69th Fighter Squadron

69th Fighter Squadron
F-16 Fighting Falcon over Arizona^{[note 1]}
69th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon over Arizona
Active	1941–1946; 1952–1958; 1969–1983; 1983-2001; 2010–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Fighter Training
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command
Nickname(s)	Dragons (1983–1990) Werewolves (1990–present)
Engagements	; World War II American Theater; ; World War II Asia-Pacific Theater; ; Korean War; ; 1991 Gulf War (Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation of Kuwait);
Decorations	; Distinguished Unit Citation (2×); ; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device; ; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (7×); ; Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines); ; Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation;
Insignia
69th Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 20 September 1990, modified 16 November 1994)
69th Tactical Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 17 October 1983)
69th Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 25 June 1942)

The 69th Fighter Squadron is a

944th Operations Group, stationed at Luke Air Force Base

, Arizona.

The 69th Fighter Squadron replaced the

F-16 Fighting Falcon. It is integrated with the 56th Operations Group

. The squadron flies Block 42 F-16Cs, tail code "LF", 69th FS carrying a black tail band.

History

World War II

The squadron was activated in 1941 as a single-engine fighter operational and replacement training unit, initially assigned to III Fighter Command. It was reassigned to I Fighter Command in 1942. It used Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks for training. Converted to an operational squadron, 1943, re-equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts.

Deployed to the

Noemfoor, bombed and strafed Japanese airfields and installations on Ceram, Halmahera, and the Kai Islands

.

Moved to the Philippines in November, flew fighter sweeps against enemy airfields, supported U.S. ground forces, and protected sea convoys and transport routes. Beginning in July 1945, attacked railways, airfields, and enemy installations in Korea and Kyushu, Japan from

Okinawa

.

After

V-J Day

, flew reconnaissance missions over Japan. Moved without personnel or equipment to the Philippines in December and demobilized, aircraft sent to depots in the Philippines, inactivated in January 1946.

Korean War

Reactivated at

49th Fighter-Bomber Group

, bombed Sunan Airfield for the final action of fighter-bombers in the Korean War.

Re-equipped with North American F-86 Sabres after the 1953 armistice, remained in South Korea to enforce cease-fire with North Korea, squadron elements rotating frequently to Taiwan until inactivated in 1958 due to budget reductions.

F-104 Training Unit

The squadron was reactivated at

Lockheed F-104G Starfighter

training units, replacing the 4512th and 4518th Combat Crew Training Squadrons to support foreign military sales of the F-104. Pilots from Greece, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, and Spain trained at Luke. In addition, many F-104Gs owned by the West German Luftwaffe operated with the 58th Wing where they sported USAF insignia and carried USAF serial numbers.

Training of West German Air Force pilots in the F-104G continued until late 1982. The Germans flew more than 900 Starfighters totaling an excess of 269,750 hours and produced 1,868 F-104 pilots. The squadron inactivated on 16 March 1983.

Tactical Fighter Squadron

Reactivated as a

339th Tactical Fighter Squadron which inactivated the same day. Tail coded "MY", carried a silver/red tail stripe. Conducted frequent exercise deployments in the U.S. and overseas to maintain capabilities specializing in air-to-ground attack using precision-guided weapons. Transitioned to General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, 1988–1989, and oriented mission planning toward NATO requirements by conducting squadron-strength deployments to Europe. Began upgrading to F-16C/D in Jan 1990 and in Aug 1990 became first operational Tactical Air Command

unit to employ the LANTIRN all-weather/night navigation and bombing system.

Deployed to Southwest Asia, January–February 1991, engaging in combat operations during Operation Desert Storm flying more than 1,500 combat sorties. Following the ceasefire, continued to support peace-keeping operations with periodic aircraft deployments to Saudi Arabia. Continued training operations from Moody AFB throughout the 1990s, stood down in early 2001 when Moody was realigned to a rescue/special operations base and host

347th Fighter Wing was inactivated.^[1]

Reserve fighter training

Reactivated in February 2010 at Luke Air Force Base in the Air Force Reserve with a mission to train

F-16 Fighting Falcon. The squadron assumed the mission, personnel and aircraft of the 301st Fighter Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated.^[4]

Lineage

Constituted as the 69th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940

Activated on 15 January 1941

Redesignated 69th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942

Redesignated 69th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 20 August 1943

Inactivated on 27 January 1946

Redesignated 69th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 25 June 1952

