Marine Fighter-Attack Squadron 333 (VMFA-333) was activated on 1 August 1943 at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, as Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 333 (VMSB-333). The squadron’s SBD Dauntless dive bombers were posted to the garrison at Midway Island in July 1944 but were replaced by F4U-1D Corsairs in October 1944 when the squadron was redesignated Marine Bomber Fighter Squadron 333 (VMBF-333) and relocated to Hawaii. The squadron reverted to the VMSB-333 designation in December 1944 and was deactivated on 1 November 1945.
The Shamrocks were reactivated on 8 May 1952 in Miami, Florida, initially with F6F-5 Hellcats and later with F4U-4 Corsairs and AD-5/6 Skyraiders. The squadron was redesignated Marine Fighter Squadron 333 (VMF-333) in January 1957 when it acquired FJ-3 Fury jet fighters. In 1959, the Shamrocks became the first Marine Corps squadron to operate the F8U-2 (F-8C) Crusader, in which they guarded U.S. territory during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. In February 1966, the squadron was redesignated Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 333 (VMF(AW)-333) and flew the F-8D and later F-8E versions of the Crusader.
The Shamrocks upgraded to the F-4J Phantom II in 1969, when the squadron was redesignated VMFA-333. The squadron deployed on board the USS America (CVA-66) to the Mediterranean in 1971 and to the Tonkin Gulf in 1972. During air strikes in North Vietnam, one Shamrock crew, Major Lee Lasseter and Captain John Cummings, shot down an enemy MiG-21 on 11 September 1972. The Shamrocks lost three F-4Js but no crewmen to enemy action.
After a series of routine peacetime deployments, VMFA-333 upgraded to the F/A-18A Hornet in 1987. The Shamrocks took their Hornets to the Arabian peninsula in August 1990 for Operation Desert Shield and flew 70 combat missions against Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, expending more than two million pounds of ordnance. VMFA-333 was deactivated on 31 March 1992.
Lest We Forget: Marine Fighter-Attack Squadron 333 (VMFA 333)
By Lieutenant Commander Rick Burgess, USN (Ret.)
—By Lieutenant Commander Rick Burgess, U.S. Navy (Retired)