107th Air Control Squadron (ANG GSU)

602-794-8003

21st Fighter Squadron (21 FS)

623-856-3410

The 21st Fighter Squadron descends from a World War II fighter squadron activated in late 1944 to escort American bombers, in this case into the Japanese Islands, and to airstrike Japanese targets in both Japan and China, from airfields on Okinawa. The 21st flw P-47N long range Thunderbolts for missions across the Pacific, with enlarged fuel tanks and additional wing tanks - this being an era before midair refuelling was in use. The 21st FS was inactivated shortly after the war ended, and reactivated in the 1950s, deactivated, and again reactivated in the 1970s, flying various contemporary aircraft. In 1991 the 21st was again reactivated, to fly A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, the modern incarnation of the honored Thunderbolt name. The 21st FS deactivated in 1993, then reactivated again to train Taiwanese pilots for F-16s in the Peace Fenghuang training program, a duty it has performed since.

308th Fighter Squadron (308 FS)

623-856-5583

The 308th Fighter Squadron was established in 1942, originally performing anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. Later that year the 308th was transferred to fly Spitfires out of Gibraltar, in support of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. The 308th continued in North Africa, later transferring forward to Algeria and flying support for the invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky. After this operation the 308th switched to the more modern, up-to-date, better armed, and longer range P-51 Mustangs, which were flown in support of the the invasion of southern France, Operation Dragoon. After the war the 308th FS performed various duties, including air defense for Strategic Air Command, and a tour of duty in Vietnam. In 1994 the 308th were reassigned to the 56th Operations Group at Luke AFB, where they have remained since, training the finest F-16 pilots in the Air Force.

309th Fighter Squadron (309 FS)

623-856-4212

The history of the 309th Fighter Squadron is very similar to sister squadron 308th FS. The 309th was established in 1942, flew support missions for Operation Torch in North Africa, Operation Husky in Sicily, and Operation Dragoon in the south of France. In 19947, the 309th transferred to training mission at Luke AFB.

310th Fighter Squadron (310 FS)

623-856-7730

The 310th Fighter Squadron was established in 1942, and flew air defense for American air space before being deployed to the Pacific theater. There the 310th Falcons flew P-47 Thunderbolts and performed strike missions against Japanese ground targets in New Guinea from Australia, advancing as the war progressed to New Guinea, the Philippines, and eventually flying missions to Korea and mainland Japan. The 310th inactivated after the war, then reactivated to fly missions in the Korean War in F-84 Thunderjets, primarily ground target strikes, for which the unit earned a ROK Presidential Unit Citation. After a brief period in the early 1960s as a missile squadron, the 310th returned to its fighter role, and became a training squadron in the late 1960s, a role it has excelled in since. The early 1970s saw a return to the Top Hat patch and renaming of the squadron to ‘Top Hats.’ Since the development of night goggle technology, the 310th has adopted night flying as it’s specialty, and trains night flyers to this day.

425th Fighter Squadron (425 FS)

623-856-6512

The modern 425th Fighter Squadron is a descendant of the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, a World War II air defense squadron flying the unusual P-61 Black Widow, a heavily armed, radar-equipped, twin-engined, fused tail design. The P-61 mounted four 20mm cannon forward Hispano M2 cannon and a quad turret M2 Browning .50 machine gun, and flew using the then very high-tech RADAR system for finding enemy aircraft. The 425th performed its tour and returned to the US, was inactivated, then reactivated as a training squadron in the late 1960s, until it was inactivated again in the 1980s. The 425th was reactivated in 1992 at Luke AFB to train Republic of Singapore pilots on the F-16, a mission which continues.

56th Aerospace Medicine Squadron (56 AMDS)

623-856-4273

56th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (56 AMXS)

623-856-9199

56th Civil Engineering Squadron (56 CES)

623-856-7081

56th Communications Squadron (56 CS)

623-856-7701

56th Component Maintenance Squadron (56 CMS)

623-856-5762

56th Comptroller Squadron (56 CPTS)

623-856-7007

56th Contracting Squadron (56 CONS)

623-856-7163

56th Dental Operations Squadron (56 DS)

623-856-3125

56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron (56 EMS)

623-856-5708

56th Fighter Wing (56 FW)

