About Us VA-146 was commissioned at 0900 on 1 February, 1956 as a unit of Air Group 14. The squadron's original nickname was the Blacktails, which was derived from its assigned color as the sixth squadron of the air group. Since there were no replacement squadrons at this time, VA-146 started with only a handful of aircraft and began an "in-house" training schedule for the F9F-8 Cougar in the squadron spaces. From December 2014 to May 2015 the Blue Diamonds transitioned from Lot 10 Hornets to Lot 24 F/A-18 Super Hornets. On 26 May, 2015 the Blue Diamonds achieved their Safe-for-Flight in the Super Hornet. The F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft we fly is the world's most advanced strike fighter. Designed to operate from a carrier, the Super Hornet is fully capable in both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Super Hornet is the second major model upgrade since the inception of the F/A-18 aircraft program highly capable across the full mission spectrum: air superiority, fighter escort, reconnaissance, aerial refueling, close air support, air defense suppression and day/night precision strike.