VMF(AW)-542 Tigers

Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 542 (VMF(AW)-542) "Tigers" · USMC · 1948-1963

Commissioned in 1944 as a Marine night fighter squadron flying the F6F Hellcat, the Tigers earned a Presidential Unit Citation downing eighteen Japanese aircraft over Okinawa. Redesignated Marine Fighter Squadron (All Weather) 542 in October 1948, the squadron flew the F7F Tigercat and later the F3D Skyknight and F-8 Crusader, carrying the snarling tiger and lightning-bolt motif of this insignia. The unit held the VMF(AW)-542 designation until 1963, when it became Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542 (VMFA-542).