Reserve to decommission strike fighter unit - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Reserve to decommission strike fighter unit

The Navy Reserve has announced that it will decommission a fighter jet squadron for the second time in three years.

The Hunters of Strike Fighter Squadron 201, whose first pilots cut their teeth on F-8 Crusaders in 1970, will cease to exist in June, according to Lt. Cmdr. Tim Wachendorfer, officer in charge of the unit, based at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas.

The Hunters’ F/A-18 Hornets, A and C single-seat models, will be given to other Navy squadrons, Wachendorfer said, and their 22 pilots will transfer to the Navy Reserve’s remaining Hornet squadron, — VFA 204 at NAS New Orleans, or to active squadrons that use Navy Reserve pilots, such as VFA 125 at NAS Lemoore, Calif. and VFA 106 at NAS Oceana, Va.

Their 218 support personnel will be assigned to other billets, mostly in other reserve units at NAS Fort Worth, Wachendorfer said.

In June 2004, the VFA 203 Blue Dolphins, based at NAS Atlanta, was also decommissioned.

At that time, Navy officials said decommissioning a fighter squadron saves the Navy $15 million annually in personnel and operations expenses, officials said, adding that they want to use those savings to buy new aircraft in future years.

VFA-201 last deployed aboard an aircraft carrier in 2003, when it served aboard the Theodore Roosevelt and flew sorties over Iraq during the initial stages of the invasion.

Squadron alumni are invited to a decommissioning ceremony, which will be held March 24 at 4 p.m. at NAS Fort Worth, Wachendorfer said.