The
4th Fighter Squadron (
4 FS) is part of the
388th Fighter WingThe 388th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.-Mission:...
at
Hill Air Force BaseHill Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in northern Utah, south of the city of Ogden, adjacent to the cities of Clearfield, Roy, Sunset and Layton and is approximately 29 miles north of Salt Lake City. The base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, who died...
,
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
. It operates the
F-16 Fighting FalconThe Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight, daytime Visual Flight Rules fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft...
aircraft conducting air superiority missions.
The 4th was activated at
Selfridge FieldSelfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. The host organization is the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, but a variety of Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
on 15 January 1941 and moved to several U.S. bases before relocating to
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in 1942. For the next three years, until its inactivation in November 1945, the 4th traveled between 13 bases in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
.
The
4th Fighter Squadron (
4 FS) is part of the
388th Fighter WingThe 388th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.-Mission:...
at
Hill Air Force BaseHill Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in northern Utah, south of the city of Ogden, adjacent to the cities of Clearfield, Roy, Sunset and Layton and is approximately 29 miles north of Salt Lake City. The base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, who died...
,
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
. It operates the
F-16 Fighting FalconThe Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight, daytime Visual Flight Rules fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft...
aircraft conducting air superiority missions.
History
The 4th was activated at
Selfridge FieldSelfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. The host organization is the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, but a variety of Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
on 15 January 1941 and moved to several U.S. bases before relocating to
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in 1942. For the next three years, until its inactivation in November 1945, the 4th traveled between 13 bases in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
. During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the squadron flew
P-39 Airacobras, P-40 Warhawks,
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
SpitfiresThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles...
and
P-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was a long-range single-seat World War II fighter aircraft. Designed, built and airborne in just 117 days, the Mustang first flew in RAF service as a fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft before conversion to a bomber escort, employed in raids over...
s. The 4th destroyed 109 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and produced three
acesA flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of air victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more.It is said that fighter aces are a dying...
during World War II.
The 4th was reactivated at Yontan Air Base,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, flying
P-61 Black WidowThe Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically to use radar. The "Black Widow" was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom, aircraft flown as a night-fighter by United States Army Air Forces squadrons in the European Theater, the Pacific Theater,...
s in February 1947. The unit was assigned to
Naha Air BaseNaha Air Base is an airbase of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It was formally under control of the United States Air Force. It is located on Naha Airport....
, Japan, in 1948. It was there that the squadron adopted the
Fūjinis the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods. He was present at the creation of the world and when he first let the winds out of his bag, they cleared the morning mists and filled the Gate between heaven and earth so the sun shone....
, the Japanses god of wind, as its emblem after half of its combat aircraft were destroyed by a freak windstorm. The squadron remained in Okinawa flying the
F-82 Twin MustangThe North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II, however the war ended well before the first production...
from 1950 to 1952 and
F-94 StarfireThe Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the twin-seat T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.-Design and development:...
from 1951 to 1954. There they provided air defense of the
Ryukyu IslandsThe Ryukyu Islands, also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyūshū in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the...
during the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
.
The 4th moved to
Misawa Air Baseis a United States military facility located northeast of the railway station in Misawa, west of the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Towada, northwest of Hachinohe, and north of Tokyo, in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan...
, Japan, where squadron members flew
F-86 SabreThe North American Aviation F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. The Sabre is best known for its Korean War role where it was pitted against the Soviet MiG-15 and obtained UN air superiority...
s and
F-102 Delta DaggerThe Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets....
s until 1965. During that period, the it participated in air defense of Japan, trained pilots of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the
Republic of KoreaThe Republic of Korea Air Force is the air force of South Korea. It operates under the Ministry of National Defense....
and the
Royal Thai Air ForceThe Royal Thai Air Force or RTAF is the air force of the Kingdom of Thailand. As of 2008, the Commander of the Air Force is Itthaporn Subhawong.-History:...
, and flew combat missions over
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
and
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
.
In June 1965, the 4th moved to
Eglin Air Force BaseEglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It was named in honor of World War I aviator and test pilot Lt Col Frederick Irving Eglin...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, and was renamed the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, becoming the fourth Air Force fighter squadron trained in the
F-4 Phantom IIThe McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States...
s. During July 1967, squadron aircraft, crews and maintenance troops deployed to
Udorn Royal Thai Air Force BaseUdorn Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force base, the home of 2nd Air Division/23rd Wing Air Combat Command.The 231 Squadron "Hunter" is assigned to Udorn, equipped with the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet-A....
,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, where they were designated as the 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron and immediately began combat operations. In April 1969, the squadron deployed to
Da Nang Air BaseDa Nang Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War , stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there...
