![\"An](\"https:\/\/images02.military.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full\/public\/2021-03\/mil-marine-hornet-death-rattlers-1200.jpg?itok=keOb3SW6\" "\\"An")
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Someone has a sense of humor here: I did not know until this morning that the Navy has a Rear Admiral named James Kirk. And the flattop is named for ADM Chester Nimitz. And in other news, the Enterprise was retired in 2012 and has been scrapped.<\/p>\n
There are so many lame jokes I could throw in here….<\/p>\n
Most important is that the F-18s flown by this squadron are being replaced with F-35s, which are essentially stealth fighters.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2021\/03\/02\/after-36-years-marines-f-18-hornets-have-completed-their-final-carrier-deployment.html<\/a><\/p>\n From the article:\u00a0 Rear Adm. James Kirk, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group’s commander, said last week that, despite flying the oldest jets on the carrier, the Marines “met the mark,” Seapower Magazine reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Those maintainers did a great job, and those Marine pilots executed those missions,” Kirk added.<\/p>\n VMFA-323 supported missions in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and East Africa during the deployment. The strike group also operated alongside other carriers in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n The squadron has worked alongside the Navy for decades. It supported the Battle of Okinawa under the command of Adm. Chester Nimitz in 1944, according to the Marine Corps, and began preparing for the first of many carrier-based operations two years later.<\/p>\n The Death Rattlers also supported Marines fighting in the famous Battle of Chosin Reservoir from the flight deck of the escort carrier Badoeng Strait during the Korean War. – article<\/p>\n But they\u2019re home now, and will be abandoning the F-18s in exchange for taking on a newer stealth fighter, the F-35, for use in future missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"