Strike Fighter Squadron 132 (VFA-132) was established on 3 January 1984 at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, as a unit of the newly established Carrier Air Wing 13 (CVW-13). VFA-132—equipped with the new F/A-18A Hornet strike fighter throughout its eight-year existence—moved to NAS Cecil Field, Florida, in February 1985.
The Privateers of VFA-132 took their Hornets on their first deployment in October 1985, when CVW-13 sailed with the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) to the Mediterranean. Tensions with Libya were high, and during the first three months of 1986, the Privateers flew combat air patrols in the Gulf of Sidra. VFA-132 and its three sister Hornet squadrons took the F/A-18 into combat action for the first time on 24 March 1986 in Operation Attain Document III/Prairie Fire, executed in retaliation for the firing of an SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) by a Libyan battery against U.S. forces operating in the Mediterranean.
On 14 and 15 April 1986, in retaliation for the Libyan-sponsored terrorist bombing of U.S. personnel in Berlin, Germany, the U.S. European Command launched Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya. VFA-132, along with other aircraft of CVW-13 and CVW-1, struck SAM sites in Benghazi, Libya, with HARM and Shrike missiles, the first weapons launched in anger by F/A-18 Hornets.
In October 1987, the Privateers took the place of a Marine Corps squadron in the unit deployment rotation to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, for six months as a unit of Marine Aircraft Group 15. During this period, VFA-132 participated in exercises in Japan, the Philippines, and Korea.
VFA-132 returned to the Mediterranean in May 1989 with CVW-13 on board the Coral Sea. The Privateers provided air cover for Marine Corps helicopters used to evacuate personnel from the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Privateers’ last deployment took them back to the Mediterranean with CVW-6 in May 1991 on board the USS Forrestal (CV-59). Too late for action in Operation Desert Storm, the squadron flew cover after the Gulf War for Operation Provide Comfort, the effort to protect Kurds in Iraq. VFA-132 was disestablished on 1 June 1992, a casualty of the post-Cold War drawdown.
U.S. Navy (Retired)