45th Fighter Squadron

The 45th Fighter Squadron (45 FS) is a United States Air Force Reserve unit. It is assigned to the 924th Fighter Group and stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The squadron currently flies the A-10 Thunderbolt.

World War II
The history of the 45th Fighter Squadron goes back to 22 November 1940, when the War Department constituted the 45th Pursuit Squadron (fighter). The unit was activated at Wheeler Field, Hawaii on 1 December 1940, where they served as part of the 15th Pursuit Group in defense of Hawaii.

When the Japanese launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the 45th PS suffered heavy losses, as did the other squadrons in the 15th Group. Two-thirds of the P-36 and P-40 aircraft at Wheeler Field were destroyed right on the ground. Earlier, the planes had been stripped of ammunition and fuel, and taken out of their protective earthen revetments because of potential for sabotage in these protected but difficult-to-see areas. Parked in the open, the planes were easy targets for the Japanese pilots as they strafed and bombed the field.

Everyone on the ground scrambled for cover as the field was being hit, while at the same time pilots were trying to get their planes off the ground without too much success. However, Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth Taylor, two pilots from the 47th PS whose planes were at Haleiwa Field at the time, were able to get their Curtis P-40B Tomahawks into the air soon after the attack began. Clearly outnumbered, they still managed to shoot down six Japanese planes.

Meanwhile, Captain Aaron Tyler, commander of the 45th PS at Wheeler, ordered his crews to pull out all the undamaged planes they could find and have them fueled and armed. Less than a dozen aircraft were available, but the pilots who were selected to fly wasted no time boarding their planes. They quickly took off, hoping to tangle with the Japanese fighters. After searching the area for almost an hour, all they saw as they flew over Pearl Harbor were the burning ships and immense damage. By this time, the Japanese planes were long gone, having already headed back to their carrier at sea.

In the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the pilots and ground personnel of the 45th PS had the job of cleaning up the mess at Wheeler Field. Among the first things they did was put the remaining aircraft back into their revetments. After moving their flight operations to different fields in Hawaii, the 45th PS was back in the air conducting daily air defense patrols over the islands. These long flights put a heavy toll on the P-36s and P-40Bs that the pilots flew, so they requested new aircraft. The pilots soon received new P-40E Warhawks and the tricycled-gear P-39 Airacobra.

On 12 February 1942, the squadron was redesignated the 45th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor). Although the 45th PS still had as its primary mission the conducting of aerial patrols, it was also given the duties of conducting combat training for pilots. Three months later, on 15 May 1942, the antiquated term "pursuit" was dropped and the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter Squadron. Over the next two years, the squadron would be involved primarily with combat training, and the job of air defense would take on a secondary role.

The 45th FS was sent to the Central Pacific in 1943 for combat operations against Japanese forces. Then, on 6 April 1944, the squadron returned to Mokuleia Field, Hawaii, and began training for very-long-range (VLR) bomber escort missions. By this time, the pilots in the squadron were flying P-47s. Later in the year they would acquire the longer range P-51 Mustangs.

In January 1945, the 45th FS was ordered into combat, along with the other assigned squadrons in the 15th FG. They left Hawaii for Saipan in the Marianas Islands, staying there until the Marines on Iwo Jima could secure a landing strip.

The first squadron to arrive at Iwo Jima was the 47th FS on the morning of 6 March, with the 45th landing the next day. They supported Marine ground units by bombing and strafing cave entrances, trenches, troop concentrations, and storage areas. Before the month was over, the 45th FS began strikes against enemy airfields, shipping and military installations in the Bonin Islands.

Flying its first VLR mission to Japan on 7 April 1945, the 45th FS provided fighter escort for the B-29 Superfortresses that attacked the Nakajima aircraft plant near Tokyo. In late April and early May that year, the 45th struck airfields on the Japanese home island of Kyushu to hold back the enemy's Kamikaze attacks against the American invasion force on Okinawa. The squadron also attacked enemy troop trains, small factories, gun positions, and hangars in the Bonin Islands and Japan.

During the summer of 1945, the 45th FS was assigned to the 20th Air Force and continued its fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and other tactical targets. It continued to fly long-range B-29 escort missions to Japanese cities until the end of the war. After the surrender of Japan, the squadron remained on Iwo Jima until 25 November 1945, when it transferred to Bellows Field, Hawaii. On 8 February 1946, the squadron moved to Wheeler Field, where it stayed until inactivated on 15 October 1946.

Air Defense Command
On 11 September 1952, the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and was activated on 1 November 1952, at Suffolk County AFB, New York. It replaced the 118th FIS of the Connecticut Air National Guard which was disbanded. The 45th FIS was assigned to the 519th Air Defense Group on 16 February 1953, as part of Air Defense Command (ADC). Their primary mission was in defending the American east coast from any Soviet threats. The war in Korea was still being fought at the time, but the main concern was still Russia and what it might do next.

North Africa
The squadron had a short ADC commitment, however, as they were transferred to United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) in French Morocco, North Africa. On 25 May 1953, the squadron left Suffolk County AFB and flew all their aircraft over to Sidi Slimane Air Base, which was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base. Making stops along the way, the squadron arrived at Sidi Slimane AB on 28 May. The base was shared with rotating bomber groups that flew B-47 Stratojet medium-range bombers.