, Republic of Vietnam and flew escort missions as part of the
366th Tactical Fighter WingThe 366th Fighter Wing is a Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho....
. Transferring to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, in mid-1972, squadron aircrews flew air superiority missions over
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
. The squadron attained the U.S. Air Force's last Southeast Asia aerial victory, downing a MiG-21 on 8 January, 1973. In all the 4th downed four enemy aircraft in combat over Vietnam.
For the next two years, the squadron remained at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, flying cover for evacuations of Phnom Pehn,
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
and Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. The 4th performed strike missions in support of a recovery operation for the
S.S. MayagüezThe Mayagüez incident involving the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia on May 12–15, 1975, marked the last official battle of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War...
, a merchant freighter captured by Cambodian
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan....
guerillasGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
in May 1975.
In December 1975, the 4th moved to
Hill Air Force BaseHill Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in northern Utah, south of the city of Ogden, adjacent to the cities of Clearfield, Roy, Sunset and Layton and is approximately 29 miles north of Salt Lake City. The base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, who died...
,
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
, and formed the initial cadre of the relocation of the
388th Tactical Fighter WingThe 388th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.-Mission:...
flying the F-4D Phantom IIs.
In March 1980, the squadron began conversion to the
F-16 Fighting FalconThe Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight, daytime Visual Flight Rules fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft...
as the Air Force's first operational F-16 tactical fighter squadron. The squadron upgraded to the F-16C Block 40 in January 1990.
When
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
invaded
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
in August 1990, the 4th found deployed to
Southwest AsiaWestern Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East - which describes geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than location within Asia...
in support of Operation Desert Shield. Their deployment took 16 hours non-stop with 10
aerial refuelingAerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight. Applied to helicopters, it is known as HAR for Helicopter Aerial Refueling...
s (five at night). This set a record as the longest distance flown non-stop in the F-16. The squadron dropped more than 2,000 tons of conventional munitions on
strategicMilitary strategy is a policy implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals.Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
and
tacticalMilitary tactics, the art of organizing an army, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle....
targets in Iraq and Kuwait during more than 1,000 daytime combat sorties while only two of their aircraft were damaged by enemy fire and none lost in combat.
Operations
- World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- Korean War
The Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
- Vietnam War
The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
- Operation Desert Shield
- Operation Desert Storm
Lineage
- 4th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) (1940 - 1942)
- 4th Fighter Squadron (1942 - 1943)
- 4th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine (1943 - 1946)
- 4th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) (1946 - 1948)
- 4th Fighter Squadron, All Weather (1948 - 1950)
- 4th Fighter-All Weather Squadron (1950 - 1951)
- 4th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1951 - 1965)
- 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1965 - 1991)
- 4th Fighter Squadron (1991 - Present)
Assignments
- 52d Fighter Group
The 52d Fighter Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.-Mission:The 52 FW maintains, deploys and employs F-16CJ and A/OA-10 aircraft and TPS-75 radar systems in support of NATO and the national defense directives...
(1941 - 1945)
- 347th Fighter Group (1947 - 1950)
- Attached: 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group
The 51st Fighter Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Osan Air Base, South Korea.The 51st Fighter Wing is under Pacific Air Forces' Seventh Air Force...
(1947 - 1950)
- 12th Air Force (1950 - 1954)
- Attached: 6302d Air Base Group (1950 - 1951)
- Attached: 6351st Air Base Wing (1951 - )
- Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The , or JASDF, is the aviation branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace and other aerospace operations. The JASDF carries out combat air patrols around Japan, while also maintaining an extensive network of ground and air early warning radar systems...
(1954)
- 39th Air Division (1954 - 1965)
- 33d Fighter Wing
The 33d Fighter Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command, assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The 33d Fighter Wing will continue to exist by the same name through and after the transition from Air Combat Command to Air Education and Training Command . ...
(1965 - 1969)
- 366th Tactical Fighter Wing
The 366th Fighter Wing is a Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho....
(1969 - 1972)
- 432d Tactical Fighter Wing (1972 - 1975)
- 388th Fighter Wing
The 388th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.-Mission:...
(1975 - Present)
Stations
- Selfridge Field
Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. The host organization is the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, but a variety of Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army...
, MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
(1941, 1942)
- Langley Field, Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
(1941 - 1942)
- Florence
Florence is the largest city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. This 1997 All-America City finalist, with its historic homes and medical center towers, came together to form a cultural center for the northeastern portion of South Carolina. The city population...
, South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
(1942)
- Wilmington
Wilmington is a city in and the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 75,838 at the 2000 Census. A July 1, 2008 United States Census Bureau estimate places the population at 100,192...
