356th Fighter Squadron

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356th Fighter Squadron
F-35 Lightning II of the 356th Fighter Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base
Active1942–1946; 1956–1992; 2019–present
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
RoleFighter
Part of354th Operations Group
Garrison/HQEielson Air Force Base
Nickname(s)Green Demons
Motto(s)Give'm Hell!
ColorsBlack, Green, Red
Engagements
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Col Ryan Worrell
Notable
commanders		Lt Col James Christensen
Insignia
356th Fighter Squadron emblem
World War II squadron emblem
North American P-51B-5 Mustang (serial 43–6315) Ding Hao!, flown by Major James H. Howard (in cockpit) commander of the 356th. Photo taken at RAF Boxted, England, March 1944. He would go on to earn the Medal of Honor, June 1944.
North American F-100F-10-NA Super Sabre (serial 56–3899) over Aviano Air Base, Italy, 1960
F-100D-50-NH Super Sabre (serial 55–2879) on nuclear alert duty, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, 1965
F-4C-16-MC Phantom (serial 63–7433) while based at Misawa Air Base
, Japan, 1968
LTV A-7D-8-CV Corsair II (serial 70–1070) over Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina, 1973

The 356th Fighter Squadron is an active United States Air Force fighter squadron. It is assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing, being stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. It was reactivated in 2019 to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The squadron was first activated during World War II and flew the North American P-51 Mustang on escort missions for Eighth Air Force bombers over western Europe from mid-1943. With IX Fighter Command, it was re-equipped with the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in early 1944 and flew ground attack missions until the end of the war.

It was reactivated in 1956 and became the 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying the

F-35 Lightning II
.

World War II

Activated on 15 November 1942 at

European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to IX Fighter Command
in England.

In late 1943, the strategic bombardment campaign over

B-24 Liberator bombers deep into Germany to attack industrial and military targets. The P-51 had the range to perform the escort duties and the unit's operational control was transferred to Headquarters, Eighth Air Force to perform escort missions. From its base at RAF Boxted, the unit flew long-range strategic escort missions with VIII Bomber Command groups, escorting the heavy bombers to targets such as Frankfurt, Leipzig, Augsburg, and Schweinfurt, engaging Luftwaffe day interceptors frequently, with the P-51s outperforming the German Bf 109 and Fw 190
interceptors, causing heavy losses to the Luftwaffe. Remained under operational control of Eighth Air Force until April 1944, when sufficient numbers of P-51D Mustangs and arrived from the United States and were assigned to VIII Fighter Command units for escort duty.

Was relieved from escort duty and was re-equipped with

D-Day
.

Moved to

Advanced Landing Grounds in France beginning at the end of June, 1944, moving eastwards to combat airfields and liberated French airports supporting Allied Ground forces as the advanced across Northern France. Later, in 1944, the squadron became involved in dive-bombing and strafing missions, striking railroad yards, bridges, troop concentrations, and airfields. Participated in attacks on German forces in Belgium in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge, then moved eastward as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany. The squadron flew its last mission of the war on 7 May 1945 from the captured Luftwaffe airfield at Ansbach
(R-45).

Remained in Occupied Germany as part of the

AAF Station Herzogenaurach
. Was inactivated on 31 March 1946.

Cold War

Reactivated by

McCoy AFB, Florida in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis
.

Korean duty

During the

Taegu Air Base and Kunsan Air Base in South Korea
which all had just been reactivated.

From Misawa, aircraft and personnel of the 356th rotated six F-100D aircraft every ten days to Kunsan and Taegu performing Nuclear alert duty. The 356th was on a TDY status to Misawa AB until 13 August 1965 when it was permanently reassigned to the 39th AD.

In August 1967, the

F-4 Phantom II.[1]

On 15 January 1968, the 475th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated at Misawa and took over as host unit from the 39th Air Division.

On 23 January 1968, as a response to the capture by the

4th Tactical Fighter Wing was deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
, NC and took over alert duties.

When the 354 TFW became the permanent host unit at Kunsan AB in July 1968, the 356th was NOT assigned to its 354th TFW host unit at Myrtle Beach AFB. At Kunsan, the 356 TFS was part of Detachment 1, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing, which was a separate operating unit. On 15 March 1971, the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing replaced the 475 TFW at Misawa and absorbed its assets. The 356 TFS was inactivated and the squadron was reassigned back to the 354 TFW at Myrtle Beach AFB.

Post-Vietnam era

Returning to Myrtle Beach AFB in 1971, the unit was re-equipped with A-7D Corsair II fighter-bombers. From 1971 to 1977 the squadron remained at Myrtle Beach AFB and became a LIFT Training Squadron, not being on operational deployment status, supporting the 353d and 355th Tactical Fighter Squadrons which were deployed to Thailand for combat operations, 1972–1974, and to NATO bases in Germany (1975–1976). Frequently interchanged personnel with the provisional 4554th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron assigned to the 354th at Myrtle Beach.

The 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron was re-equipped with the Republic

Desert Storm
, the squadron engaged in combat operations, January–February 1991, inflicting heavy damage to enemy armor and artillery emplacements, cut off enemy supply lines, and engaged in search and rescue operations.

Returned to the United States in March 1991, and returned to peacetime training operations. Immediately began phasing down with the designated BRAC 1990 closure of Myrtle Beach AFB and the pending inactivation of its host Wing. The squadron's aircraft were dispersed, being reassigned to Air National Guard and other active Air Force Fighter Squadrons throughout the balance of 1991 and early 1992. The squadron was inactivated 10 June 1992.

The squadron was reactivated on 10 October 2019 at

F-35A Lightning II.[3]

Lineage

  • Constituted 356th Fighter Squadron 12 November 1942.
Activated 15 November 1942.
Inactivated 31 March 1946.
  • Redesignated 356th Fighter-Day Squadron 28 September 1956.
Activated 19 November 1956.
Redesignated 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron 1 July 1958.
Redesignated 356th Fighter Squadron 1 November 1991
Inactivated 10 June 1992
Activated 10 October 2019

Assignments
Attached to: Detachment 1 or Detachment 2, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing, 15 January 1968 – 15 March 1971
Attachments were for 10-day periods, rotating every 30 days

Stations

Survivor

354th TFW
colors

Aircraft number 56-3417, F-100D-86-NA (formerly F-100D-85-NH), with

Denver, Colorado. It was restored with USAF Museum approval from its GF-100D paint scheme, plain aluminum paint with the "O-" on its tail, to its original "Green Demons" colors.[4][5]

References

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

  1. ^ USAFHRA Document 00470754
  2. ^ USAFHRA Document 01027768
  3. ^ Guerrisky, Aaron Larue (10 October 2019). "Eielson AFB reactivates 356th Fighter Squadron". 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ All of 417's documentation is in the Collections and Restorations Offices, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver, CO.
  5. ^ Wings Over the Rockies Museum, Official site

External links

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