By Jamie Hunter | March 10, 2021 Estimated reading time 8 minutes, 22 seconds.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 323, better known as the “Death Rattlers,” returned from a mammoth operational deployment on Feb. 25, 2021. The unit arrived en masse at its home of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California, where it is part of Marine Aircraft Group 11, under the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The deployment, as part of Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17) aboard the USS Nimitz, marked the last ever carrier deployment for the “Legacy” Hornet, with the U.S. Navy having concluded its last ever operational carrier deployment with the type back in April 2018.
The “Death Rattlers” joined the USS Nimitz after it set sail from San Diego on June 8, 2020. VMFA-323 had the honor of being the last ever U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Hornet squadron to be assigned to a U.S. Navy air wing. This is part of the so-called TACAIR Integration (TAI), which involved the USMC providing carrier-qualified Hornet squadrons that are fully integrated as part of the CVW. This was a role that VMFA-323 had undertaken since 1985 when — just three years after it had begun its conversion from the F-4 Phantom II to the F/A-18A — it became the first USMC Hornet unit to deploy with a Navy air wing, embarking on a combat cruise as part of CVW-13 aboard USS Coral Sea.
The first F/A-18A Hornets entered operational service with the USMC in 1983 with VMFA-314 “Black Knights,” which was stationed at MCAS El Toro, California. The Navy received its first Hornets a year later, and the type’s first operational carrier deployment was made by Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 “Fist of the Fleet” and VFA-113 “Stingers” aboard the USS Constellation in 1985. Just over a decade after VMFA-323 received its first Hornets, the squadron upgraded to the F/A-18C in 1993. This heralded new avionics and a step-up to the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).
While the Marine Corps elected to retain the “Classic” Hornet and upgrade its TACAIR fleet wholesale with the F-35B/C, the Navy started moving its squadrons to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. In doing so, the Marines squadrons began to receive some of the Navy’s newer F/A-18Cs as they were swapped out in favor of Super Hornets. VFA-34 “Blue Blasters” became the final Navy fleet F/A-18C unit, making its final cruise as part of CVW-2 aboard USS Carl Vinson — during a three-month patrol of the South China Sea that concluded in April 2018. VFA-34 began transitioning to the F/A-18E in late 2018, and the unit flew a “sundown ceremony” at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, on Feb. 1, 2019, as the final operational fleet Hornet squadron in the Navy.
In October 2019, the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) VFA-106 “Gladiators,” at NAS Oceana, retired its last “Legacy” Hornet. The Navy retains F/A-18Cs with two reserve adversary training units, and with the Naval Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN. However, all “Legacy” Hornets are planned to leave the U.S. Navy inventory later this year.
The USMC plans to retain the F/A-18C, and the two-seat F/A-18D, in the active inventory until around 2030 on current plans. Indeed, the “Death Rattlers” will be the final active-duty unit to transition to the F-35B from 2028. For its final carrier deployment, the squadron took part in Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria; in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel over Afghanistan; and Operation Octave Quartz over Africa. According to a USMC media release: “VMFA-323 contributed to more than 35,000 flight hours, 14,000 missions supporting tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel and landings, and employment of nearly 250,000 rounds of ammunition while part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.”
The USS Nimitz returned to its homeport of Bremerton in Washington State on March 7, 2021, having completed an incredible 99,000 miles during its long deployment. Many of its sailors had boarded the ship on April 1, 2020, to quarantine for COVID-19 ahead of the deployment. VMFA-323 had already flown off the USS Nimitz and headed directly to Miramar. The squadron’s Commanding Officer LCol William Mitchell told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I was the last aircraft off the deck today and my entire maintenance department, all my Marines, were lined up along the foul line and rendering a salute as I got shot down [catapult] 3 one more time. That was one of the more emotional moments. Knowing it’s the end of an era is certainly bittersweet.”
Despite the Hornet having made its final carrier embarkation, the U.S. Marine Corps will continue the TAI initiative with the F-35C. VMFA-314 “Black Knights” is the first USMC squadron to convert to the F-35C carrier variant of the Lightning II, and it will first deploy with CVW-9 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Meanwhile, the “Death Rattlers” will move to a new role, assuming F/A-18C/D aircrew training responsibilities from Miramar’s VMFAT-101 “Sharpshooters,” which will disband as the Hornet FRS in fiscal year 2023. The “Death Rattlers” will assume that role, albeit on a continually reducing scale, through to fiscal year 2029 when the Hornet takes a final bow in U.S. service.
