VMFA(AW)-224 Bengals FDE

VMFA(AW)-224 "Fighting Bengals" (Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224) · USMC · 2013

The Bengal tiger astride a heraldic shield has identified this squadron since its earliest days, when it was commissioned as VMF-224 on 1 May 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii. Redesignated VMFA(AW)-224 on 5 March 1993, the Bengals moved to MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, and took up the two-seat F/A-18D Hornet, becoming the wing's all-weather close air support, airborne forward air control, and tactical reconnaissance squadron. This flat-dark-earth rendering strips the full-color crest down to desert thread — the subdued version sewn to flight suits and coveralls downrange rather than worn on the parade deck. It was carried on the squadron's 2013 Operation Enduring Freedom deployment, one of a long line of Bengal combat tours running from Guadalcanal through Desert Storm and Iraq.