nov 1961: VA-172, embarked on Roosevelt, operated off the coast of the Dominican Republic to support the newly established democratic government.
• May 1963: Roosevelt, with VA-172 embarked, deployed to the Caribbean and operated off the coast of Haiti in response to a rebel attempt to overthrow the Haitian government.
• Jul–Sep 1963: A detachment from the squadron was deployed aboard to provide fighter coverage for the ASW Task Group during operations in the Caribbean Sea.
• 8–29 Aug 1964: Roosevelt, with VA-172 embarked, was ordered to operate in the vicinity of Cyprus after fighting escalated between Turkish and Greek forces on the island.
• Aug 1966: The squadron commenced combat operations in Vietnam. These were its first combat sorties since the Korean War in 1952.
• 2 Dec 1966: The squadron’s commanding officer, Commander Bruce A. Nystrom, was lost in a night reconnaissance mission over the Red River delta area in North Vietnam.

  Home port assignments

• NAS Alameda – 20 Aug 1945
• NAS Quonset Point – 15 Jan 1946
• NAAS Cecil Field – 04 Mar 1949
• NAS Jacksonville – 24 Mar 1950
• NAS Cecil Field – 22 Feb 1958

  Aircraft Assignment

• F6F-5 Hellcat – Aug 1945
• F4U Corsair – 06 Sep 1945
• F8F Bearcat – 1946
• FH-1 Phantom – Mar 1949
• F2H-1 Banshee – May 1949
• F2H-2 Banshee – 21 Jun 1950
• F2H-4 Banshee – 13 Jan 1956
• F2H-2B Banshee – Sep 1956
• A4D-1 Skyhawk – 16 Dec 1957
• A4D-2 Skyhawk – May 1958
• A4C Skyhawk – 06 Sep 1961