Although most of the CVW-6 assets only
remained on alert throughout thanks to
little resistance to US ground troops, both
Tomcat squadrons were busy on BARCAP
(barrier combat air patrol) sorties to deter
Soviet ‘Bear’ maritime patrol aircraft that
were operating from Cuba.
VF-14 joined CVW-3 from April 1985
alongside VF-32 and went back to the USS
John F. Kennedy. The Mediterranean was a
hotspot for the US Navy in the late 1980s,
fuelled by both Middle East tensions
as well as belligerent conduct by Libya.
It was during the 1988-89 Sixth Fleet
deployment that on January 4, 1989, VF-
32 downed two Libyan MiG-23 ‘Floggers’
while ying BARCAP for the Kennedy. Two
‘Tophatters’ F-14As were ying a similar
pro le to the west at the same time and,
although a second pair of MiG-23s initially
maneuvered towards them, the Libyan
pilots soon retreated following the demise
of their squadron mates.
Late in 1989, VF-14 began training to
engage targets at the other end of the
scale. President George H. W. Bush had
declared a ‘war on drugs’ and CVW-3/CV
67 were warned of a possible short-notice
deployment to the waters o Colombia.
Tomcats ew against T-34C Turbo Mentors
to develop procedures for intercepting
and engaging ‘low and slow’ drug-
running aircraft. However, the politically
challenged use of the military for drugs
interception was abandoned.War in the Gulf
When tensions over Iraq’s aggression
against Kuwait built in 1990, CVW-3
was in the midst of working up towards
deployment. It received orders to load up
and get under way on August 10 and, 20
days later, the USS John F. Kennedy entered
the Mediterranean. The strike group
initially stood as the Sixth Fleet ‘ready’
carrier, but when Iraqi forces showedWith TF30
engines whining,
a VF-14 F-14A
(BuNo 162701/’AC-
100’) taxies out
at NAS Fallon
in March 1996.
Michael Grove‘TOPHATTERS’ IN
‘ENDURING FREEDOM’
The team of CVW-8 and the USS
Enterprise (CVN 65) was engaged in
Operation ‘Southern Watch’ over Iraq
from August 2001. VF-14 Tomcats
expended eight laser-guided bombs
on Iraqi targets before ying their last
missions on September 9. Enterprise
came about the next day, passing
through the Strait of Hormuz and set
course for a groundbreaking port
visit in South Africa. After the terrorist
attacks of September 11, the Enterprise
immediately headed back north to
take up station some 100 miles o
the Pakistani coast. The carrier was on
station by dawn the next day, quickly
joined by USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and
CVW-11 to await further orders.
VF-14, with their counterpart Tomcat
squadrons in CVW-8 and CVW-11, ew
CAP sorties along the Pakistani-Afghanborder from October 3 as high-value
assets (mostly USAF surveillance and
tanker aircraft) began building an
intelligence picture ahead of a US
response. Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’
(OEF) began on the evening of October
7 and Enterprise was designated as the
‘night carrier’, operating the midnight-
to-noon local time slot. The Tomcat’s
range proved to be a great asset and the
‘Tophatters’ ultimately expended 174
LGBs of all types during the opening
phase of OEF. By the time CVW-8 was
relieved on October 25, VF-14 had
amassed 834 combat ying hours across
both the Iraqi and Afghan theatres.
Just two missions were aborted before
launch, testament to the hardworking
maintainers who ensured all 11 of the
squadron’s F-14As served to their utmost
on their nal cruise in ‘Tophatters’ colors.history that only two of its F-14As ew
o Kennedy upon returning home, the
remaining nine requiring the services of
Norfolk’s dockside cranes once again.
F-14 reliability slowly improved. During
its 1978 deployment, the ‘Tophatters’
logged just over 977 ying hours in
October to achieve a eet record, which
would have passed the 1,000 mark had
bad weather not curtailed ying on the
last day of the month!
In September 1979, VF-14 joined VF-32
to become the rst Tomcat squadrons to
participate in a ‘Red Flag’ exercise at Nellis
AFB, Nevada. A year later, VF-14 crews
found themselves putting their skills to
the test in the real world, intercepting
an exceptional number of Libyan Arab
Air Force ghters that disrupted NATOexercises in international airspace over the
Mediterranean.
It’s notable how the ops tempo for the
unit increased steadily during its time
with the Tomcat. VF-14 chopped to CVW-6
control in July 1981, still with VF-32,
becoming the rst Atlantic Fleet F-14
units to y from a Forrestal-class carrier
when they joined the rest of CVW-6 in USS
Independence (CV 62) for a deployment
during the second half of 1982.
The next Sixth Fleet cruise departed
October 18, 1983. However, three days
later, CVW-6/CV 62 was directed to
Caribbean waters as the US military
prepared to launch Operation ‘Urgent
Fury’ — the invasion of Grenada to
remove the illegal communist regime, and
the rst US combat operations since 1975.56 September 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
SQUADRON SHOWCASE // VFA-14 ‘TOPHATTERS’
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