Air Antisubmarine Squadron 28 (VS-28) was established on 1 June 1960 at NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The new squadron, known as the Hukkers, was formed from a segment split off from VS-31 and equipped with Grumman-built S2F-1/1S Tracker carrier-based twin-engine antisubmarine aircraft.
Assigned to Antisubmarine Carrier Air Group (CVSG)-52 on board the USS Wasp (CVS-18), VS-28 deployed off Guatemala during a political crisis in late 1960. The Hukkers also participated in the quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
In 1963, VS-28 upgraded to the S-2E version of the Tracker. During the 1960s, the Hukkers participated in recovery operations for five space capsules. In 1971, VS-28 deployed to the Mediterranean with Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) on board the USS Saratoga (CV-60) as the first VS squadron to test the CV concept, in which strike and antisubmarine aircraft were combined within one air wing, a practice that endures today.
VS-28 was transferred to NAS Cecil Field, Florida, in 1975 for transition to the Lockheed-built twin-jet S-3A Viking. Now known as the Gamblers, VS-28 made eight deployments over the next 15 years to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean on board the USS America (CV-66), Independence (CV-62), and Forrestal (CV-59). In 1983, the Gamblers flew missions in support of Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.
VS-28 upgraded to the S-3B version of the Viking in 1990, but made its final deployment in 1991, on board the Forrestal in support of Operation Provide Comfort over northern Iraq. On 1 October 1992, VS-28 was disestablished at Cecil Field as part of the post-Cold War drawdown.