Photos | Beach-based squadron honors history with specially painted aircraft

A Virginia Beach-based Hornet squadron, currently deployed to the Middle East, is giving a salute to its history with a specially painted aircraft.

Strike Fighter Squadron 15, the Valions, has its origins in a torpedo squadron formed in 1942 that protected the sea lanes between Bermuda and Newfoundland.

To honor that heritage, sailors from the squadron, led by Petty Officer 1st Class Steve Kiss, recreated the squadron’s original chest patch, featuring a lion riding a torpedo while sweeping the seas with its broom, and painted it on the right vertical stabilizer of one of the squadron’s Hornets. They added the squadron’s current logo, a lion riding a laser-guided bomb, and topped it off by painting an American flag on the jet’s speedbrake.

In another military tradition, each of the squadron’s aircraft has gotten some personalized “nose art” - the name of one of pilot’s wives. The squadron, based at Oceana Naval Air Station, deployed in May with the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush and is flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Valions Hornet flies off the coast of Virginia Beach. (Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Tim Myers | U.S. Navy)

A specially painted F/A-18 Hornet flown by Cmdr. J. Dan Hughes from Strike Fighter Squadron 15, the Valions, refuels during a mission over Afghanistan. (Photo by Jen Trussel | U.S. Navy)

The Hornet, flown by Cmdr. Paul Campagna, lands aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush. (U.S. Navy photo)

Sailors revived the tradition of aircraft “nose art” by painting the name of a pilot’s wife on each Hornet. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mobolaji Popoola | U.S. Navy)

The Valions’ original logo – a lion sweeping the seas. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mobolaji Popoola | U.S. Navy)

The Valions’ contemporary insignia – a lion atop a laser-guided bomb. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mobolaji Popoola | U.S. Navy)