Known as the "Thunderbolts", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

In mid-1942 it was transferred to Tontouta, New Caledonia and then to Turtle Bay Airfield on the island of Espiritu Santo in the British-French Condominium of New Hebrides prior to the invasion of Guadalcanal.

The squadron's excellent performance during this time can be drawn from an award write up by the then Commanding Officer of MAG-14, Colonel Zebulon Hawkins, in which he noted, "During the month of January 1945 .

In late April 1951 the squadron was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California.

In January 1956, the Black Patches relocated to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and remained in the Far East for fifteen months.

The insignia consisted of a white cross (symbolizing purity), a red diamond (depicting courage), and a blue field (loyalty).

In April 1958 VMF-251 was moved to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California to receive its first supersonic fighter, the F8U Crusader.

During the cruise, VMF-251 set the record for the most flight time in one month for a Sixth Fleet based F-8 squadron by flying over 500 hours.

In July 1963 the Thunderbolts were the recipients of the 2nd MAW Commanding General's award for achievement in competitive exercises which took place while the squadron was deployed to NAS Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.

In April 1982, the Thunderbolts again deployed to Keflavik in Iceland where the squadron intercepted six Soviet Bear Bombers while on "hot pad" alert.

On 15 October 2001, the strike group entered the North Arabian Sea, joining the already-present Enterprise and Carl Vinson in conducting attacks against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Departing Norfolk on 19 September 2001 Theodore Roosevelt and CVW-1 spent 159 consecutive days at sea, breaking the record for the longest period underway since World War II.

They were away from June to December 2007 and flew combat sorties in support of OIF and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan.

[8][9] VMFA-251, known as the “Thunderbolts” or “T-Bolts,” deactivated during a ceremony on April 23, 2020, aboard MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, after returning from a deployment in 2020 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

The squadron was relocated to MCAS Cherry Point to begin its F-35 transition and is currently going through the process of official reactivation and working towards receiving its Safe for Flight certification.