on the ground. VF-32 was involved in the worst friendly fire incident of the war when on 6 April 2003 a squadron F-14 crew was cleared to attack an Iraqi tank near Dibakan, south east of Mosul. Instead, they mistakenly dropped a single laser-guided bomb on a vehicle convoy consisting of US Special Forces and Kurdish resistance fighters, killing 18 Kurdish fighters, 4 US soldiers and a BBC translator. An additional 80 people were wounded. An investigation following the war found that the pilot had been cleared to drop without the benefit of target coordinates provided by the Forward Air Controller, who was “operating under great stress” at the time. Overall, VF-32 flew 275 sorties and expended 247 laser-guided bombs and 118 JDAM. In January 2004 VF-32 became the first operational squadron to attempt the launch of six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles from one aircraft. A launch such as this had not been attempted since 1972. Five of the six active radar missiles were successfully launched. VF-32 returned to NAS Oceana in May 2003. In 2004 VF-32 deployed again in support of OIF, becoming the first Naval squadron to redeploy in support of OIF. The squadron delivered multiple precision guided munitions on insurgent hideouts using the LANTIRN pod in the urban Close Air Support environment. This would be the squadron's final deployment with the F-14. In October 2005, VF-32 transitioned to the F/A-18F Super Hornet and in November 2005 the squadron was designated Strike Fighter Squadron Thirty Two (VFA-32). In November 2007, VFA-32 embarked on USS Harry S. Truman for their first F/A-18F Super Hornet cruise, deploying to the Persian Gulf. VFA-32 and the rest of CVW-3 returned home on June 4, 2008. VFA-32 was awarded the Battle Effectiveness Award for maintaining the highest state of battle readiness and sustained superior performance in February 2009. Traditions VF-32 Awards Navy Expeditionary Medal, for 19-Oct-1962 to 23-Oct-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis. Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 24-Oct-1962 to 15-Nov-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis. Meritorious Unit Citation, 29-Sep-1970 to 31-Oct-1970. Navy E Ribbon, 01-Oct-1977 to 30-Sep-1978. Meritorious Unit Citation, 01-Dec-1977 to 01-Mar-1979. Navy E Ribbon, 01-Jan-1982 to 31-Dec-1982. Navy Expeditionary Medal, 20-Aug-1982 to 05-Sep-1982, Lebanon. Navy Expeditionary Medal, for several non-contiguous time periods from 01-Oct-1982 to 06-Dec-1982, Lebanon. Navy Unit Commendation, 20-Oct-1983 to 03-Mar-1984. Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 24-Oct-1983 to 02-Nov-1983, Grenada. Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 16-Nov-1983 to 02-Mar-1984, Lebanon. Meritorious Unit Citation, 01-Jul-1986 to 06-Jul-1986. Southwest