Marines reactivate Silver Eagles fighter squadron as F-35 unit

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 becomes the second unit in the Corps’ East Coast-based 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing to adopt the advanced stealth fighter.

VMFA 115 becomes the second unit in the Corps’ East Coast-based 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing to adopt the advanced stealth fighter. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, take part in a reactivation ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., Nov. 5, 2026. Fighter Attack Squadron 115 was reactivated as an F-35C Lightning II squadron. (Paola Garcia Trinidad/U.S. Marine Corps) The Marine Corps on Thursday reactivated Fighter Attack Squadron 115 as an F-35C Lightning II unit at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., about two years after it retired its F/A-18 Hornet fighters and deactivated. Fighter Attack Squadron 115, known as the Silver Eagles, becomes the second unit in the Corps’ East Coast-based 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing to adopt the advanced stealth fighter, capable of operating from Navy aircraft carriers.

The Silver Eagles trace their history to World War II when they flew F4U-1 Corsairs in the Pacific Theater. The unit was inactivated in November 2023 at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina after it had flown Hornets for 38 years, including heavy involvement in Global War on Terror operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Marines with the reactivated unit began flying the F-35C in July. The squadron is expected to reach initial operating capability next year, according