481st Tactical Fighter Squadron

Origins
In 1957, the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing was assigned to Bergstrom Air Force Base near Austin, Texas and at that time it was part of the Strategic Air Command. In the summer of 1957, it was renamed as the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing and transferred to the Tactical Air Command. In 1958, the 27th TFW was inactivated and transferred to Cannon Air Force Base which is just west of Clovis, New Mexico. The transfer did not involve the actual movement of any equipment or aircraft. Instead, the 312th Tactical Fighter Wing and the four squadrons of F-100 Super Sabre aircraft assigned to it were re-designated as the 27th TFW one day after the 27th had been inactivated at Bergstrom AFB. The 27th TFW was under the 832d Air Division. The four squadrons of the 312th TFW were then re-designated as the 481st, 522d, 523d, and 524th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. This was the beginning of the 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron. Between 1959 and 1973, aircraft and personnel from the 481st deployed many times to various parts of the world, including Europe, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan. Some of the known deployments and history are listed below.

10 November 1963 - A deployment of 75 days to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand

14 November 1963 – Operation Hard Surface – A deployment to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. This operation had started with another unit, probably from Cannon AFB, on 4 May 1963. The 481st participated in this operation from 14 November 1963 to 1 February 1964.

The units assigned to this operation were awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.

31 March 1964 – Exercise Delawar, a CENTO sponsored joint training exercise with the Imperial Iranian Air Force. The 481st TFS and the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed to Vahdati Air Base at Dezful Iran, with 36 aircraft and over 500 personnel.

7 May 1964 – Exercise Desert Strike. This was a joint Air Force and Army training exercise that took place in California, Nevada and Arizona and lasted two weeks. It involved nearly 100,000 personnel, fifteen active Air Force fighter squadrons, and numerous other flying squadrons and support units from the active military, the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve.

28 August 1964 – The 481st TFS was selected as the outstanding fighter unit in the Tactical Air Command for the second consecutive quarter.

1 September 1964 – The squadron was sent on a 120 day rotational deployment to Misawa Air Base, Japan. During this time, some aircraft of the 481st TFS also went to Kung Kuan Air Base in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, the aircraft took part in Operation Sky Soldier VI.

1 June 1965 – The squadron was the first to respond and depart during a full scale no-notice Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) conducted by an inspection team from the Tactical Air Command.

From 29 June 1965 to 22 November 1965, the 481st was deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam.

Vietnam War
In the Spring of 1965, notification was received that the squadron would deploy to Vietnam in late June for a combat tour. On 11 June 1965, without prior warning, the squadron was alerted to deploy within twenty-four hours and left Cannon AFB on 12 June 1965 under the code name Operation Two Buck 16. After a one-week delay at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, the squadron arrived at Tan Son Nhut Airbase on 21 June 1965 and began flying combat missions on that first day in South Vietnam.

On the night of 19 July, the Army Special Forces camp at Bu Dop, about 100 miles north of Saigon, came under attack by the Viet Cong. Air strikes by two F-100s of the 481st were credited with “probably saving the camp that night”. Just eleven days after this mission, one of the pilots, 1st Lt. Donald D. Watson of Tripoli, Wisconsin was killed on 31 July while flying another air interdiction mission.

The squadron averaged over 30 sorties a days and by 6 September 1965, the 481st TFS “Crusaders” had completed 2,000 hours of combat flying.

In November, many sorties were flown in support of the battle of Plei_Me and airstrikes by the 481st and other fighter units were “given much of the credit for turning the battle of Plei Me from disaster into victory.”

When the North Vietnamese left Plei Me and Pleiku, they moved west and the 481st again supported ground troops in the battle that developed in the Ia Drang Valley. While deployed to Vietnam, the 481st aircraft had green triangles painted on the tails which allowed the Forward Air Controllers to easily identify the F-100s they were controlling as being part of the 481st. Many of the planes had personal names and pictures painted on including “The Shadow”, “Lickity Split”, “Pretty Penny”, “Why Not?”, “The Mormon Meteor”, “The Back Forty”, “Mr. Magoo”, “Hot Stuff”, “Casanova”, “Snoopy”, “My Little Margie” and several others.

The 481st arrived in Vietnam with eighteen airplanes. During the six-month combat tour, the “Crusader’s” F-100s received many hits but only six airplanes were shot down. Captain John Parker was the first pilot to go down and the others were: Captain Joseph Reynes, Captain Charles Summers, Captain Sam Holmes, 1st Lt. Donald Watson, and 1st Lt. John Hauschildt. All ejected safely and were rescued except for 1st Lts. Watson and Hauschildt who were killed. The deaths of Lts. Watson and Hauschildt were part of a larger coincidental tragedy. When four friends who had attended the Air Force Academy together were all assigned to Cannon AFB as pilots, they decided to pool their money and buy a house. Three of the four pilots were assigned to the 481st and the fourth, Lt. Thomas McAtee, was assigned to the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In the space of ten weeks, three of the four friends were killed. On 29 July 1965, Lt. Donald Watson was killed in South Vietnam. On 23 August 1965, Lt. Ralph Ford was killed on a training flight near Nara Visa, New Mexico and on 5 October 1965, Lt. John Hauschildt was killed on a bombing mission in South Vietnam. Lt. McAtee was in Vietnam during this time and had flown 36 combat missions with the 429th TFS. He was shocked to learn of the deaths of his three friends and returned to Clovis, New Mexico in October 1965 to sell the house.



Lt. Watson (left) and Lt. Huschildt at Cannon AFB during the winter of 1964-65.

By 27 November 1965, the 481st was headed back to Cannon AFB and had flown more than 3,600 combat sorties and established an incredible 98% aircraft in commission rate that assured every combat mission was flown as scheduled.

The following F-100s deployed with the 481st to Vietnam: 0-52795, 0-52837, 0-53528, 0-53548, 0-53549, 0-53559 0-53569, 0-53602, 0-53603, 0-53604, 0-53613, 0-53622, 63040, 63054, 63056, 63063, 63074, 63100 and 63285.

F-111 Era
The squadron transitioned to the F-111 in 1969 and was inactivated on 31 August 1973. It was later redesignated as the 481st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and reactivated on 15 January 1976 at Cannon AFB, NM, with assignment to the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing. The unit was again inactivated on 8 July 1980.

Lineage

 * Constituted as 481st Fighter-Bomber Squadron, on 1 July 1957
 * Activated on 25 September 1957
 * Re-designated: 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 1 July 1958
 * Inactivated 18 February 1959
 * Activated 18 February 1959
 * Organized on 18 February 1959, assuming personnel and equipment of 477th Tactical Fighter Squadron (inactivated)
 * Inactivated on 31 August 1973


 * Re-designated as 481st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, 1 January 1976
 * Activated on 15 January 1976
 * Inactivated on 8 July 1980

Assignments

 * 27th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 25 September 1957
 * 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 July 1958 – 31 August 1973
 * 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, 15 January 1976 – 8 July 1980

Stations

 * Bergstrom AFB, Texas, 25 September 1957 – 18 February 1958
 * Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 18 February 1958 – 31 August 1973
 * Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 15 January 1976 – 8 July 1980

Aircraft

 * F-100D/F Super Sabre, 1957–1973
 * General Dynamics F-111D, 1976–1980