U.S. Navy Fleet Composite Squadrons (VC)

There have been several waves of composite squadrons in the U.S. Navy. From 1942 until 1945 the VC designation was assigned to squadrons that comprised fighter and bomber aircraft and flew from escort carriers. All such units were disestablished with the post-war mothballing of escort carriers.

The second wave, starting from 1945 and until the late 1950s, consisted of large units that provided detachments of specialized night attack, heavy attack, photographic reconnaissance, electronic warfare and airborne early warning aircraft to active carriers. Many such detachments later transformed into dedicated VA(AW), VAH, VFP, VAP and VAW squadrons.

The third wave, between the 1960s and the 1980s, were former utility (VU) squadrons that performed various non-combat support duties such as target towing and specialized training.