In March 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, an S-3B Viking from Sea Control Squadron 38 (The "Red Griffins") piloted by Richard McGrath Jr. launched from . The crew successfully executed a time sensitive strike and fired a laser-guided Maverick missile to neutralize a significant Iraqi naval and leadership target in the port city of Basra, Iraq. This was one of the few times in its operational history that the S-3B Viking had been employed overland on an offensive combat air strike and the first time it launched a laser-guided Maverick missile in combat.