All four wings were established as part of a plan to create a mirror image of the active duty units, after previous years saw the reserve units fly outdated aircraft that also had to be shared with the Marine Corps Reserve.

[citation needed] In June 1975, the wing deployed aboard USS Saratoga (CV-60), composed of VF-201, VF-202, VA-203, VA-204, VA-205, VPF-206, and VAQ-208.

[7] In July 1989, CVWR-20 deployed aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) for a 10-day cruise, earning the captain's praise and achieving a 94 percent boarding rate.

[12] In November 2006 VFC-13's permanent Key West detachment was established as VFC-111 and was added to the wing.

VAW-77, at the time the Navy's sole expeditionary E-2 squadron, conducted drug interdiction operations in the Caribbean.

In addition, the squadron provided command and control for hundreds of aircraft during the search and rescue operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

[14] In October of 2022 it retired the Hornet from Navy service, was redesignated VFC-204 and received VFC-13's F-5 Tiger II aircraft as VFC-13 transitioned from the F-5 to the F-16C Fighting Falcon.