Check out the F/A-18D in particular colour scheme to rejoice the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.
On Aug. 7, 2025, Marine Fighter Assault Squadron 112 rolled out a particular F/A-18D Hornet that turns a front-line jet right into a flying storyboard of Marine Corps historical past. The Hornet, informally referred to by the squadron as “250,” honors the service’s 250th birthday with a commemorative scheme conceived by retired Workers Sgt. Dave “Crash” Roof and utilized by the Corrosion Management Facility workforce at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. The plane was ferried to the unit by VMFA-112 commanding officer Lt. Col. William Paxton, who introduced the jet residence for its first appearances with the Cowboys.
Our contributor Gherardo Fontana took the photographs of the particular coloured jet because the two-seat “legacy Hornet” arrived at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Price, Texas, at 15.00LT.
Based on VMFA-112, the design is greater than an eye catching paint job. It’s a tightly curated tour of Marine heritage from Tun Tavern to in the present day. The outer faces of the vertical tails carry maybe probably the most well-known Marine picture of all, the flag elevating on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima. The inside faces present the primary and present variations of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, a reminder that the logo has advanced whereas the id has not. The EGA replaces the usual U.S. star and bars on either side of the fuselage, a aware option to middle Marine aviation slightly than generic nationwide markings for this anniversary work. Down the backbone, the squadron positioned the Marines’ Hymn alongside the velocity brake.
The cover rails, on one facet, function the names of the primary Commandant, Maj. Samuel Nicholas, and the primary Sergeant Main of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. Wilbur Bestwick. On the opposite are the names of the present senior management, Commandant Gen. Eric Smith and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz.
For VMFA-112 is a Reserve squadron that continues to fly the legacy Hornet whereas the Marine Corps transitions to the F-35. The unit is scheduled to start conversion to the F-35 USMC Power Design 2030 Aviation Plan in Fiscal 12 months 2029. The Cowboys are scheduled to transition to the F-35C, the Provider Variant of the Lightning II plane. Three USMC items are already flying the kind: the VMFA-314 “Black Knights”, the VMFA-311 “Tomcats” and the VMFA-251 “Thunderbolts”.
The F/A-18 has carried Marine markings for greater than three a long time and stays a recognizable image of fastened wing Marine aviation. Because the service completes the shift to fifth technology plane, this Hornet carries ahead the story of what Marine squadrons have carried out with legacy platforms in each theater from the Gulf to the Pacific. Pairing that story with the Corps’ bigger historical past on a single airframe is a great option to meet the second with out drifting into nostalgia.
