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VMFA-212
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=== The 1950s and 1960s === After the cease fire in Korea, VMA-212 traded their AU-1 Corsairs for Douglas AD-2 and AD-3 Skyraiders. They boarded the USS Wasp in 1954, and joined MAG-13 at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, HI. They began a slow transition to white-and-gray paint schemes for their planes and sported a colorful flightline as the "blue birds" were phased out. The Devil Cats set a record for flight hours in May 1956, when their complement of fifty pilots kept its Skyraiders aloft for 4,276.2 hours for that month. The squadron accepted the WD tail code in August and transitioned to the jet age in March, 1958, with the North American FJ-4B Fury. The Devil Cats responded to the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis by prosecuting Operation Cannonball, in October 1958. VMA-212 and the Black Sheep of VMA-214 flew their aircraft across the Pacific, from Hawaii to Japan, utilizing their air-to-air refueling capability. This marked the first time that a single-seat aircraft had ever done so, and it stood in the record books until it was eclipsed by VMF(AW)-451 in 1961, when the Warlords flew their F8U Crusaders from El Toro to Japan. The Devil Cats traded their Fury jets for the Douglas A4D-2 Skyhawks (redesignated A-4B) in August 1961. The squadron received the Vought F-8B Crusader in July 1963 and changed their name to Lancers. Ed Rutty, the Executive Officer, derived that name in keeping with the medieval theme of the Crusader. David and Mary Lerps designed the Lancer insignia that was used for decades, featuring crossed lances over a cross-emblazened shield. The squadron was redesignated a Marine Fighter Squadron, VMF-212. The squadron operated the day-fighter version of the Crusader for exactly one year, when they accepted the F-8D Crusader and were redesignated Marine (All Weather) Fighter Squadron, VMF(AW)-212 on July 1, 1964.
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