During F-14 days, VF-101 aircrews were required to fly the Tomcat at air shows in order to exhibit the F-14 flight features
The Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 was reinstated in May 2012, but it wasn’t until the rollout ceremony for the delivery of the U.S. Navy’s first F-35C Lightning II at Eglin AFB on October 1, 2013, that it was formally reinstated. The 33rd Fighter Wing is the joint USAF, U.S. Navy, and USMC F-35 training unit. With the arrival of the first F-35C, the Grim Reapers changed their name to the Lightning II Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). Prior to the squadron’s dissolution in 2005, Fighter Squadron (VF) 101 served in this capacity for legendary aircraft like the F-4 Phantom and the F-14 Tomcat.
The legendary World War II naval aviator Jimmy Flatley founded the Grim Reapers as VF-10 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. He gave the squadron the nickname “Grim Reaper” and the motto “Mow ’em Down!” because that is exactly what the unit did when its Grumman F4F Wildcat pilots did while shooting down numerous Japanese planes over the Solomon Islands. When he taught the art of aerial fighting to the squadron’s young pilots, including navy aviators like Edward L. Feightner and Martin Carmody, Flatley became the first Grim Reapers commanding officer and started the squadron tradition of teaching fighter pilots.
The Grim Reapers, which had been disbanded in 1945, were reactivated as VF-101 in 1952, and they initially flew a variety of fighters, including the Vought F4U Corsair, the McDonnell F2H Banshee, and the Douglas F4D Skyray, before transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in the 1960s.
The fates of the Grim Reapers and the Flatley family crossed once more when the VF-101 started flying the Phantom and James Flatley III, who was Jimmy Flatley’s son and the pilot who completed 21 full-stop landings and takeoffs in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aboard the USS Forrestal, was made a Grim Reaper while the squadron was based at NAS Oceana and training fighter pilots and Radar Intercept Officers (RIOs) Similar to Jimmy Flatley, James Flatley III attained the rank of Rear Admiral while making contributions to the naval aviation community in the “Flatley family style.”
The VF-101 started operating and training aircrews and maintainers in the F-14 in January 1976, and the Grim Reapers continued to be the only F-14 FRS when the VF-124 Gunfighters, the west Tomcat training counterpart, was disbanded in 1994. When it was an F-14, VF-101 aircrews were also required to fly the Tomcat at air shows in order to exhibit the F-14’s flying capabilities.
Pilots from other services were similarly impressed by these displays, as Brian Shul, a former U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird pilot, explains in the book Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Bye-bye, baby!
“I was at the big Nellis air show, and everybody was buzzing about the first public demo of the F-22. Lots of generals in the bleachers, the whole deal. The F-22 demo was just plain lame. Hard deck of 1000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level), weak turns, no high-speed passes. Like they’re afraid to break the thing, which they were. Who’s up next on the schedule? Why, the Tomcat, of course. These guys just beat the place up. Flog this Air Force mercilessly. The crowd goes bananas, and I’m yelling along with them. Tell me who those two lunatics were, and I’ll buy them a cocktail.”
According to Erik Hildebrandt in his book Anytime, Baby!, Hail and Farewell to the Final Navy F-14 Tomcats, the VF-101 was unable to break away from the Flatley family even throughout its tenure as an F-14 FRS. When the Black Knights were deployed on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, James “Seamus” Flatley IV, who received training from the Grim Reapers at NAS Oceana, served as the VF-154 Commanding Officer. During this time, the VF-154 detached five of its F-14A and five of its aircrews to Al Udeid airbase in Qatar to support the Special Operations.
The VF-101 was closed in August 2005 because no new Tomcat aircrews were required when the unit was passed over to become the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet FRS, which was in the process of replacing the F-14 at the time. James the Third, Seamus, and Mrs. Flatley attended the Grim Reapers’ dissolution ceremony with the Flatley family. Up until May 2012, when the squadron was re-established to train a new group of naval aviators, they were given the squadron flag for preserving the Grim Reapers’ customs.
The final F-14 Tomcat tactical demonstration by Lt. Jon “Rocco” Tangredi (pilot) and Lt. Joe “Smokin'” Ruzicka was shown at the NAS Oceana Airshow in 2005. (RIO).
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain and Photographer’s Mate Airman Jhi L. Scott / U.S. Navy
