The aircraft that was the icon of U.S. Naval aviation for three decades has completed its last deployment:
Squadron Homecoming Marks End of Era for Tomcats
There's an interesting story behind how the F-14 got its name. In the mid 1960s, the McNamara Defense Department was trying to push the F-111B on the Navy as their next carrier based fighter. The only problem was the F-111B was woefully unsuited for the job. It was too heavy, had poor visibility, and was underpowered for the role. Despite the Navy's objections, the DoD persisted.
During a congressional hearings on the plane, a senator asked if more powerful engines could overcome some of it's deficiencies. Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly, the Chief of Naval Operations, replied "Senator, all the thrust in Christendom won't make a fighter out of this aircraft." That was the beginning of the end for the F-111B and Connolly's chances of ever getting a fourth star.
With the F-111B canceled, the Navy was able to opt for the Grumman F-14 to fill the fleet air defense role. The Navy has a long tradition of naming aircraft after felines, and Tomcat is perfectly in keeping with it. But it's not a coincidence that Thomas Connoley, the admiral who sacrificed his career to stop the F-111B, flew under the callsign Tomcat when he was a naval aviator.
