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Attack Squadron TWELVE (ATKRON TWELVE or VA-12), also known as the "Flying Ubangis" or "Clinchers", was an attack squadron of the United States Navy active during the Cold War. From their home port at Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida, the squadron made more than thirty major overseas deployments aboard aircraft carriers, primarily flying A-4 Skyhawk and later the A-7E Corsair II, including two combat tours in the Vietnam War. ==History== The squadron was established on May 12, 1945 as Bomber-Fighter Squadron FOUR (VBF-4) and soon after was redesignated as part of the service-wide reorganization of aircraft squadrons as Fighter Squadron TWO (VF-2A) on 15 November 1946. Upon the Navy's return to its pre-1946 system of nomenclature, the squadron was again redesignated, this time as Fighter Squadron TWELVE (VF-12) on 2 August 1948. Fully embracing the attack role, the squadron was given its final designation Attack Squadron TWELVE (VA-12) on 1 August 1955.〔 〕 In 1960, VA-12 was part of airwing of the USS ''Shangri-La'' when that carrier was deployed to counter Cuban infiltration into Guatemala and Nicaragua. The next year, the squadron returned to the area aboard USS ''Franklin D. Roosevelt'' to support the government of the Dominican Republic. In 1963 the squadron was deployed in detachments to the USS ''Essex'' and USS ''Intrepid'' for anti-submarine warfare exercises. In August of the next year, the squadron was again on board the ''Roosevelt'' when the carrier was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in response to trouble between Greeks and Turks on the island of Cyprus. The squadron saw combat in Vietnam twice, in 1966 and 1970. Later in 1971, the unit relinquished the A-4 for the A-7 Corsair. 1973 and 1974 saw further trouble in the Mediterranean. 1973 saw the Yom Kippur War and 1974 the assassination of the American ambassador to Cyprus. During the 1970s the squadron's home base was at Cecil Field Naval Air Station near Jacksonville, Florida. In 1980, the Iranian hostage crisis saw the USS ''Dwight D. Eisenhower'' with the squadron on board. The ship remained at sea for 254 days continuously. Trouble in Lebanon flared in 1983, and the squadron supported the peacekeeping force in the country. On 1 October 1986, the squadron was disestablished, ending 31 years of service as an attack unit, and ten years prior to that as a fighter unit. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「VA-12 (U.S. Navy)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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