Once the last WSO leaves the fleet, it will mark the end of a long heritage of Marine fighter and attack aircraft that leveraged the two-crew concept of operations for the service's most challenging tactical air missions. This includes decades of operations of F-4 Phantoms with Radar Intercept Officers and A-6 Intruders with Bombardier Navigators onboard.

Just earlier this year, the Marines also said goodbye to their only other multi-crew tactical jet that was in service, the EA-6B Prowler. That aircraft has no direct replacement within the USMC.

The Legacy Hornet still has at least a decade of service left in it with the USMC. 84 of the jets are going to be updated with powerful Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, along with other smaller upgrades, that will give them a whole new level of capability as they venture into the twilight of their flying careers.