Marine Attack Squadron 331 (VMA-331) was activated at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina on 1 January 1943 as Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 331 (VMSB-331). The squadron was stationed with its SBD Dauntless dive bombers in the Ellice Islands in November 1943, but began combat operations in March 1944 from Majuro in the Marshall Islands. VMSB-331 flew bombing strikes against the Japanese-occupied Jaluit Atoll bypassed by the U.S. advance across the Pacific.
Trading its SBDs for F4U-1 Corsairs, VMSB-331 was redesignated Marine Bombing-Fighter Squadron 331 (VMBF-331) in October 1944, but resumed the VMSB designation in February 1945 when the squadron received SB2C Helldivers. VMSB-331 continued neutralization strikes against Japanese fortifications in the Marshall Islands until the end of the war, and was deactivated at NAS Miramar, California, on 21 November 1945.
The squadron was reactivated at MCAS Miami, Florida, as VMA-331 and operated the F6F-5 Hellcat, F4U-4 Corsair, and AD-5 Skyraider in quick succession. The squadron made a short deployment on board the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) and moved to Miramar in May 1958, deploying to MCAS Iawkuni, Japan, a month later with AD-6 Skyraiders. In October 1959, VMA-331 moved to MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, and entered the jet age with A4D-2 Skyhawks.
VMA-331’s Skyhawks operated from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1965 Dominican crisis. The squadron also made carrier deployments to the Mediterranean equipped with A-4Es on board the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) in 1964 and the USS Independence (CVA-62) in 1970.
The Bumblebees upgraded to the A-4M in 1971. After numerous deployments to Iwakuni, the squadron was reduced to cadre status in July 1984 and reactivated on 30 January 1980 as the Marine Corps’ first operational AV-8B Harrier II squadron.
VMA-331 became the first squadron to deploy the AV-8B to the western Pacific and in January 1991 became the first to fly the Harrier in combat from a U.S. Navy ship. VMA-331 flew 243 combat sorties from the USS Nassau (LHA-4) and dropped 256 tons of ordnance during Operation Desert Storm, losing only one aircraft and pilot to enemy action. The Bumblebees were deactivated on 30 September 1992, the only Harrier squadron cut as part of the post-Cold War drawdown.