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The United States Marine Corps was initially interested in the F-14 as an F-4 Phantom II replacement; going so far as to send officers to Fighter Squadron One Twenty-Four (VF-124) to train as instructors. The Corps' enthusiasm for the F-14 cooled, however, when development of the stores management system for ground attack munitions was not pursued. With the development of the TARPS camera pod, the Marines Corps once again looked at procuring the F-14, this time as a replacement for the aging RF-4B Phantom IIs serving with Marine Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VMFP-3).
VMFP-3, the "Eyes of the Corps", began slowly converting to the F-14A Vagabond in 1981, but they retained a flight of RF-4Bs for operation from the USS
Midway (CV-41) until 1984 when the remainder of the unit converted. Since the RF-4Bs were completely unarmed, ground attack capability was not an issue. In fact, the F-14's considerable air-to-air armament meant that it required no escort, a great improvement over the RF-4B. The F-14s were initially operated in a high visibility scheme to match the RF-4Bs, but quickly switched to a low visibility overall gray with subdued national markings.
Cheers,
Logan
