VMCJ-1 was commissioned on 31 July 1958, at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. This newly formed squadron was the result of a merger between VMJ-1 and VMC-1. It was the last of the VMCJs to commission and the squadron initially flew the
F8U-1P, an unarmed reconnaissance variant of the
Vought F-8 Crusader and the
F3D-2Q, an electronic warfare version of the
Douglas F3D Skyknight. The squadron departed the United States in November 1959 as part of the
Unit Deployment Program. It relieved
VMCJ-3 at
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan while also taking control of VMCJ-3's
EF-10Bs. From November 1959 through April 1965, VMCJ-1 flew Sharkfin Electronic Reconnaissance Missions in support of the Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program while also supporting Marine Corps training throughout the Pacific. Beginning in 1964, the squadron began supporting
Task Force 77 deployments to
Yankee Station in the
Gulf of Tonkin augmenting the Navy's photoreconnaissance squadrons. That year, the squadron also had one third of its pilots recommended for
Distinguished Flying Crosses by the Navy for flying photo flights over
Cuba and was awarded the
Commandant's Aviation Efficiency Trophy for outstanding accomplishment of all assigned tasks.
Vietnam War VMCJ-1 was one of the first Marine Corps squadrons into South Vietnam in April 1965. The squadron provided
Electronic countermeasure support for
United States Air Force and
United States Navy aircraft conducting missions over North Vietnam. The first VMCJ-1 aircraft lost in combat occurred on 13 August 1965, when an RF-8A from the Yankee Team detachment flying from the , was critically damaged by
anti-aircraft artillery while photographing a
North Vietnamese Navy radar installation. The pilot was able to eject out to sea. The squadron would depart
Da Nang Air Base on 15 July 1970, after five years of combat in Vietnam having flown over 25,000 sorties with four different aircraft types (EF-10B, RF-8A, EA-6A, RF-4B), the last 11,297 hours accident free. In addition, over 1000 RF-8A sorties were flown during 1964-65 from
Task Force 77 aircraft carriers in the
Gulf of Tonkin. On 3 April 1972, after the launch of the
Easter Offensive by the
Vietnam People's Army VMCJ-1 was ordered by the commanding general of the
1st Marine Aircraft Wing to deploy to
Naval Air Station Cubi Point in the
Philippines to support Task Force 77 operations as part of
President Nixon's response codenamed
Operation Freedom Train. The squadron flew their first combat missions on 7 April and remained at NAS Cubi Point for an extended period flying in support of
Operation Linebacker.
Post-Vietnam and deactivation Upon leaving Vietnam, the squadron moved to
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni falling under the command of
Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12). In February 1971, VMCJ-1 was sent to
Sydney, Australia to support Fleet Anti-Air-Warfare Exercise. This was the first USMC squadron deployment to Australia since
World War II. Following the exercises in Taiwan and Australia the squadron was transferred to the control of
Marine Aircraft Group 15 (MAG-15) on 1 July 1971. In April 1972 the squadron's EA-6As were deployed to
Naval Air Station Cubi Point in the
Philippines to support Task Force 77 in Operations
Linebacker I and
II against heavily defended targets around
Hanoi and
Haiphong. Later augmented by a four plane detachment from VMCJ-2, these detachments flew 2,496 sorties covering 5,356 hours while losing one EA-6A to enemy action. The squadron's aircraft returned to MCAS Iwakuni in January 1973. In October 1973 the EA-6As began supporting operations from on the
USS Midway (CV-41). Aircraft detailed to this support were called "Detachment 101." In April 1975, a three-plane detachment from the squadron, flying from the
USS Coral Sea (CV-43), flew cover during
Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of
Saigon. As the only fixed wing squadron supporting the
fall of Saigon it flew the last EA-6A mission over Vietnam on 30 April 1975. Immediately after the end of the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps consolidated its photo reconnaissance assets in to two units -
VMFP-3 at MCAS El Toro and
VMAQ-2 at MCAS Cherry Point. VMCJ-1 was officially decommissioned on 2 September 1975. ==Squadron accidents==