309th Fighter Squadron

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309th Fighter Squadron
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm[2]
Insignia
309th Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 3 November 1955)[3]
Patch with unofficial 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron emblem[4]
309th Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 27 November 1944)[2]
TailbandBlue & White
F-16C after being displaced from Homestead AFB, which was evacuated to Shaw in August 1992. Temporarily reassigned to the 363d FW, the tail codes were changed to "SW" when Homestead was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew and the squadron was reassigned to Shaw on a semi-permanent basis.
McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom of the 309th TFS, about 1971.
North American F-100D Super Sabres of the 309th TFS on the ramp at Tuy Hoa AB South Vietnam, April 1970.
Spitfire V of the 309th Fighter Squadron

The 309th Fighter Squadron (309 FS) is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (F-16C and F-16D varianst) aircraft conducting advanced fighter training.


History

World War II

Initially established under

Baer Field, Indiana, flying some antisubmarine patrols in the Gulf of Mexico
.

Deployed to the

occupied France
.

Assigned to the new

Field Marshal Rommel's advance on allied
positions.

Spitfires from the squadron provided support for the Allied invasion of Sicily and later the landings by Allied forces in mainland Italy, moving north supporting the Fifth Army during the Italian Campaign. As Allied bomber forces operating from Italy began the strategic bombing of Axis petroleum and communications facilities in central Europe and the Balkans, the squadron was re-equipped with the North American P-51 Mustang to replace the shorter-ranged Spitfire. In August 1944, the P-51's were involved in the invasion of Southern France.

By war's end, the squadron had earned two

Distinguished Unit Citations and was involved in eight campaigns The squadron was largely demobilized during the summer of 1945 in Europe, a skeleton force returned to Drew Field, Florida in August, inactivating largely as an administrative unit in November.[5]

Reactivated from elements of several inactivating organizations in Germany in August 1946, Performed occupation duty and operating early-model

AAF Station Kitzingen
. Returned to the United States in June 1947 without personnel or equipment which remained in Germany.

Cold War

Assigned to

Turner Air Force Base, Georgia with mission of long-range escort of Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, later Boeing B-50 Superfortress and Convair B-36 Peacemakers
as newer aircraft came into operation by SAC.

Relieved from assignment to SAC and made non-operational in 1957 with phaseout of B-36 and end of SAC escort fighter concept. On 1 April 1957 the parent 31 SFW was transferred back to Tactical Air Command and moved to

Homestead Air Force Base, Florida after the Cuban Missile Crisis
, late 1962 to provide air defense of South Florida.

Was deployed to

North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam.[5]

Reassigned back to TAC at Homestead AFB in 1970, as part of re-establishment of 31st TFW upon its return from duty in Southeast Asia. Equipped with

General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1988, upgrading to receive Shaw AFB block 25s in August 1990. The Gulf War build-up and the 363rd TFW at Shaw Air Force Base
deploying to Saudi Arabia meant no more block 25s were available. With some F-16A/B block 15s still in service for the 309th TFS, it continued to operate both types.

When Desert Storm ended it was decided to convert the 31st TFW to block 40 F-16s instead. Up to that point about ten block 25s had reached the 309th FS. They were all sent to other units. Neither of the 31st TFW's other sister squadrons flew the block 25. In March 1991 the 309th began conversion to the block 40 version of the F-16. On 1 October 1991 the word 'Tactical' was dropped and the unit became the 309th Fighter Squadron. By early 1992 the conversion to block 40 F-16s with the general purpose role was complete.

Modern era

The squadron evacuated to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, in August 1992, narrowly escaping the devastation of

363d Operations Group at Shaw. At this point the 'HS' tail code began to be replaced with a 'SW' tail code. When Shaw AFB began converting to the block 50 in 1993, even the 309th FS was involved receiving many examples. Although the squadron began converting to the block 50, it was short lived. The 20th FW at RAF Upper Heyford
, England inactivated and moved its Wing and associate squadrons to Shaw AFB. On 31 December 1993 the 363d FW inactivated and the same day the 309th FS inactivated.

