In 2001, CVW-5 flew more than 600 missions and 100 combat sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2003, VF-154 would make their last cruise with the F-14, this time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This would be the first time CVW-5 would deploy to the Persian Gulf since 1999. USS Kitty Hawk arrived on station on February 26 and CVW-5 was chosen to be the dedicated Close Air Support wing. VF-154 deployed with 12 F-14As and detached five F-14As and five air crews to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar where these F-14s and its crews would work closely with Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado’s, USAF F-15E’s, F-16CGs and F-16CJs and Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18As. CENTCOM had contacted CVW-5 and specifically asked for the air wing to deploy Forward Air Controller capable Tomcats and crews to support coalition land-based aircraft as well as Special Forces squads operating inside Iraq. The F-14s were usually paired with the aircraft already deployed to the airbase, dropping bomb themselves or guiding other aircraft bombs. The aircrews would fly daily missions and in one 48-hour period the VF-154 detachment flew 14 sorties totalling 100 hours of flight time. The crews at Al Udeid flew more than 300 combat hours and delivered 50 000 pounds of ordnance, (98 GBU-12s) during the 21-day stay at the airbase. On April 1, 2003, VF-154 lost one of its aircraft over southern Iraq when it suffered a single engine and fuel transfer system failure which caused the remaining engine to run dry. The crew, already two hours into its mission and having dropped some bombs, ejected and was soon picked up by an HH-60G helicopter. This F-14A was the first coalition aircraft to crash as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The remaining F-14s on USS Kitty Hawk, piloted mostly by junior officers, expended 246 GBU-12s, ten GBU-16s and four GBU-10s during 27 days of combat. By the end of the war, VF-154 had dropped 358 laser-guided bombs, buddy-lased 65 more and passed target coordinates for 32 JDAMs in 286 sorties. The squadron had expended more ordnance than any other unit in CVW-5, despite flying the oldest jets in the air wing. In September 2003 VF-154 left NAF Atsugi for the last time and ended their 13 years in Japan and 20 years in the Tomcat. A month later, VF-154 was redesignated VFA-154 at its new