In the later part of March 1951, VF-884 aircraft conducted their first combat operations, flying close air support missions along Korea’s eastern coast from USS Boxer.

Bowen, VF-884's third Commanding Officer, was listed as missing in action when his aircraft crashed near Pyongyang, North Korea on November 8, 1951.

Commander George H. Edmondson and Lieutenant Jere A. Barton reported gun flashes and bursts of light at their altitude which they felt came from enemy antiaircraft fire.

Between 6–29 October 1964: The squadron conducted rescue combat air patrol missions in support of "Yankee Team" operations.On 7 February 1966, LTJG.

Harvey M. Browne was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity during rescue missions in the Republic of Vietnam.

Sea Dragon involved spotting for naval gunfire support against waterborne cargo and coastal radar and gun battery sites.

VA-52 commenced line operations from Yankee Station a few days earlier than scheduled on 3 April 1972, as a result of the North Vietnamese invasion on 30 March.

On 16 April 1972, VA-52 conducted strikes in the Haiphong, Vinh, and Thanh Hoa as part of Operation Freedom Porch.

VA-52 once again deployed with CVW-11 aboard USS Kitty Hawk on 23 November 1972, this time as part of the first CV concept air wing on the West Coast.

While in port at Naval Station Subic Bay in the Philippines and preparing to return home from a seven-month WESTPAC deployment, Kitty Hawk and its battle group (to include CVW-15 and VA-52) were indefinitely extended on deployment on 18 November 1979 in response to the Iran hostage crisis and directed to proceed to the Indian Ocean via the Straits of Malacca and Diego Garcia.

Between 3 December 1979 and 23 January 1980, After the assault on the American Embassy in Tehran and the Iran hostage crisis; Kitty Hawk entered the Indian Ocean and operated in the Arabian Sea throughout this period.

On 8 February 1980, after brief port calls at NAVSTA Subic Bay and NAVBASE Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Kitty Hawk returns to its homeport of NAS North Island in San Diego, California and VA-52 returns to its home station of NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.

On 19 May 1981, while transiting the South China Sea VA-52 aircraft spotted a small boat with 47 Vietnamese refugees on board and reported their location for rescue operations.

USS Carl Vinson CVN-70, with CVW-15 and VA-52, were kept on station in the Sea of Japan between 10 and 12 October 1983, after the attempted assassination of South Korea's president.

At one point the most effective means of clearing snow and ice from Carl Vinson's flight deck was the jet exhaust from the squadron's aircraft.

In August 1988, the squadron flew sorties in support of Operation Earnest Will, the escorting of reflagged Kuwait tankers in the Persian Gulf.

[5] On 27 December 1992, as a result of the shooting down of a MiG-25 of the Iraqi Air Force in the No-Fly Zone, the Kitty Hawk, VA-52 and CVW-15 were redirected to the Persian Gulf to take part in Operation Southern Watch.

On the evening of January 13, 1993, eight A-6E SWIP Intruders from VA-52 loaded with Paveway bombs attacked Iraqi Air Defence sites in Southern Iraq along with 110 other aircraft, 35 of them from CVW-15.