Fighter Squadron (VF) 74 "Be-Devilers" was established on 16 April 1944 (as VBF-20) and disestablished 50 years later on 30 April 1994. It started to operate with the F4U Corsair, and these were followed by the F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, F9F-8 Cougar, F4D-1 Skyray, F-4B Phantom II, F-4J, F-4S before transitioning in 1983 to the F-14A Tomcat and, from August 1988 this F-14B. With the Tomcat, the squadron was heavily involved in combat operations in Operation El Dorado Canyon (Libya, 1986), Operation Desert Shield (Iraq, 1990) and subsequently Operation Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991).