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New Year's morning, 1943, a badly hungover handful of officers and enlisted gathered to read the orders officially establishing VF-17. After the orders were read, most promptly returned to bed. 

 

Hardly an indicator of the destruction the group would wreak in the Pacific theatre less than a year later. :) 

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19 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

Not to be technical, but the current JR's are only around 21 years old. :taunt:  VFA-103 can't trace their lineage to VF-17, just their name. Now back to our regularly scheduled birthday celebration.

 

Okay, I understand and respect what you're sayin'.... there have long been squadrons which have been disestablished, then later resurrected later by OTHER personnel in another group, VFA-111 is a good example.

 

But I differ with the JR's in that, both times they were disestablished (first as VF-61, then VF-84), the SAME PERSONNEL transferred to another unit and immediately took over. As a fellow JR friend of mine points out, it is just as when the pirates of old were on a sinking ship, they promptly hijacked another. Same pirates. This is what they did both times with the same personnel, and to that end I think it can be argued that those personnel carried the tradition personally both to the next unit, allowing it to survive unbroken without a gap in time. Slowed and damaged, sure, but unbroken. Sort of. :cheers:

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41 minutes ago, john53 said:

The "original" Jolley Roger. Feared but not forgotten.

Long live Captain Jolley!!!!!--John

39bCQDS.jpg

 

 

 

Love it!! Never saw that before. 

Though not quite "the original," being after VF-17 and also the B-24 group of the same name...

But man, I like it!!

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8 hours ago, Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy said:

But I differ with the JR's in that, both times they were disestablished (first as VF-61, then VF-84), the SAME PERSONNEL transferred to another unit and immediately took over. As a fellow JR friend of mine points out, it is just as when the pirates of old were on a sinking ship, they promptly hijacked another. Same pirates. This is what they did both times with the same personnel, and to that end I think it can be argued that those personnel carried the tradition personally both to the next unit, allowing it to survive unbroken without a gap in time. Slowed and damaged, sure, but unbroken. Sort of. :cheers:

I'm sorry but that is incorrect, when VF-84 decomm'ed their personnel did not go to VF-103 and take over. Only about a hand full of former VF-84 personnel went to VF-103, a vast majority of the personnel in VF-103 when they took over The Jolly Roger's linage were Slugger's. When VF-84 decom'ed their personnel were farmed out to just about every Tomcat squadron at Oceana.

 

The only reason why VF-103 took over the Jolly Roger's linage was because the skipper of VF-103 at the time was trying to suck up to FITWING and make Captain, none of the Slugger personnel wanted to take over that linage and were pissed when the skipper shoved it down their throats. VF-103 skipper was such a piece of work that he banned everyone in the squadron from wearing a Slugger patch on their flight jackets and made the history of the Slugger's to disappear in a blink of an eye.

 

VF-84's personnel didn't go over to VF-103 and take over, VF-103 skipper stabbed every Slugger in the back in order to try to make Captain. The VF-84 personnel who went over to VF-103 were resented and not well liked because of what the skipper did, and that resentment lasted for years.

Edited by GW8345
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1 hour ago, GW8345 said:

I'm sorry but that is incorrect, when VF-84 decomm'ed their personnel did not go to VF-103 and take over. Only about a hand full of former VF-84 personnel went to VF-103, a vast majority of the personnel in VF-103 when they took over The Jolly Roger's linage were Slugger's. When VF-84 decom'ed their personnel were farmed out to just about every Tomcat squadron at Oceana.

 

The only reason why VF-103 took over the Jolly Roger's linage was because the skipper of VF-103 at the time was trying to suck up to FITWING and make Captain, none of the Slugger personnel wanted to take over that linage and were pissed when the skipper shoved it down their throats. VF-103 skipper was such a piece of work that he banned everyone in the squadron from wearing a Slugger patch on their flight jackets and made the history of the Slugger's to disappear in a blink of an eye.

 

VF-84's personnel didn't go over to VF-103 and take over, VF-103 skipper stabbed every Slugger in the back in order to try to make Captain. The VF-84 personnel who went over to VF-103 were resented and not well liked because of what the skipper did, and that resentment lasted for years.

 

Okay, if that's true then I certainly stand corrected...was my impression at least for the VF-61 to 84 transition, from what I'd read...if I'm wrong there someone please correct me.... :cheers:

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