623-856-5600

The 56th Fighter Wing was activated in 1947, incorporating the older 56th Fighter Group (now the 56th Operations Group - see their entry for World War II history), with the mission of defending US air space against intruders. This was before the era of intercontinental missiles, still the period when in order to bomb the US, the Soviets would have to send bombers. The 56th was one of the units charged with stopping Soviet bombers before they could destroy their target cities. To do this the fighter squadrons flew F-80 Shooting Stars, the most advanced fighter jet of the time. The 56th was the first to transit to Europe by transatlantic flight, proving that the US could deploy air power rapidly, during a period of great American-Soviet tension. The 56th converted to F-86 Sabrejets in 1950, was inactivated in 1952, reactivated in 1961 for a North American air defense mission, then again inactivated in 1964. The 56th was again reactivated in 1968 to fly a wide variety of missions over Vietnam, conducted until 1975. Returning to the US, the 56th became the host unit for MacDill AFB until 1994, when the BRAC of the 1990s led to a transfer to Luke Air Force Base. Since 1994 the 56th has been the only F-16 Fighting Falcon training wing, recently adding

56th Force Support Squadron (56 FSS)

623-856-7001

56th Logistics Readiness Squadron (56 LRS)

623-856-7263

56th Maintenance Group (56 MXG)

623-856-5700

56th Maintenance Operations Squadron (56 MOS)

623-856-5614

56th Medical Group (56 MDG)

623-856-7502

56th Medical Operations Squadron (56 MDOS)

623-856-4032

56th Medical Support Squadron (56 MDSS)

623-856-7502

56th Mission Support Group (56 MSG)

623-856-6304

56th Operations Group (56 OG)

623-856-3005

The 56th Operations Group is descended from the 56th Pursuit Group, established in January of 1941, later the 56th Fighter Group, one of the most successful fighter groups of World War II. The 56th PG was established and activated at Savannah Army Air Base, and assigned patrol duties and train with a variety of aircraft. In December 1941 the 56th is alerted for relocation, and in short order are relocated to a new base and issued an assortment of aircraft in various states of readiness, which one engineering officer calls “an assortment of junk.” The 56th spent the few months getting their pilots trained on their new planes and the planes themselves into good order, while on duty providing air cover for New York City and Long Island. In the scramble days of the new war, the various squadrons receive P-38s Lightnings, and are told this will be their primary fighter. Training ensues. Two months later, it becomes clear that P-38s cannot be built fast enough to meet demand, and the 56th are assigned P-47 Thunderbolts, a new plane, and the group begins to troubleshoot the design. Teething problems followed: the 56th discovered a variety of problems (from sticky valves to sticky flaps and a tendency to jam), isolate and compensate, and bring the design into service ready condition. During this shakedown period a P-47 pilot reported a diving speed of 725 mph, a sound-breaking speed, which was widely reported, but later thought to be an optimistic airspeed indicator. In January 1943 the 56th FG was deployed to the United Kingdom, in several bases in the east of England and in Wales. Shortly after arriving the P-47s are painted with white bands to distinguish them from the German Fw 190, a visually similar German plane with a separate design history - the Fw 190 was a bit smaller and faster on turns, but otherwise handled much the same, the major difference being a slow climb rate and superior dive, and the much greater firepower of the P-47. The P-47 was also noteworthy as a dual air and ground attack fighter. In spring of 1943 the 56th FG began flying bomber escort and additional enemy fighter sweep missions, with distraction missions baiting out enemy fighters with feint bombers. By the end of summer the 56th FG had its first American ace of the theater, and the second ace of the Army Air Force in theater. By this time the 56th had developed dive-fire-recover tactics that allowed a long series of victories to start racking up, and in 1944, when other units were being assigned the newer P-51 Mustang, the 56th declined, having established proficiency with what had been troublesome planes, now burned-in Thunderbolts. The 56th was by now calling itself ‘Zemke’s Wolfpack,’ after their commander, Col. Hubert Zemke, one of the first American aces of the theater. As the war developed the 56th switched to anti-fighter sweeps and shorter range escort missions, with additional ground strike missions. The 56th FG supported Operation Market Garden with ground strikes, and shortly after protected US bombers striking the German Battle of the Bulge counter offensive. The bulk of the remainder of the war saw the 56th striking against ground targets to maintain Allied air superiority. After the war, the 56th FG served mainly in an air defense role, and was inactivated in 1961. The 56th was redesignated and reactivated in 1991 to provide fighter training, extending the fearsome 56th’s legacy into the 21st Century.

