Fighter Squadron 162 (VF-162) was established on 1 September 1960 as a unit of newly formed Carrier Air Group 16 (CVG-16). However, the Hunters, equipped with F4D-1 Skyray fighters, made their first deployment with CVG-6 on board the USS Intrepid (CVA-11) in August 1961.
Upon return in February 1962, VF-162 transitioned to the F8U-1 (F-8A) Crusader. After one deployment to the Western Pacific in September 1963 on board the USS Oriskany (CVA-34), VF-162 upgraded to the F-8E version of the Crusader.
Deploying in April 1965, VF-162 flew combat air patrols, escort, and strike missions over Vietnam and Laos, losing one F-8E to an SA-2 missile; the pilot was rescued.
The Hunters headed again to the war zone in May 1966. During this deployment, the Hunters lost five F-8Es and one pilot to enemy action. One was flown by Commander Richard Bellinger, who was shot down by a North Vietnamese MiG-21. Bellinger got his revenge three months later, shooting down a MiG-21, the first downed by a Navy fighter. The fire that devastated the Oriskany two weeks later ended the deployment.
The Oriskany returned to action with VF-162 in July 1967, in a deployment that would cost the air wing 39 aircraft to enemy ground fire, including four VF-162 F-8Es and three pilots. One Hunter pilot downed a MiG-17 in December 1967, and two Hunters each destroyed locomotives with the imaginative use of heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
VF-162 transitioned to the F-8J in 1968 and deployed to the Tonkin Gulf in 1969 on board the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14). The Hunters made their final deployment to the Tonkin Gulf in March 1970 as a unit of CVW-8 on board the USS Shangri-La (CVA-38). VF-162 was disestablished on 29 January 1971.
—Lieutenant Commander Rick Burgess,
U.S. Navy (Retired)