4th Fighter Squadron

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 4th Fighter Squadron


caption= 4th Fighter Squadron Patch
dates= 15 January 1941 - 7 November 1945
20 February 1947 - Present
country= United States
allegiance=
branch=United States Air Force
type= Fighter
role=
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command_structure= Air Combat Command
12th Air Force
388th Fighter Wing
388th Operations Group
current_commander=
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The 4th Fighter Squadron (4 FS) is part of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions.

Mission

conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground operations for daylight and nighttime missions. [http://www.388fw.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4220 4 FS Fact Sheet] ]

History

The 4th was activated at Selfridge Field, Michigan on 15 January 1941 and moved to several U.S. bases before relocating to Northern Ireland in 1942. For the next three years, until its inactivation in November 1945, the 4th traveled between 13 bases in Europe and North Africa. During World War II, the squadron flew P-39 Airacobras, P-40 Warhawks, British Spitfires and P-51 Mustangs. The 4th destroyed 109 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and produced three aces during World War II.

The 4th was reactivated at Yontan Air Base, Japan, flying P-61 Black Widows in February 1947. The unit was assigned to Naha Air Base, Japan, in 1948. It was there that the squadron adopted the Fūjin, 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 Mustang from 1950 to 1952 and F-94 Starfire from 1951 to 1954. There they provided air defense of the Ryukyu Islands during the Korean War.

The 4th moved to Misawa Air Base, Japan, where squadron members flew F-86 Sabres and F-102 Delta Daggers until 1965. During that period, the it participated in air defense of Japan, trained pilots of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the Republic of Korea and the Royal Thai Air Force, and flew combat missions over Korea and Vietnam.

In June 1965, the 4th moved to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and was renamed the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, becoming the fourth Air Force fighter squadron trained in the F-4 Phantom IIs. During July 1967, squadron aircraft, crews and maintenance troops deployed to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 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 Base, Republic of Vietnam and flew escort missions as part of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. Transferring to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, in mid-1972, squadron aircrews flew air superiority missions over Vietnam. 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, Cambodia and Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. The 4th performed strike missions in support of a recovery operation for the S.S. Mayagüez, a merchant freighter captured by Cambodian Khmer Rouge guerillas in May 1975.

In December 1975, the 4th moved to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and formed the initial cadre of the relocation of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing flying the F-4D Phantom IIs.

In March 1980, the squadron began conversion to the F-16 Fighting Falcon 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 Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the 4th found deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Shield. Their deployment took 16 hours non-stop with 10 aerial refuelings (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 strategic and tactical 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 [http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/rso/squadrons_flights_pages/0004fs.asp AFHRA 4 FS Page] ] =

*World War II
*Korean War
*Vietnam War
*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 (1941 - 1945)
*347th Fighter Group (1947 - 1950)
**Attached: 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group (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 (1954)
*39th Air Division (1954 - 1965)
*33d Fighter Wing (1965 - 1969)
*366th Tactical Fighter Wing (1969 - 1972)
*432d Tactical Fighter Wing (1972 - 1975)
*388th Fighter Wing (1975 - Present)

=Bases stationed=

*Selfridge Field, Michigan (1941, 1942)
*Langley Field, Virginia (1941 - 1942)
*Florence, South Carolina (1942)
*Wilmington, North Carolina (1942)
*Grenier Army Air Field, New Hampshire (1942)
*RAF Eglinton, Northern Ireland (1942)
*RAF Goxhill, England (1942)
*La Senia, Algeria (1942)
*Orleansville, Algeria (1942 - 1943)
*Telergma, Algeria (1943)
*Youks-les-Bains, Algeria (1943)
*Le Sers, Tunisia (1943)
*La Sebala, Tunisia (1943)
*Bocca di Falco, Sicily (1943)
*Corsica (1943 - 1944)
*Madna Airfield, Italy (1944 - 1945)
*Piagiolino Airfield, Italy (1945)
*Lesina Airfield, Italy (1945)
*Drew Field, Florida (1945)
*Yontan Air Base, Okinawa (1947 - 1948)
*Naha Air Base, Okinawa (1948 - 1953, 1954)
*Kadena Air Base, Okinawa (1953 - 1954)
*Misawa Air Base, Japan (1954 - 1965)
*Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (1965 - 1969)
*Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam (1969 - 1972)
*Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand (1972)
*Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand (1972 - 1975)
*Hill Air Force Base, Utah (1975 - Present)
**Deployed: Al Minhad, United Arab Emirates (28 August 1990 - 27 March 1991)

=Aircraft Operated=

*P-40 Warhawk (1941 - 1942)
*P-39 Airacobra (1942)
*Supermarine Spitfire (1942 - 1944)
*P-51 Mustang (1944 - 1945)
*P-61 Black Widow (1947 - 1950)
*F-82 Twin Mustang (1949 - 1950)
*F-94 Starfire (1951 - 1954)
*F-86 Sabre (1954 - 1960)
*F-102 Delta Dagger (1960 - 1965)
*F-4 Phantom II (1965- 1967, 1967 - 1975, 1976 - 1980)
*F-16 Fighting Falcon (1980 - Present)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* [http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/rso/squadrons_flights_pages/0004fs.asp USAF 4th Fighter Squadron History]
* [http://www.388fw.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4220 4th Fighter Squadron Fact Sheet]

ee also