In July 1955, the Sunliners were established as an all-weather fighter interceptor squadron, flying the now antique Grumman F9F-B Cougar.
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The official squadron emblem, an orange mach wave on a black field, was adopted in 1963. At that time the motto, "Anytime, Anyplace" was selected as the squadron's answer to any challenge it is called upon to perform on land, sea or air. Times and dates have changed, but the mission of the VFA 81 Sunliners has remained the same: "Anytime, Anyplace."
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The Sunliners completed 24 Mediterranean deployments, most of them aboard the carrier USS Forrestal. The squadron was redesignated VFA 81 and commenced a training phase preparatory to the squadron's introduction to the F/A-18 Hornet.
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The VFA 81 Sunliners were assigned to Carrier Air Wing 17, where they were one of the first carrier based squadrons to fly combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. The only Navy MIG kills during Operation Desert Storm are credited to two VFA 81 jets.
