301st Fighter Wing
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| 301st Fighter Wing | |
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 Emblem of the 301st Fighter Wing |
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| Active | 1944 - 1949 1972 - Present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force Reserve |
The 301st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve figher wing, based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Carswell Field, Texas. It is equipped with the F-16C+ Fighting Falcon. It is the only Air Force Reserve fighter unit in the state of Texas.
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[edit] Mission
The mission of the unit is to maintain a state of readiness to deploy people and their assigned fighter aircraft (the F-16) wherever needed when notified of recall to active duty. Wing people assigned to the 301st Fighter Wing repeatedly demonstrate their flying expertise and professionalism in Air Combat Command, Air Force Reserve Command and NATO exercises designed to emphasize that to retain the country’s combat ready posture it must train as it plans to fight.
The wing comes under 10th Air Force, one of AFRES’ three numbered Air Forces. If mobilized, the wing would come under Air Combat Command’s 12th Air Force.
Day to day activities of the wing are managed by full time air reserve technicians and department of the Air Force civilians. Ready reservist assigned to the wing are required to attend unit training assemblies which are scheduled for one weekend each month, plus serve 15 days active duty each year to fulfill their reserve commitment. Since reserve pilots are required to maintain the same degree of readiness as their active duty counterparts, flying activities are scheduled Tuesday through Saturday of each week throughout the year.
[edit] Units
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Wing attached units
- 301st Aerospace Medicine Squadron
- 701st Medical Squadron
[edit] History
[edit] World War II
The wing was activated as the 301st Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson Field, North Carolina on 15 October 1944. It was deployed to the Pacific in early 1945, arriving at Ie Shima, Okinawa on 19 May. Fighter groups of the 301st in the Pacific were:
- 413th Fighter Group (28 Oct 1944 - 15 Oct 1946).
- 414th Fighter Group (28 Oct 1944 - 17 Apr 1945).
During the last few months of World War II, the wing’s P-47 pilots saw action escorting B-24, and B-29 bombers and making dive bombing and strafing attacks on shipping and communications lines in the Far East. In the immediate postwar period, the 301st provided air defense for Okinawa. The wing was designated not-operational after 18 August 1948, and was inactivated on 20 Jan 1949.
[edit] Cold War
The 301st was reactivated in July 1972 as the 301st Tactical Fighter Wing at Carswell AFB, Texas in the United States Air Force Reserve. Upon reactivation the wing was assigned the Republic F-105 "Thunderchief", with the Carswell based 457th Fighter Squadron using specially modified version of the F-105D called the "Thunderstick II". The 301st Fighter Wing led the way for Air Force Reserve fighter units in deploying to overseas bases for NATO exercises when it deployed to Norvenich Air Base, Germany, in August 1977 and Gioia del Colle Air Base, Italy, in May 1979.
In 1981, the wing converted to the McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II. Subsequent overseas deployments by the 301st Fighter Wing included Cigli Air Base, Turkey, in October 1982. A deployment to Sivrihisar Air Base, Turkey, in May 1985 was an AFRES first when they operated under bare base conditions. The unit also deployed to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. In 1987 the unit began swapping to the newer F-4E Phantom II. During Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, many wing people were recalled to active duty and served at various locations throughout the United States, Germany, England, and Southwest Asia.
In April of 1991, the wing converted to the F-16C/D, "Fighting Falcon".
[edit] Post Cold-War
In December 1993, the wing deployed six F-16s, (along with six from the 944th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona), and approximately 350 wing people to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in support of United Nations Operation Deny Flight mission. Due to the wing converting from the F-4 to the F-16 fighter aircraft during Desert Shield/Storm, this voluntary deployment to Aviano AB was the first non-exercise operational aviation deployment since flying fighters out of Carswell in 1972. Due to achieving the highest rating possible from the May 1994 Operational Readiness Inspection and supporting the Deny Flight mission, the 301st Fighter Wing was awarded as an Air Force outstanding unit for the period May 1992 to May 1994.
In May and June 1997, the wing deployed to Karup Air Station, Denmark. The wing joined forces with three US Air Force units and foreign militaries in two separate exercises while in Denmark. The first was a command and control exercise, called Central Enterprise. The second exercise was called BALTOPS, short for Baltic Operations.
In May 1998, the wing deployed with six Air Force Reserve aircraft in support United Nations Southern Watch mission in Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait.
[edit] 21st Century
Elements of the 301st Fighter Wing deployed in October 2001 to the Middle East as part of a regularly scheduled aerospace expeditionary force rotation to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. While there, the reservists also began flying combat missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF) over Afghanistan. Throughout the 90-day deployment, the reservists flew between nine and 15 hours a day.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign Hill AFB. It would distribute nine of the 419th Fighter Wing F-16s to the 301st Fighter Wing. In 2007 the wing gained another eight aircraft from the 192nd Fighter Wing of the Virginia Air National Guard bringing its total to 32 airplanes.
[edit] References
- This article includes content from the 301st Fighter Wing official website
- Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799536
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
- Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0887405134.
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
[edit] External links
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