The Red Ripper squadron insignia as described by an early member: "The boar's head is taken from the one that graces the label of the Gordon's Gin bottle.

The scroll effect under the head is a string of link sausage, a good line of bologna which all members of the squadron were to be adept at 'shooting.'

The whole theme was worked into a sort of toast or creed with which the squadron members were to begin and end all good drinking bouts.

They provided air cover for the landings in Lebanon and were sent through the Suez Canal to the Taiwan Straits during the Quemoy-Matsu shelling by Communist Chinese.

VF-11 deployed aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, where during the unrest in the Dominican Republic following the assassination of Rafael Trujillo in 1961.

The pilot of the A-6 crew died while the bombardier/navigator Lt Bobby Goodman was held prisoner by the Syrians for 30 days before being released.

In April, 1988 VF-11 and the Forrestal battle group set sail for a six-month Indian Ocean cruise which lasted for six months.

During May 1991, VF-11 and other CVW-6 squadrons on the Forrestal participated in Operation Provide Comfort, flying missions over northern Iraq in support of the Kurdish relief effort.

In February 1994, VF-11 and CVW-14 deployed aboard USS Carl Vinson, in support of Operation Southern Watch, returning to NAS Miramar on 15 August.

On 31 August, the Iraqi army attacked the town of Erbil in northern Iraq and several SAM missiles were launched against U.S. aircraft.

The United States responded with Operation Desert Strike by attacking targets in the southern no-fly zone with cruise missiles launched from B-52s escorted by VF-11 Tomcats.

They supported Operation Southern Watch, travelled to Australia and Pearl Harbor before the carrier arrived at its new home, Naval Air Station North Island.

Seven hours after the September 11 attacks, VF-11 emergency sortied all squadron aircraft aboard USS John F. Kennedy to support Operation Noble Eagle.

[9] They deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in early February 2002, and employed the first JDAM bombs from F-14s in combat on 11 March 2002.

In May 2006, VFA-11 deployed to the Caribbean Sea supporting the Partnership of the Americas for two months as part of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen.

In January 2011, VFA-11 joined CVW-1 on board USS Enterprise for a deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

On 11 March 2015, the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group departed Naval Station Norfolk for around the world tour with deployments to the U.S. 5th, 6th and 7th Fleets, before arriving in their new homeport of San Diego, California.