Strike Fighter Squadron ONE NINE FIVE boasts a proud and exciting history.
Commissioned the TIGERS of Torpedo Squadron NINETEEN at Los Alamitos, California in August 1943, the squadron became Attack Squadron TWENTY ABLE in November 1946, Attack Squadron ONE NINE FIVE in August 1948, and Strike Fighter Squadron ONE NINE FIVE on 1 April 1985.
As unit of CVG 19 during World War II, VT19, flying the TBM Avenger, was a part of Admiral Bull Halsey�s Naval Force which hit hard, hit fast and hit often. The squadron participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and in the landings at Guam, Palau, Morotai and Leyte. Squadron pilots also flew strikes against the Carolines, Philippines, Bonin Island, Okinawa, Mindanao and Formosa while embarked on USS LEXINGTON.
In May 1947, Attack Squadron TWENTY ABLE transitioned to the AD-1 Skyraider. The squadron served in the Korean War while embarked on USS PRINCETON. On 2 May 1951, the squadron�s Skyraiders, making precise low level runs, delivered aerial torpedoes on the heavily defended and strategically positioned Hwa Chon Dam in North Korea. Destruction of the dam had been attempted by Air Force and Navy bombers but was finally accomplished by Attack Squadron TWENTY ABLE, earning them the nickname Dambusters.
Attack Squadron ONE NINE FIVE transitioned from the propeller driven Skyraiders (also known as Spads) to the jet powered A-4 Skyhawk in July 1959 and moved to NAS Lemoore, California in January 1962. As the Vietnam crisis flared in the fall of 1964, the DAMBUSTERS made their fourth consecutive deployment on USS BON HOMME RICHARD with the U.S. SEVENTH FLEET. During the next five years, while operating various models of the A-4 from the decks of the USS BON HOMME RICHARD and USS TICONDEROGA, the squadron logged more combat flight hours and sorties than any other squadron in Air Wing NINETEEN.
In the spring of 1970 VA-195 passed another milestone, transitioning to the A-7E Corsair II. As a unit of Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN on USS KITTY HAWK, the squadron deployed in the fall of 1970, marking its fourth consecutive decade of involvement in foreign conflicts. During the Vietnam War VA-195 delivered the first data link version of the television guided Walleye Glide Bomb in combat. Success was sweet on 19 July 1972 as the DAMBUSTERS delivered a single Walleye down the throat of a cave storage area causing its complete destruction. Later the same day, they destroyed the Ninh Binh railroad bridge, also with a single weapon. VA-195�s performance during the 1972 deployment was exemplary, setting new records in sorties flown, ordnance delivered and days of combat operations.
Over the course of three peacetime WESTPAC deployments aboard USS KITTY HAWK, VFA-195 helped pioneer the concept of bringing together all elements of carrier aviation in a single air wing on board a single carrier, while keeping the squadron a combat ready force from 1973 to 1979. In 1981, the DAMBUSTERS made back-to-back deployments aboard USS AMERICA, making history as USS AMERICA became the largest warship ever to transit the Suez Canal.
The DAMBUSTERS were assigned to Carrier Air Wing FIFTEEN and NINETEEN before joining Carrier Air Wing NINE late in 1982. VA-195 deployed in 1983 to Central America and the Western Pacific before making a 122 day line period in the Indian Ocean.
The DAMBUSTERS were redesignated Strike Fighter Squadron ONE NINE FIVE on 1 April 1985 and commenced transition to the F/A-18 Hornet. Upon completion, VFA-195 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 and officially joined the Forward Deployed Naval Forces in Yokosuka, Japan on 1 July 1986. While ashore, the DAMBUSTERS operate out of NAF Atsugi, Japan. In the fall of 1988 and again in 1989, the squadron embarked aboard USS MIDWAY (CV-41) and made deployments to the Indian Ocean, along with several shorter deployments in the Western Pacific.
Following Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the USS MIDWAY and CVW-5 relieved the USS INDEPENDENCE on duty in the Arabian Gulf in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. During the conflict, the DAMBUSTERS flew 564 combat missions, delivering 356 tons of ordnance, and became the first Hornet squadron to deliver a Walleye II glide bomb in combat.
Still aboard USS INDEPENDENCE, CVW-5 and the DAMBUSTERS deployed in March 1996 to calm tensions in the Taiwan Strait over Taiwan�s first direct presidential elections. After several more Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf deployments and the cross deck to USS KITTY HAWK, the DAMBUSTERS flew in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in 2001, striking targets deep in Afghanistan. Called on for duty in the Arabian Gulf in 2003, the DAMBUSTERS found themselves in harm�s way once more over Iraq. Flying 278 combat sorties in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, VFA-195 delivered 179,000 pounds of precision guided munitions against military targets over the course of a single month. As in 1991, the DAMBUSTERS played an integral role in the defeat of Saddam Hussein�s forces.
Over the past year, the DAMBUSTERS have been deployed or detached for more than 200 days, including participation in exercises from Guam and Korea to Malaysia and Australia.
Strike Fighter Squadron ONE NINE FIVE has played a role in every major conflict since World War II. The DAMBUSTERS will continue this proud tradition of courage and readiness whenever the nation calls. CHIPPY HO!
