Official VMA-231 Ace of Spades AV-8 Harrier Bottle Opener

Official VMA-231 Ace of Spades AV-8 Harrier Bottle Opener — Crack One Open for the Oldest Squadron in Marine Corps Aviation

Over a century of combat, from Nicaraguan jungles to Kuwaiti deserts, and the Ace of Spades is still the first card dealt.

Marine Attack Squadron 231 — the Ace of Spades — holds the distinction of being the oldest squadron in the United States Marine Corps, tracing its lineage to 8 February 1919 when it was established in Miami, Florida as 1st Division, Squadron 1, emerging from the Northern Bombing Group that had served in France during World War I. The squadron's iconic Ace of Spades insignia — the first official unit insignia in Marine Corps aviation history — was designed by 2nd Lieutenant Hayne D. Boyden, with the ace representing "First" and the letters standing for "Air Squadron." From its earliest days flying biplanes in Santo Domingo and pioneering dive-bombing tactics in Nicaragua under Major Ross Rowell, VMA-231 has been at the cutting edge of Marine aviation. Reactivated in 1973 as the Corps' newest squadron flying the Corps' newest aircraft — the Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier — the Ace of Spades became the first V/STOL Squadron of the Year in 1977. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, VMA-231 was already deployed to the Western Pacific and received orders that sent them on an unprecedented 18,000-nautical-mile around-the-world trip in just 14 days to join the fight. During Desert Storm, the Ace of Spades flew 987 combat sorties and delivered over 1.6 million pounds of ordnance against Iraqi positions. The squadron later transitioned to the AV-8B Harrier II and continued deploying in support of operations from the Balkans to Afghanistan and beyond. This AV-8 Harrier-shaped bottle opener captures the spirit of a squadron that has been first to fight for over a century — and now transitions to the F-35B Lightning II to write the next chapter.