Combat aircraft

AVENGERSAVENGERS

P

LAQUE AFTER PLAQUE

adorns the corridor walls.

Lt Col Chad Vaughn

explains their relevance

as he walks proudly

around his pristine

squadron — known in-house as ‘the

Lion’s Den’. Everyone from the youngest

recruit to the squadron hierarchy wants

a piece of their skipper as he shakes

hands, takes salutes and personally

greets — by name — every single

Marine going about their daily business

in this busy unit. ‘Wake Island Avengers’

badges and memorabilia are liberally

applied and displayed throughout the

air-conditioned splendor of this Marine

Corps  ghter out t, one that is literally

VMFA-211’s

‘color bird’ leads

a section of

F-35Bs during a

close air support

training mission

near Twentynine

Palms.

Every squadron has a unique tale of its history and heritage,

and none more so than VMFA-211. Steeped in battle honors

and now leading from the front in the F-35B Lightning II

program, the ‘Avengers’ have an incredible story to tell...

report and photos: Jamie Hunter

WAKE ISLAND

rede ning tactical aviation for America’s

‘force in readiness’.

Vaughn is an impressive character —

you don’t get to be a US Marine Corps

(USMC)  ghter squadron commander

without such a quality. Sitting down

at his desk, he tells Combat Aircraft:

‘The way we stood up as a squadron

was well planned. VMFA-121 [the  rst

operational USMC F-35B unit, now

based at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan] swelled

with people and our core came from

there. Since then we’ve had new guys

join us from the outside, and right now

it’s our turn to swell and produce the

foundation for VMFA-122 — the next

F-35B squadron.’

UNIT REPORT | VMFA211

http://www.combataircraft.net January 2018

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