Strike Fighter Squadron 161 (VFA-161) spent most of its 27-year service as Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161). The Chargers were established on 1 September 1960 as one of two VF squadrons in Carrier Air Group 16 assigned to the USS Oriskany (CVA-34). Equipped with the F3H-2 (F-3B) Demon fighter, VF-161 deployed twice to the Western Pacific on board the Oriskany, operating off the coast of South Vietnam during the 1963 coup in which President Ngo Dinh Diem was killed. After the squadron returned home in September 1964, VF-161 began transition to the F-4B Phantom II.
VF-161 joined Carrier Air Wing 15 (CVW-15) for four Vietnam War deployments, once on board the USS Constellation (CVA-64) and thrice on board the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43). The Chargers were briefly resigned to CVW-16 in 1970 until joining CVW-5 in 1971 on board the USS Midway (CVA-41) for two more war cruises.
VF-161 was heavily engaged in combat air operations over Vietnam, and its crews engaged North Vietnamese fighters on numerous occasions. The Chargers were credited with downing three MiG-17s and three MiG-19s in aerial combat. One MiG-17, shot down in January 1973, was the last aerial victory of the war. Ironically, the VF-161 pilot who shot it down was himself shot down by ground fire two days later, marking the last U.S. aircraft shot down over North Vietnam. The crew was rescued.
Overall, VF-161 combat losses in the war were remarkably low: five F-4Bs shot down, three fliers killed, two fliers captured, and five rescued.
In 1973, VF-161 was forward-deployed to Japan. Over the next 13 years, while upgrading to the F-4N, F-4J, and F-4S, the Chargers frequently deployed on the Midway to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, responding to crises such as the evacuation of South Vietnam in 1975 and the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran.
VF-161 was redesignated VFA-161 on 1 June 1986 as it upgraded to the F/A-18A Hornet. In June 1987, the squadron joined the new CVW-10, but fell victim to budget cuts when CVW-10 was shut down before it ever deployed. VF-161 was disestablished on 1 April 1988.