Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Also known as the "Fighting Bengals", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The Bengals are the only Marine F/A-18D Hornet Squadron currently operating out of MCAS Beaufort.
Squadron Patch from WWII
A newly delivered Vought F4U-5 Corsair at MCAS Cherry Point in 1948
A VMA-224 A-4E takes off from Chu Lai, Vietnam, 24 September 1966.
Grumman A-6 Intruder from VMA(AW)-224 on the flightline at MCAS Cherry Point in 1984.
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) air base located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest of the central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. About 4,700 personnel serve at the station, and it is home to four Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons and one F-35B Lighting II training squadron.
A US Marine Corps F-35B Lighting II of VMFAT-501 at MCAS Beaufort
Image: Mcasbeaufort
The water tower on the air station, emblazoned with the base nickname "Fightertown"