 During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm the squadron flew 564 combat missions, delivering 356 tons of ordnance, and became the first Hornet squadron to deliver a Walleye II glide bomb in combat.In August 1991 "CVW-5" switched from USS "Midway" (which was being retired) to the new forward deployed carrier, USS "Independence" near Hawaii.In March 1996, CVW-5 and VFA-195 deployed to calm tensions in the Taiwan Strait over Taiwan's first direct presidential elections.