Following the end of World War II they were deactivated on 10 March 1946 and remain in an inactive status today.

VMF-512 was commissioned 15 February 1944 at Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Field Oak Grove, North Carolina.

During its first few months the squadron was a part of Project Danny which was a plan for Marine Corps F4U Corsair fighter aircraft to attack German V-1 flying bomb launch sites in northern France.

In the following days they helped neutralize outlying Japanese airfields and installations, including the Sakishima Islands with repeated bomb and rocket attacks.

The squadron remained carrier based and at the end of World War II was operating at sea near Tokyo.