Activated on 10 July 1952

Inactivated on 1 July 1958

Redesignated 69th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on 22 August 1969

Activated on 15 October 1969

Inactivated on 16 March 1983

Redesignated 69th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 14 April 1983

Activated on 1 July 1983

Redesignated 69th Fighter Squadron on 1 November 1991

Inactivated on 2 February 2001

Activated in the reserve on 1 February 2010 [1]

Assignments

58th Fighter Group, 15 January 1941 – 27 January 1946
58th Fighter-Bomber Group, 10 July 1952 (attached to
Thirteenth Air Force 26 January 1955, Air Task Force Five, Provisional 17 February–9 March 1955; Air Task Force Thirteen, Provisional 2 April–2 June 1956; Air Task Force Thirteen, Provisional c. 11 October–30 November 1956; Air Task Force Thirteen, Provisional after 18 September 1957)^{[note 3]}

58th Fighter-Bomber Wing

, 8 November 1957 – 1 July 1958 (remained attached to Air Task Force Thirteen, Provisional until 10 December 1957)

58th Tactical Training Wing, 15 October 1969 – 16 March 1983

347th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 July 1983 (attached to 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Provisional 8 January 1991; 4404th Tactical Fighter Wing, Provisional after 16 March 1991)

347th Operations Group

, 1 May 1991 – 2 February 2001 (remained attached to 4404th Tactical Fighter Wing, Provisional [later 4404th Composite Wing, Provisional] until 30 June 1991)

944th Operations Group, 1 February 2010 – present^[1]

Stations

Selfridge Field
, Michigan, 15 January 1941
Harding Field, Louisiana, 6 October 1941
Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 3 March 1942
Drew Field
, Florida, 19 June 1942
Sarasota Army Air Field
, Florida, c. 25 July 1942
Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 26 September 1942
Richmond Army Air Base
, Virginia, 16 October 1942
Philadelphia Municipal Airport, Pennsylvania, 4 November 1942
Bradley Field, Connecticut, c. 5 March 1943
Bedford Army Air Base
, Massachusetts, 1 May 1943
Suffolk County Army Air Field
, New York, 28 August 1943
Grenier Field
, New Hampshire, c. 15 September-22 October 1943
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 21 November 1943
Dobodura Airfield
, New Guinea, 29 December 1943
Saidor Airfield
, New Guinea, 3 April 1944
Schouten Islands
, New Guinea, 6 September 1944
San Roque Airfield, Leyte
, Philippines, 18 November 1944)

McGuire Field, Mindoro, Philippines, 22 December 1944)
Mangaldan Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, c. 8 April 1945
Porac Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, c. 17 April 1945
Kadena Field,^{[citation needed}
] Okinawa, 8 July 1945

Machinato Airfield,^{[citation needed}
] Okinawa, c. August 1945

Japan, 26 October 1945

Fort William McKinley,^{[citation needed}
] Luzon, Philippines, 28 December 1945 – 27 January 1946

Taegu Air Base, South Korea, 10 July 1952 (deployed to Clark Air Base, Philippines 26 January–16 February 1955; Chiayi Air Base, Taiwan 17 February-c. 8 March 1955)
Osan-ni Air Base (later
Kimpo Air Base
, South Korea 19 July–10 September 1957; Chiayi Air Base, Taiwan 5 November–10 December 1957)
Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, 15 October 1969 – 16 March 1983
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, 1 July 1983 – 1 February 2001 (deployed to
Dhahran Air Base
, Saudi Arabia 16–30 June 1991)
Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, 1 Feb 2010 – present^[1]

Aircraft

Seversky P-35 (1941–1942)
Curtiss P-36 Hawk (1941–1942)
Bell P-39 Airacobra (1941–1942)
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (1942–1943)
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1943–1945)
Republic F-84 Thunderjet (1952–1954)
North American F-86 Sabre (1954–1958)
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (1969–1983)
McDonnell F-4 Phantom II (1983–1988)
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (1988–2001, 2010 – present^[1]

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

^ Aircraft is General Dynamics F-16C Block 32C Fighting Falcon serial 86-240.
^ The 1994 modification was limited to the placement and color of the tabs.
^ The last three provisional task forces are considered to be different units despite bearing the same name.

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Robertson, Patsy (29 March 2010). "Factsheet 69 Fighter Squadron (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Endicott, p. 635
^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 257-258
^ Stout, TSG Susan (11 March 2010). "Squadron reactivates as Reserve unit at Luke". 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2017.