World War II On 1 October 1943, Marine Night Fighter Squadron 533 (VMF(N)-533) was commissioned at
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point,
North Carolina. Originally known as "Black Mac's Killers", after their first commanding officer Major
Marion M. Magruder, they were one of three night fighter squadrons to be activated in the Marine Corps and were outfitted with the
Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat, equipped with the APS-6 radar. The squadron left for the
West Coast in early April and on 16 April, they embarked on board the headed for the
South Pacific. In May 1944, the squadron conducted their final training on the F6F aboard
Marine Corps Air Station Ewa,
Hawaii and then headed for
Eniwetok. On 12 June they relieved
VMF(N)-532 and assumed night defense responsibilities for the area. On 30 November they moved to
Engebi and continued operations. On 7 May 1945, with only two days notice, the squadron of 15
F6F Hellcat planes took off from Engebi with
R5C escorts and flew to
Saipan, a total of . This was the longest flight ever over water by a squadron in single engine military aircraft. Each plane had a 150-gallon belly tank, and the squadron had to travel at the speed of the slowest plane The squadron moved to
Yontan Airfield,
Okinawa in May 1945 and finally settled on
Ie Shima Airfield on 15 June 1945. Between 14 May – 29 June 533 would claim shooting down 30 Japanese planes - by radar, at night - without one operational loss. This was a night fighter record for enemy planes shot down by a single squadron.
Global War on Terrorism The squadron deployed to the
Kuwait supporting
Operation Southern Watch and
Operation Iraqi Freedom, arriving at Al-Jaber Air Base on 11 February 2003. On 20 March, coalition forces began the ground offensive with support from the squadron’s Hornets. While operating around the clock, the squadron expended over 800,000 pounds of ordnance, flying 558 sorties and 1440 flight hours. For their support of the successful campaign against the Iraqi regime, the Hawks were awarded another
Presidential Unit Citation. In the Spring of 2006 they redeployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In February 2008 the squadron deployed to
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni,
Japan as part of the
Unit Deployment Program in which they were the first east coast squadron to deploy straight from MCAS Beaufort directly to
Yecheon Air Base,
South Korea. In September 2008 the squadron returned to MCAS Beaufort. Summer of 2009, and March–October’s of 2014, and 2018 the squadron deployed to MCAS Iwakuni to take part in the Unit Deployment Program. During their 2009 UDP, they provided real-time imagery and reconnaissance during relief efforts in the
Philippines following
Typhoon Ketsana. In 2014 and specifically 2018 the focus was in the Korea Area of Operations as tensions were heightened throughout the Pacific.
Transition to F-35B Lightning II In late 2024, VMFA-533 officially received their first F-35B Lightning and by 2025, the squadron has acquired multiple jets. ==Notable former members==