The emblem and mascot is the famous cartoon character Felix the Cat, running with a large spherical black bomb with a lit fuse.

[1] The yellow field and outline were omitted from the aircraft and four stars at the end of a pair of sweeps were added.

Several well-known aviators have flown with Felix on their shoulders, including Charles Lindbergh and Butch O'Hare.

On 4 December, both carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, Kennedy and USS Independence, launched strikes against Syrian SAM sites, losing one A-7 Corsair II and one A-6 Intruder.

VF-31 shifted carriers and air wings in April 1985 joining USS Forrestal along with its sister squadron, the VF-11 Red Rippers.

In April, 1988 VF-31 and the Forrestal battle group set sail for a six-month Indian Ocean cruise which lasted for six months.

During May 1991, VF-31 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 1998 the squadron made a deployment to the Persian Gulf with USS Abraham Lincoln supporting Operation Southern Watch.

During their return home, the entire battle group was turned around on 1 January for the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Flying from the first night of combat, VF-31 was responsible for delivering ordnance to targets in Baghdad and the southern vicinities in direct support of coalition forces.

During that deployment, VF-31 had the dubious distinction of having the longest cruise in the last 30 years of the Navy's history, returning to NAS Oceana on 2 May 2003.

VF-31 remained operational aboard Theodore Roosevelt until 28 July 2006, when the last Tomcat landing and catapult launch took place off the Virginia Capes, with journalists from around the world (Mexico, UK, Holland, Germany and US) witnessing.

After spending a year at the American Airpower Museum, the aircraft is now on static display outside of the former Grumman Aerospace Corporation headquarters in Bethpage, NY.

The British carrier HMS Ark Royal, the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima with associated units and the Brazilian Navy frigate Greenhalgh and the French submarine Améthyste also participated in the event.

VFA-31 flew extensive ground attack missions in Operation Inherent Resolve against IS targets in Syria, and peacefully intercepted MiG 29s.