VAW-125

Airborne Command & Control Squadron 125 (VAW-125), known as the "Torch Bearers" or "Tigertails", was established on 1 October 1968, at Naval Air Station Norfolk. The squadron's initial supporting command was Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) deploying aboard USS Saratoga.

The squadron is equipped with the E-2 Hawkeye. It was the first east coast squadron with E-2B's in 1968, among the first to operate the E-2C in 1975, receiving the E-2C 2000 in its first operational year in 2003, and the first unit to operate the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye in 2014.

In December 1976, Vice Admiral Howard E. Greer, COMNAVAIRLANT, presented VAW-125 with the COMNAVAIRLANT Battle "E" for readiness, the CINCLANTFLT "Golden Anchor" Award for career retention, and the CNO Safety "S" Award. VAW-125 is believed to be the first Navy unit to win all three awards in the same year.

On 14 January 1978, the squadron suffered the loss of an aircraft (BuNo 159107) and the deaths of three aviators. In June, VAW-125 took the E-2C's newest weapons system upgrade, the Advanced Radar Processing System (ARPS), to sea for the first time. The squadron then assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) in November 1979, with the squadron making their eighth Mediterranean Sea deployment, this time aboard USS Forrestal.

While deployed in August 1981, VAW-125 participated in Freedom of Navigation (FON) Operations & Open Ocean Missile (OOM) Exercise in the Central Mediterranean Sea and Gulf of Sitra, during which two Libyan MiGs were destroyed after attacking Battle Group aircraft. Upon return from deployment, the squadron provided range control services for the second launch of the NASA space shuttle, STS-2, and detection and monitoring services in the first E-2C Counter-Drug tasking, Operation Thunderbolt.

VAW-125, under the command of CDR Charles "Chuck" Saffell, embarked with CVW-17 in USS Forrestal on June 8, 1982, deploying to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. VAW-125 conducted flight operations in the Western Mediterranean on June 24 with aircraft from four carrier air wings in OPERATION DAILY DOUBLE, the first time four U.S. aircraft carriers operated simultaneously in the Mediterranean (USS Forrestal, USS Independence, USS America, and USS John F. Kennedy). Following the exercise, VAW-125 and USS Forrestal proceeded to the Eastern Mediterranean and supported U.S. and United Nations operations in Lebanon, for which Sailors and Marines of the USS Forrestal and USS Independence Battle Groups were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal. During this period, Sailors from VAW-125 conducted port calls to Naples, Italy, and Benidorm, Spain. On September 12, VAW-125 and USS Forrestal transited the Suez Canal and operated in the North Arabian Sea for 33 days, returning to the Mediterranean on October 17 and conducting a final port call to Alexandria, Egypt. VAW-125 then returned to the waters off Lebanon for their last line period, prior to returning to the U.S. on November 16, 1982.

VAW-125 and CVW-17 cross-decked to USS Saratoga in 1983, supporting the aircraft carrier as it conducted a number of exercises off the U.S. East Coast. VAW-125 deployed under the command of CDR John Ogle on April 2, 1984, to the Mediterranean Sea aboard USS Saratoga. During this deployment VAW-125 Sailors enjoyed port calls to Naples, Italy; Barcelona, Benidorm, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Toulon, France; and Tunis, Tunisia. VAW-125 returned to Naval Station Norfolk October 19-20, 1984.

While on a routine deployment in October 1985, the squadron assisted in the successful intercept of the Egyptian airliner carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship, MS Achille Lauro. Squadron aircrew spoke directly to the hijackers, convincing them that the communications were coming from the two VF-103 AND VF-74 F-14s on their wing and persuading the airliner to divert into NAS Sigonella, Sicily.