Looking to learn about VA-95?
Medium Attack Squadron 95, better known as VA-95, was a U.S. Navy attack squadron with a proud history of carrier-based combat operations. Known as the “Green Lizards,” VA-95 flew some of the Navy’s most recognizable attack aircraft such as the AD Skyraider, A-4 Skyhawk, and A-6 Intruder and all aircraft types served during an era when naval aviation played a critical role in projecting American air power around the world.
The VA-95 designation was used by more than one Navy squadron over the years. The last and most recent-known VA-95 was established on 1 April 1972 and became closely associated with the Grumman A-6 Intruder, the Navy’s rugged, all-weather, carrier-based attack aircraft.
The History of VA-95: From Torpedo Twenty To The Green Lizards
About VA-95: Flying the A-6 Intruder
The A-6 Intruder was built for a demanding job: carrying a heavy weapons load to targets in weather and darkness that could keep other aircraft on the deck.
Rather than relying on speed or flashy air-to-air performance, the Intruder used sophisticated navigation and attack systems that allowed its two-man crew—a pilot and bombardier/navigator—to locate and strike targets day or night.
For VA-95 aircrews and maintainers, that capability came with a price. Keeping an A-6 squadron combat-ready required long hours from maintenance personnel, ordnance crews, avionics technicians, plane captains, support personnel, and aircrew.
Anyone who served around carrier aviation knows the aircraft may get the photographs, but it takes an entire squadron to put that aircraft over the target and bring it home again.
About VA-95: An Abbreviated History From 1952-1995
While VA-95 origins lay in VT-20 and VA-10A, we were’nt VA-95 until 1952. VA-95 stood up for the Korean War and continued on until our disestablishment in October 1995. The Squadrons history spanned 43 plus years
- VA-95 deployed on 12 different aircraft carriers.
- Flew 3 different iconic aircrafts; The AD Skyraider, the A-4 Skyhawk, and the A-6 Intruder.
- The squadron earned several citations and accolades.
- And participated in 3 coflicts (Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf) and was involved in over 11 military operations from 1953 to 1995
About VA-95: More Than Just Pilots and Airplanes
Like every Navy squadron, VA-95 was much more than the pilot’s and bombardier navigator’s sitting in the cockpit. Aircraft such as the A-6 often receive most of the attention in books and photographs, but VA-95 history belongs just as much to the enlisted sailors and support personnel who kept our AWESOME aircraft flying day and night under often difficult conditions.
Every successful mission began long before the aircraft reached the catapult.
- Maintainers worked on engines, hydraulic systems, electrical equipment, avionics, radar, flight controls, landing gear, ejection seats, and countless other components.
- Ordnancemen prepared and loaded weapons.
- Plane captains inspected and cared for their aircraft.
- Supply personnel located parts.
- Administrative personnel kept the squadron functioning.
- Flight-deck crews helped move, launch, and recover aircraft in one of the most dangerous working environments in the world.
And much of that work happened at night, in bad weather, and thousands of miles from home. Carrier aviation has always been a team effort. The pilot and B/N might take the aircraft into combat, but an entire squadron helped put them there and bring them home.
Behind every launch stood sailors working on engines (AD), hydraulics (AMH), electronics (AT), flight controls (AMS), radar (AQ), ejection seats (AME), weapons (AO), electric (AE), fuel systems and dozens of other components. There were also the administrative (AZ), supply (AK) and support personnel (PR, HM, MS, YN, PN, NC) necessary to keep a deployed squadron operating thousands of miles from home.
On a carrier flight deck, everybody had a job—and somebody’s life could depend upon that job being done correctly.
That is part of the story about the VA-95 story that shouldn’t be forgotten.
About VA-95: The Legacy of VA-95
VA-95 was eventually disestablished in 1995, bringing the Green Lizards’ active service to an end.
The A-6 Intruder itself followed shortly afterward, retiring from U.S. Navy service in 1997. Modern aircraft and precision weapons took over its mission, but the Intruder and the squadrons that flew it earned a permanent place in naval aviation history.
VA-95 has garnered multiple awards and commendations throughout its history, including the Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Navy Unit Commendation. The squadron’s dedication to mission success and operational excellence has solidified its reputation within the Navy.
Today, the legacy of Attack Squadron 95 lives on through the veterans who served with the squadron, the aircraft and memorabilia preserved by collectors and museums, and the stories passed down by the sailors who were there. For former Green Lizards, an old VA-95 patch, cruise book photograph, squadron ball cap, or picture of an A-6 sitting on the flight deck can bring back memories that happened decades ago but somehow don’t seem all that far away.
VA-95 wasn’t simply a squadron designation. It was the sailors…., the aircrew, the maintainers and support personnel who made the Green Lizards what they were.
To everyone who wore the VA-95 patch:
Thank you for your service—and long live the Green Lizards.
Once a Lizard, always a Lizard.
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