Marine Attack Squadron 214 (VMA-214) is a United States Marine Corps fighter squadron consisting of AV-8B Harrier (V/STOL) jets. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and is under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 13 (MAG-13) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).
The squadron is best known as the Black Sheep of World War II fame and for one of its commanding officers, Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, whose memoirs also inspired the 1970s television show Baa Baa Black Sheep, later syndicated as Black Sheep Squadron, which dramatized the squadron's exploits during the war.
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During the late 1970s, and into the 1980s, the squadron participated in the Unit Deployment Program, rotating between Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, and Marine Aircraft Group 13 at MCAS El Toro, California. In October 1982, the Black Sheep were awarded the Lawson H. M. Sanderson Award for Attack Squadron of the Year. In September 1987, the Black Sheep squadron once again relocated, this time to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. On October 17, 1987, the Black Sheep made history by becoming the first squadron to win the prestigious Sanderson award for a second time.
Two significant events occurred in 1989. During the year, the Black Sheep completed 30,000 accident free hours and six years of accident-free flying. Also, in June 1989, the Black Sheep introduced single-seat fixed wing "Night Attack" aircraft to the Marine Corps with the first operational squadron of AV-8B Night Attack Harrier IIs.