Some squadrons saw all major battles and were part of most overseas developments after WWII. One such squadron was Attack Squadron 12 (VA-12). The squadron was created on May 12, 1945, initially named Bomber-Fighter Squadron FOUR (VBF-4). It was renamed Fighter Squadron TWO (VF-2A) on November 15, 1946, during a reorganization of aircraft squadrons. When the Navy returned to its original naming system in 1946, the squadron became Fighter Squadron TWELVE (VF-12) on August 2, 1948. Finally, it took on the name Attack Squadron 12 on August 1, 1955, fully adopting the attack role. The squadron, also called the “Flying Ubangis” or “Clinchers,” had the motto “Kiss of Death.” In 1955, during WestPac, the squadron helped evacuate the Tachen Islands, which were being bombed by forces from the People’s Republic of China. After this mission, the squadron switched to using the F7U Cutlass and changed its role from air interception to ground attack with special weapons.
In 1960, Attack Squadron 12 was on the USS Shangri-La and was deployed to help address Cuban involvement in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The following year, the squadron returned to the region on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt to support the Dominican Republic’s government. In 1963, Attack Squadron 12 was sent to the USS Essex and USS Intrepid to take part in anti-submarine warfare exercises. In August of the following year, the squadron was back on the USS Roosevelt when the carrier was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to address tensions between Greece and Turkey on the island of Cyprus. Attack Squadron 12 fought in Vietnam twice, once in 1966 and again in 1970. In 1971, the unit switched from the A-4 plane to the A-7 Corsair. The years 1973 and 1974 brought more challenges in the Mediterranean, including the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the assassination of the American ambassador to Cyprus in 1974.
During the 1970s, Attack Squadron 12 was based at Cecil Field Naval Air Station near Jacksonville, Florida. In 1980, during the Iranian hostage crisis, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carried the squadron on board for 254 days at sea. In 1983, trouble in Lebanon escalated, and the squadron supported the peacekeeping efforts there. On October 1, 1986, Attack Squadron 12 was disbanded after serving for 31 years as an attack unit and 10 years as a fighter unit. From their base at Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida, the squadron completed over thirty major overseas missions on aircraft carriers. They mainly flew the A-4 Skyhawk and later the A-7E Corsair II, including two combat tours during the Vietnam War.