, North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
(1942)
- Grenier Army Air Field, New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
(1942)
- RAF Eglinton, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
(1942)
- RAF Goxhill
RAF Goxhill is a former Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force station in England. It is located just to the east of the village of Goxhill, on the south bank of the Humber estuary, opposite the city of Kingston upon Hull, in north Lincolnshire....
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(1942)
- La Senia Airfield, Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
(1942)
- Orleansville Airfield
Orleansville Airfield was a World War II military airfield in Algeria, near Chlef, approximately 170km southwest of Algiers. It was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and dispersal areas, not designed for heavy aircraft or for long term...
, Algeria (1942 - 1943)
- Telergma Airfield, Algeria (1943)
- Youks-les-Bains Airfield
Youks-les-Bains Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Algeria, located about 20km northwest of Tebessa. The airfield today consists of several agricultural fields, with the faint remains of its main runway, parts of a taxiway and a few aircraft dispersal hardstands visible in aerial...
, AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
(1943)
- Le Sers Airfield
Le Sers Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, about 3km of As Sars; 130km southwest of Tunis. It was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and dispersal areas, not designed for heavy aircraft or for long term...
, TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
(1943)
- La Sebala Airfield
La Sebala Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, which was located about 1km north of Cebalat; 15km north-northwest of Tunis...
, TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
(1943)
- Bocca di Falco, Sicily
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
(1943)
- Corsica
Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
(1943 - 1944)
- Madna Airfield, Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
(1944 - 1945)
- Piagiolino Airfield, Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
(1945)
- Lesina Airfield, Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
(1945)
- Drew Field, Florida
Florida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
(1945)
- Yontan Airfield
Yontan Airfield is a former military airfield on Okinawa, located near the village of Sobe on the Okinawa western coast. It was closed and turned over to the Japanese government in 1972...
, Okinawa,(1947 - 1948)
- Naha AB
is a second class airport located west of the city office in Naha, Okinawa.The primary air terminal for passengers and freight traveling to and from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, the airport handles international traffic to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and China...
, Okinawa, (1948 - 1953, 1954)
- Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base located in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.- Units :The 18th Wing is the host unit...
, Okinawa (1953 - 1954)
- Misawa Air Base
is a United States military facility located northeast of the railway station in Misawa, west of the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Towada, northwest of Hachinohe, and north of Tokyo, in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan...
, Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(1954 - 1965)
- Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It was named in honor of World War I aviator and test pilot Lt Col Frederick Irving Eglin...
, Florida (1965 - 1969)
- Da Nang Air Base
Da Nang Air Base was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War , stationing Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine units there...
, South VietnamSouth Vietnam refers to a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the State of Vietnam and later as the “Republic of Vietnam” . Its capital was Saigon...
(1969 - 1972)
- Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force facility. It is located in Central Thailand, approximately 144 miles northwest of Bangkok in Takhli district, Nakhon Sawan Province, near the city of Nakhon Sawan.- Units :...
, ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
(1972)
- Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base
Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force base, the home of 2nd Air Division/23rd Wing Air Combat Command.The 231 Squadron "Hunter" is assigned to Udorn, equipped with the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet-A....
, Thailand (1972 - 1975)
- Hill Air Force Base
Hill Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in northern Utah, south of the city of Ogden, adjacent to the cities of Clearfield, Roy, Sunset and Layton and is approximately 29 miles north of Salt Lake City. The base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, who died...
, UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
(1975 - Present)
- Deployed: Al Minhad, United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras...
(28 August 1990 - 27 March 1991)
Aircraft Operated
- P-40 Warhawk (1941 - 1942)
- P-39 Airacobra (1942)
- Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles...
(1942 - 1944)
- P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was a long-range single-seat World War II fighter aircraft. Designed, built and airborne in just 117 days, the Mustang first flew in RAF service as a fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft before conversion to a bomber escort, employed in raids over...
(1944 - 1945)
- P-61 Black Widow
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically to use radar. The "Black Widow" was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom, aircraft flown as a night-fighter by United States Army Air Forces squadrons in the European Theater, the Pacific Theater,...
(1947 - 1950)
- F-82 Twin Mustang
The North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II, however the war ended well before the first production...
(1949 - 1950)
- F-94 Starfire
The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the twin-seat T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.-Design and development:...
(1951 - 1954)
- F-86 Sabre
The North American Aviation F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. The Sabre is best known for its Korean War role where it was pitted against the Soviet MiG-15 and obtained UN air superiority...
(1954 - 1960)
- F-102 Delta Dagger
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets....
(1960 - 1965)
- F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States...
(1965- 1967, 1967 - 1975, 1976 - 1980)
- F-16 Fighting Falcon
The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight, daytime Visual Flight Rules fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft...
(1980 - Present)
See also