![]() ![]() In June 1989, the Red Devils returned to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii and completed the transition to their current aircraft, the F/A-18A Hornet. ![]() In December 1988, VMFA-232 turned in their last F-4 Phantom II to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The only \"last\" in VMFA-232\'s history occurred in September 1973, as the Red Devils became the last Marine squadron to leave Vietnam. Re-designated as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232, the squadron returned to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, as a MIG-alert squadron and subsequently deployed to Da Nang, Vietnam, and Nam Phong, Thailand. In September 1967, the squadron returned to MCAS El Toro and transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. While flying combat missions for the next 290 consecutive days, the Red Devils flew 5785 sorties and 7273 flight hours, delivering 6221 tons of ordnance. As operations in Southeast Asia intensified VMFA(AW)-232 departed Kaneohe Bay, and became fully operational in DaNang, Vietnam by December 1966. In 1954 the Red Devils moved from MCAS El Toro to MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii and remained there for the next eight years, flying the FJ-4 Fury and later the Chance Vought F-8 Crusader. In March, 1953, the Red Devils transitioned to the jet age with the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. On 3 June, 1948, the Red Devils were reactivated as a fighter squadron. On 16 November, 1945, VMTB-232 arrived at San Diego, and was temporarily decommissioned. ![]() In August of 1942, avenging the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Wake Island, the Red Devils flew SBD-3 Dauntlesses from Guadalcanal\'s 3000 foot dirt runway and became the first Marine dive-bomber squadron to fly against the Japanese. The Japanese attack on Wake Island had a much higher cost with all 25 Red Devils detached there either killed or captured. It was here that the squadron, now designated Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 232, saw its first combat action of World War II, and suffered the loss or severe damage of nineteen of its twenty aircraft during the infamous Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor. In response to mounting tension in the Pacific, the Red Devils deployed in 1941 to MCAS Ewa, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. During the inter-war years, the squadron transitioned aircraft and changed designations several times, but it was in 1929 that the squadron first settled on its enduring historical motif. The Marine Corps\' oldest and most decorated active fighter attack squadron was established on 1 September, 1925, at Naval Air Station San Diego, California with the Vought VE-7 single engine bi-plane as the first assigned aircraft. ![]()
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