Harrier Legacy Update | VMA-223 Coverage & Sundown

Matthew Mazan - An AV-8B Harrier pilot assigned to VMA-223 prepares to taxi.

The Harrier Jump Jet had her final sundown on June 3rd at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina. Before her retirement, CALLSIGN Magazine was granted unprecedent access to document the final chapter of the Harrier’s fifty-five years of service in the United States. With the conclusion of our formal coverage, CALLSIGN is now beginning design and production work on our first physical print edition: HARRIER Legacy, a one hundred and twenty page collectors edition magazine built on two years of access to the Harrier, the squadrons who operated her, and the pilots and aircrew who kept her flying for fifty-five years. HARRIER Legacy will be the first in a series of legacy project print issues from CALLSIGN and is on track to release this fall. More information on HARRIER Legacy and other upcoming legacy projects can be found on the LEGACY PROJECTS page.

In early May, CALLSIGN embedded with VMA-223 “The Bulldogs” to capture some of the final operations of the last squadron to operate the AV-8B on American soil. We spent multiple days embedded with the squadron interviewing the leadership of the squadron as well as the pilots and aircrews operating the jets in their twilight months. Over the course of our coverage, we recorded tens of hours of interviews and thousands of exclusive photographs.

In early June, CALLSIGN was granted access to attend the ceremony and events for VMA-223’s formal sundown of the AV-8B. Over the course of our week at Cherry Point, we were able to conduct even more interviews bringing our total hours of interview content into the hundreds of hours. CALLSIGN also attended the final sundown ceremony and captured thousands of photographs capturing the symbolic end of an incredible fifty-five year era in marine corps aviation history.

Matthew Mazan - 5 AV-8B’s from VMA-223 parked on the ramp after their sundown ceremony.

As CALLSIGN prepares for our first release, your support is crucial and we look forward to preserving the incredible legacy of the Harrier together. To stay up to date will CALLSIGN Magazine and our upcoming projects and to be the first to know when preorders go live, make sure to subscribe to our email list and follow our socials.