56th Operations Support Squadron (56 OSS)

623-856-3388

56th Security Forces Squadron (56 SFS)

623-856-5979

56th Training Squadron (56 TRS)

623-856-6633

The 56th Training Squadron is today the main F-16 training unit for the US Air Force. It began as a fighter squadron, established in 1941 and deployed in June 1942 to defend Alaska against Japanese forces, in the Aleutian Campaign. This campaign earned the unit a DUC, and the 56th FG returned to the US in 1943 to act as a Replacement Training Unit. This duty continued to the end of the war. The 56th was disbanded at war’s end. The 56th was reconstituted in 1952 for an air defense interception mission, in an era when the main threat to American airspace came from Soviet bombers. The 56th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flew F-86 Sabres out of Ohio, defending the American heartland. This mission continued until changing technology and tactics converted the Air Force strategy, and the 56th shut down in 1960. The unit was reactivated in 1979 to train pilots in the F-16, a mission it continues (with one short interruption) today.

607th Air Control Squadron (607 ACS)

623-856-6007

61st Fighter Squadron (61 FS)

623-856-5586

The 61st Fighter Squadron is today the premier F-35 training squadron. The 61st has its origin in the top scoring squadron of World War II, the 61st Fighter Squadron Top Dogs. The 61st had the honor of the #1 and #2 aces of the European theater: ‘Gabby’ Gabreski and Robert S. Johnson (Johnson being the first WWII American ace to top prior record holder Eddie Rickenbacker). Overall the 61st produced 19 aces, and was the first Allied squadron with 100 victories. The 61st flew escort missions, ground strike missions, and contributed very substantially to the Normandy Invasion, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and maintaining the late war air supremacy of the Allied air forces. In its first year the 61st was shuffled through a variety of mismatched planes, but settled on the new P-47 Thunderbolt, which initially has serious teething problems. After extensive testing and tuning the P-47 served the 61st and other squadrons of the 56th Fighter Group so well they declined an offer to upgrade to the new hot P-51 Mustang. After the war, the 61st was inactivated for about six months, and reactivated for an air defense mission with Strategic Air Command, finally required to adopt the P-51 Mustang. They continued with the Mustangs until upgraded to F-80 Shooting Stars, and periodically updated thereafter, until being inactivated again in 1960s. The 61st was reactivated with a training mission in 1975, settling on training F-16 pilots in 1980. In 2010 the 61st inactivated and was reactivated in 2013 to continue its long held training mission, now training for the F-35 Lightning II.

62nd Fighter Squadron (62 FS)

623-856-6887

The 62nd Fighter Squadron was established with the other units of the 56th, and assigned the same duties, bomber escort and ground target strike, taking home the #2 aerial victory prize for the European theater in World War II. The 62nd flew P-47 Thunderbolts, which they had whipped into flying shape and become very proficient with; when the more advanced P-51 Mustangs came available the 62nd, with the other squadrons of the 56th, declined the option. The 62nd was the home unit of Colonel David C. Schilling, squadron commander, who arrived with the 56th FG, and rose from flight commander to group commander, making 22.5 victories, including an Ace in a Day, December 23, 1944, and a full colonel at age 25. Another ace of the 62nd was Captain Fred J. Christensen, who came in as a replacement and soon scored ace, and later scored an Ace in a Day with 6 victories on July 7, 1944. The 62nd was briefly inactivated, then reactivated to continue in service after the war as a fighter escort for long range B-29 Superfortresses, and still later for air defense. In the 1970s the squadron adopted a weapons training role, and in the 1990s became an F-16 training squadron, surviving BRAC cutbacks on the strength of its history and achievements dating to World War II.

756th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (756 AMXS)

623-856-8626

AFAA Area Audit Office

623-856-7042

AFLSA/ADC

623-856-6701

AFOSI DET 421

623-856-3358

Army Corps of Engineers

623-856-7208

Defense Commissary Agency

623-935-3821

DET 1 ACC Training Support Squadron

623-856-6460

DET 12/372 Training Squadron

623-856-5684

OLAD, 29th Training Systems Squadron

623-856-4855