Description

VF-32 Swordsmen F-14 Tomcat Tail Flash

A handcrafted Tailflash plaque of the VF-32 Swordsmen F-14 Tomcat. Each piece is carved from Mahogany and handpainted to provide a piece you’ll love!

• Length – 18 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Aviator Owned Business
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

The VF-32 Swordsmen lineage can be traced back to it’s establishment as VBF-3 on 1st of February 1945, 3 years later on 7th August 1948 the squadron gained it’s present designation. VF-32 deployed to the Korean theatre of war in 1950 with F4U-4 Corsairs. December the 4th, 1950 saw an impressive show of courage earn a VF-32 pilot the Congressional Medal of Honor. While on a strike against the Chosin reservoir the F4U-4 Corsair of ENS J.L.Brown was shot down. To try and save his squadron mate from capture LTJG Hudner landed his plane alongside ENS Brown. Although his brave attempt ended in failure Hudner’s bravery was recognised by the award of the medal, while ENS Brown received the D.F.C.
After Korea VF-32 moved from Corsairs to the F9F-6 Cougar, then in 1956 became the first US Navy squadron to receive the F8U-1 Crusader, in the process becoming the first supersonic squadron in the Navy. Nine years with the Crusader followed, till in 1965 VF-32 moved to the F-4B Phantom II. Finally in July 1974 VF-32 began to transition to the F-14A , the first East Coast squadron to make the change. Their first deployment with their new mount began in June 1975. During this cruise the squadron received the Adm. Joseph Clifton Award, signifying them as the best squadron in the Navy, an impressive achievement after only so short a time with their new equipment.
1979 saw VF-32 setting another record, the 19th of October saw the squadron complete 10 years of accident free flying and 17,000 accident free hours in the F-14.
On these and almost all subsequent deployments VF-32 was partnered by VF-14. While the partner squadron was fairly consistent the air wing assignment changed several times:- on it’s first cruise (and two subsequent) ones VF-32 was part of CVW-1 onboard USS John F.Kennedy (CV-67). In 1982 they moved to USS Independence (CV-62) for a cruise, after which the squadron started to receive the TARPS pod and suitably wired F-14’s. This capability was extremely useful in the next cruise, again onboard USS Independence (CV-62), when it was used to provide high quality photo intelligence to support US forces in both Grenada and Lebanon. For this second cruise onboard USS Independence both VF-32 and VF-14 were moved to be part of CVW-6. A third Independence cruise was made between October 1984 and February 1985.