Reserve Fighter Squadron 921 (VF-921) was called to active duty from NAS St. Louis on 1 February 1951, for the Korean War flying the F4U-4 Corsair.

In November 1962, the squadron was assigned to Carrier Air Wing Three and embarked in USS Lexington during the Cuban Missile Crisis operating off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

The squadron conducted its third South East Asia combat deployment aboard USS Coral Sea from September 1969 to July 1970 while being assigned to Carrier Air Wing Fifteen.

In 1979, VA-86 planes appeared in the movie The Final Countdown, which was filmed aboard USS Nimitz at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida.

In January 1980, after the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran VA-86 departed Naples, Italy embarked on Nimitz, en route to the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope, beginning of 144 consecutive days at sea.

In 1992, the squadron accomplished the first East Coast F/A-18 Standoff Land Attack Missile shoot to a target on San Nicolas Island, California.

In October, USS America was ordered to the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia in support of United Nations relief efforts.

After conducting NATO Operation Deliberate Force missions over Bosnia-Herzegovina from the Adriatic Sea, they returned to NAS Cecil Field in February 1995.

The squadron remained on station in the Gulf through mid-March 1998 during the crisis involving Iraq's non-compliance with UN sanctions, flying Operation Southern Watch contingency missions.

From 2 November 1998 to 17 December 1998, VFA-86 made a short cruise to the Puerto Rican Operating Area aboard USS Harry S. Truman.

On 22 September 1999 the squadron deployed to the Mediterranean Sea/Arabian aboard USS John F. Kennedy, participating in Freedom of Navigation Operations off the coast of Libya.

[1] On 19 September 2001, the squadron deployed aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) over Afghanistan against Taliban and Al Qaeda military targets.

From May to November 2006, the squadron was again deployed on the USS Enterprise in support of OIF and OEF, visiting ports in Croatia, Crete, Dubai, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Portugal.

In July 2007, VFA-86 deployed for a last time aboard USS Enterprise in support of OIF and OEF, returning MCAS Beaufort in December 2007.