A Marine Attack Squadron has flown its final Harrier flight and is set for official deactivation in September at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.
The Marine Attack Squadron VMA 231, known as the “Ace of Spades,” flew its final AV-8B Harrier II flight May 29, according to a Marine release.
“Today is not a sad day,” Lt. Col. Paul Truog, current commanding officer of VMA-231, said in the release. “This is a momentous day for Marine aviation. It’s a day that we’re going to celebrate.”
The squadron will transition to the F-35B Lightning II aircraft, a fifth generation fighter jet.
“Everybody knows that VMA-231 is transitioning to F-35s. The Wing, the [Marine Aircraft Group], and the squadron are going to be more capable of responding to any crisis,” Truog said in his remarks. “But that capability is not just because it’s our most technically advanced weapons system. That capability is because of the Marines and the pilots that, in record amounts, raise their hands saying, ‘I want to continue on, I want to keep moving forward.’”
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The Corps expects to have a full-fifth generation fleet in their tactical aircraft by 2030.
The Harrier is one of two jets that the F-35 is replacing. It is slated to fly until 2027. The other aircraft is the F/A-18 Hornet, which is expected to fly until 2030, when all F-35s are expected to be operational.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron, VMFA 542, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, also at Cherry Point, received its first F-35B in May 2023 and reached initial operational capability with the aircraft in February 2024.
Once the unit reaches full operational capability, it will contain six squadrons with 10 planes per squadron. But that number could increase, depending on future mission requirements, basing and funding.
The F-35B is a short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant of the aircraft. The F-35C is a long-range jet.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron, VMFA 314, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Air Wing at Miramar, California, reached full operational capability with its F-35C in July 2021 — the first unit to do so among all military branches.
The squadron deployed aboard ship the following year, supporting all 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and West Coast MEU deployments.
In 2022, the Corps set procurement goals of 353 F-35B and 67 F-35C for a total of 420 aircraft at a rate of roughly 20 per year.
Those aircraft will eventually fill out a planned 18 active component squadrons across the Corps.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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