In April 1944, a portion of the squadron was sent to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida for anti-submarine training and upon their return departed for San Diego.

In July 1944, the squadron was transferred to Midway Island and began flying anti-submarine patrols in their SBD Dauntless bombers.

The squadron reverted to VMSB-333 on December 20, 1944 and was transferred back to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii for the remainder of the war.

The squadron was already in position when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in October 1962 and the aircraft numbers at Gitmo were reinforced should the need have arisen to strike targets in Cuba.

On 5 June 1972, VMFA-333 departed Naval Air Station Oceana for a six month deployment on board the USS America (CVA-66).

The America arrived at Yankee Station off the coast of South Vietnam on 13 July 1972 and VMFA-333 began flying combat sorties the next day.

[3] Until 1978 the squadron remained affiliated with Carrier Air Wing 8 and made a 1976 deployment aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68).

During their final deployment to the Persian Gulf in 1990-1991 as part of Operation Desert Storm, the Shamrocks flew more than seven hundred combat missions without loss and delivered more than two million pounds of ordnance against Iraqi forces.