Plans were already in the works which involved moving the 309th Fighter Squadron to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where it would continue its heritage, this time as a training squadron under the 56th Fighter Wing. The Air Force reactivated the squadron on 1 April 1994, as with the block 25 version of the Viper.[5]

The 309th produced 14

Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. In addition, the squadron earned 25 campaign streamers from World War II through Southeast Asia. The squadron emblem is a 1944 Walt Disney production copyrighted design. It symbolizes the fighter mission celestial navigation pioneered by this squadron, its around-the-clock mission readiness, and its striking power.[5]

On 1 March 2014, the

F-35 Lightning II.[7]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 309th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 21 January 1942
Activated on 30 January 1942
Redesignated 309th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
Redesignated 309th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 7 November 1945
  • Activated on 20 August 1946
Redesignated 309th Fighter Squadron, Jet on 15 June 1948
Redesignated 309th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 20 January 1950
Redesignated 309th Fighter-Escort Squadron on 16 July 1950
Redesignated 309th Strategic Fighter Squadron on 20 January 1953
Redesignated 309th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 April 1957
Redesignated 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 July 1958
Redesignated 309th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on 1 July 1982
Redesignated 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 October 1986
Redesignated 309th Fighter Squadron on 1 November 1991
Inactivated on 31 December 1993

Assignments

  • 31st Pursuit Group
    (later 31st Fighter Group), 30 January 1942 – 7 November 1945
  • 31st Fighter Group (later 31st Fighter-Bomber Group, 31st Fighter-Escort Group), 20 August 1946 (attached to
    31st Fighter-Escort Wing
    after 27 July 1951)
  • 31st Fighter-Escort Wing (later 31st Strategic Fighter Wing, 31st Fighter-Bomber Wing, 31st Tactical Fighter Wing), 16 June 1952
Attached to Alaskan Air Command, 5 January – 9 February 1957
Attached to Unknown, 9 July – 15 November 1960 and 9 October – 26 November 1961
Attached to
18th Tactical Fighter Wing
, 17 July – 22 December 1962 and 26 September – 30 December 1963
Attached to 7231st Combat Support Group, 5 August – 27 November 1964 and 18 January – 31 March 1966
Attached to 41st Tactical Group, 1–24 April 1966
  • 4403d Tactical Fighter Wing, 9 October 1970
  • 31st Tactical Fighter Wing (later 31st Tactical Training Wing, 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, 31st Fighter Wing), 30 October 1970
  • 31st Operations Group, 1 November 1991
Attached to
363d Operations Group
, 28 August – 30 September 1992
  • 363d Fighter Wing, 1 October 1992 – 20 November 1992
  • 363d Operations Group, 20 November 1992 – 31 December 1993
  • 56th Operations Group, 1 April 1994 – present[2]

Stations

Aircraft

  • Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (1942)
  • Bell P-39 Airacobra (1942)
  • Supermarine Spitfire (1942–1943)
  • North American P-51 Mustang (1943–1945, 1947–1948)
  • Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
    (1946–1947)
  • Republic F-84 Thunderjet (1948–1957)
  • North American F-100 Super Sabre (1957–1970)
  • McDonnell F-4 Phantom II (1970–1986)
  • General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (1986–1993, 1994 – present)[2]

References

Notes
  1. ^ Aircraft is F-16C Block 25C serial 84-1239.
Citations
  1. ^
    AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd
    . January 2023. p. 19.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Robertson, Patsy (29 May 2009). "Factsheet 309 Fighter Squadron (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 374–375
  4. ^ See Endicott, p. 721 (listing approved emblems)
  5. ^ a b c d "Library: Fact Sheets: 56th Operations Group". 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs. 27 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  6. ^ Robertson, Patsy (21 April 2014). "Factsheet 311 Fighter Squadron (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  7. ^ Rothstein, Brig. Gen. Mike (10 January 2014). "Looking ahead to 2014". 56th Fighter Wing. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b Station number in Anderson.

Bibliography

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links
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