This official banishment was widely ignored until Admiral John Mazach, Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, rescinded the policy in a 1996 speech to the squadron.

VF-871, a reserve F4U-4 Corsair squadron based at NAS Alameda called to active duty on 20 July 1950.

[3]: 424  On 27 January 1973, the last day of official hostilities before the Paris Peace Accords took effect across Vietnam, a squadron Phantom was struck by antiaircraft fire over Quảng Trị Province while performing one of the last combat missions of the war in support of the Battle of Cửa Việt.

Two weeks after the shoot down, however, his status was changed from MIA to "prisoner of war (POW), authenticated", a designation held until he was declared deceased in February 1980.

[5] The squadron returned to NAS Miramar on 12 June 1973, and three months later made a final Phantom deployment to the Mediterranean.

In 1980 VF-143 deployed to the Indian Ocean in response to the Iran–Iraq War, setting a Navy underway record of 153 days.

On 5 August 1983, VF-143 intercepted five Libyan Air Force MiG-23s some 220 kilometers (140 mi) south of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and her battle group rushed to the Red Sea to deter the Iraqis from further advancement into Saudi Arabia.

In September, the squadron deployed to the Persian Gulf, and participated NATO exercises in the Norwegian Sea.

The maiden deployment took them to the Persian Gulf, spending 131 days there in support of Operation Southern Watch.

[10] VFA-143 and the rest of CVW-7 embarked on board USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on 2 January 2010 for a seven-month deployment in support of 5th and 6th Fleet operations.

[11] The "Pukin' Dogs" won the 2010 Wade McClusky Award, as most outstanding attack squadron in the US Navy, for its performance during this deployment.

That deployment was cut short due to the requirement for entire Carrier Strike Group to surge.

The Air Wing re-embarked on Dwight D. Eisenhower and got underway in February 2013 for a five-month surge deployment, again in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

After a two-year maintenance period, the "Pukin' Dogs" and the rest of CVW-7 embarked on board USS Harry S. Truman on 15 November 2015 for a seven-month deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

CVW-7 dropped a record breaking number and tonnage of ordnance on targets in the vicinity of Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul Iraq.