Check out the F/A-18D in particular colour scheme to have a good time the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.
On Aug. 7, 2025, Marine Fighter Assault Squadron 112 rolled out a particular F/A-18D Hornet that turns a front-line jet right into a flying storyboard of Marine Corps historical past. The Hornet, informally referred to by the squadron as “250,” honors the service’s 250th birthday with a commemorative scheme conceived by retired Workers Sgt. Dave “Crash” Roof and utilized by the Corrosion Management Facility workforce at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. The plane was ferried to the unit by VMFA-112 commanding officer Lt. Col. William Paxton, who introduced the jet dwelling for its first appearances with the Cowboys.
Our contributor Gherardo Fontana took the pictures of the particular coloured jet because the two-seat “legacy Hornet” arrived at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Value, Texas, at 15.00LT.
In accordance with VMFA-112, the design is greater than an attention-grabbing paint job. It’s a tightly curated tour of Marine heritage from Tun Tavern to at present. The outer faces of the vertical tails carry maybe essentially the most well-known Marine picture of all, the flag elevating on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima. The internal faces present the primary and present variations of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, a reminder that the logo has developed whereas the identification has not. The EGA replaces the usual U.S. star and bars on both sides of the fuselage, a acutely aware option to middle Marine aviation moderately than generic nationwide markings for this anniversary work. Down the backbone, the squadron positioned the Marines’ Hymn alongside the pace brake.
The cover rails, on one facet, characteristic the names of the primary Commandant, Maj. Samuel Nicholas, and the primary Sergeant Main of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. Wilbur Bestwick. On the opposite are the names of the present senior management, Commandant Gen. Eric Smith and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz.
For VMFA-112 is a Reserve squadron that continues to fly the legacy Hornet whereas the Marine Corps transitions to the F-35. The unit is scheduled to start conversion to the F-35 USMC Drive Design 2030 Aviation Plan in Fiscal 12 months 2029. The Cowboys are scheduled to transition to the F-35C, the Service Variant of the Lightning II plane. Three USMC models are already flying the sort: the VMFA-314 “Black Knights”, the VMFA-311 “Tomcats” and the VMFA-251 “Thunderbolts”.
The F/A-18 has carried Marine markings for greater than three many years and stays a recognizable image of mounted wing Marine aviation. Because the service completes the shift to fifth era plane, this Hornet carries ahead the story of what Marine squadrons have achieved with legacy platforms in each theater from the Gulf to the Pacific. Pairing that story with the Corps’ bigger historical past on a single airframe is a great method to meet the second with out drifting into nostalgia.