Now part of the 17th Air Force, the squadron was attached to Air Defense Division on 8 June 1953. A short time later, on 18 September 1953, they were assigned to the 316th Air Division. The primary mission of the 45th at Sidi Slimane AB was flying air defense patrols off the coast of Morocco and around the Atlas mountains to the east. Pilots also took turns on alert duty in case an unidentified aircraft was spotted on radar coming towards French Morocco.

The squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter-Day Squadron on 8 October 1954. The pilots in the 45th FDS continued to fly the F-86F Sabre until March 1956, when they received new F-100C Super Sabres. Defense patrols were still carried out by the 45th until the end of December 1957. On 8 January 1958, the squadron was inactivated again.

Tactical Air command
On 1 April 1962, the squadron was redesignated 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron and activated a short time later, on 17 April. They organized on 8 May at MacDill AFB, Florida, a former SAC base now under Tactical Air Command (TAC), and were assigned to the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing. They were transferred to the 15th TFW at MacDill on 1 July 1962. The 45th TFS flew F-84F Thunderstreaks for two years while at MacDill, then in 1964 received F-4 Phantoms. The mission of the squadron was conducting combat crew training, and they took part in many exercises, flight operations, and readiness tests. During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962, the squadron temporarily reorganized as a combat-capable unit ready to strike Cuba if necessary. After the crisis was over, the squadron returned to its training mission.

In 1965, the 45th TFS was sent from their home base at MacDill to Southeast Asia. Under the command of Colonel William A. Alden, they arrived at Ubon Royal Thai AFB in Thailand on 4 April. The 45th was the first F-4 Phantom II unit to arrive in SEA. They achieved another first a little over three months later, when on 10 July 1965, two F-4C Phantoms from the 45th TFS shot down two North Vietnamese MiG-17s. This was the first U.S. Air Force aerial victory of the Vietnam War. Captain Thomas Roberts was the pilot of one of the F-4s, and Captain Ronald Anderson was his backseat Weapon Systems Officer. Captain Kenneth Holcombe with Captain Arthur Clark as WSO piloted the other F-4.

The 45th TFS left Ubon on 10 August 1965, and returned to MacDill AFB. For the next five years they would serve as a replacement training unit (RTU) for F-4 pilots headed to SEA. On 1 October 1970, the 15th TFW was inactivated and the 1st TFW, which was formerly at Hamilton AFB in California, took its place at MacDill. The 45th TFS was assigned to the 1st TFW and continued their role as a training unit until they were inactivated on 1 July 1971.

On 1 October 1973, the 45th TFS was activated and assigned to the 434th TFW at Grissom AFB, Indiana. For the next eight years they would fly the A-37 Dragonfly, an upgraded version of the T-37 trainer with more performance and armament capabilities.

Air Force Reserve
In 1981 the squadron transitioned to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, affectionately called the "Warthog" by those who flew it. On 1 July 1987, the squadron was reassigned to the 930th Tactical Fighter Group at Grissom, which became the 930th Operations Group. It was an Air Force Reserve unit, and they still flew the A-10. On 1 February 1992, the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter Squadron. Known as the "Hoosier Hogs," the pilots of the 45th FS flew their missions with pride up until September 1994. The squadron was inactivated on 1 October 1994.

In September 2008, the 45th FS will be activated and attached to the 917th Wing, which is based at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. The squadron will fly the A-10 and be assigned to Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona.

On 7 January 2010, the unit was reactivated.

Lineage

 * Constituted 45th Pursuit Squadron (Fighter) on 22 November 1940
 * Activated on 1 December 1940
 * Redesignated 45th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 12 February 1942
 * Redesignated '''45th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
 * Inactivated on 15 October 1946.


 * Redesignated 45th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 11 September 1952
 * Activated on 1 November 1952
 * Redesignated 45th Fighter-Day Squadron on 8 October 1954
 * Inactivated on 8 January 1958


 * Redesignated 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron, activated 17 April 1962
 * Organized 8 May 1962
 * Inactivated on 1 July 1971


 * Activated 1 October 1973
 * Redesignated 45th Fighter Squadron, 1 February 1992
 * Inactivated on 1 October 1994


 * Activated in September 2008

Assignments

 * 15th Pursuit (later Fighter) Group, 1 December 1940 – 15 October 1946
 * 4709th Air Defense Wing, 1 November 1952
 * 519th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953
 * Seventeenth Air Force, 1 June 1953
 * Attached to Air Defense Division, 8 June 1953


 * 316th Air Division, 18 September 1953 – 8 January 1958
 * Tactical Air Command, 1 April 1962
 * 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, 8 May – 1 July 1962
 * 15th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 July 1962 – 1 October 1970
 * Attached to 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, April 1965 - August 1965


 * 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 October 1970 – 1 July 1971
 * 434th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 October 1973 – 1 July 1987
 * 930th Tactical Fighter (later Operations) Group, 1 July 1987 – 30 September 1994
 * 917th Wing, September 2008 – 1 January 2011
 * 924th Fighter Group, 1 January 2011 – present

Stations

 * Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 1 December 1940
 * Haleiwa Fighter Strip, Hawaii Territory, 21 December 1941
 * Mokuleia Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 27 December 1941
 * Hilo Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 20 October 1942
 * Stanley Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 20 December 1942
 * Bellows Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 14 August 1943
 * Baker Island, 1 September 1943
 * Funafuti Airfield, Nanumea, Gilbert Islands, 28 November 1943
 * Abemama Airfield, Abemama, Gilbert Islands, 4 January 1944
 * Operated from: Makin Airfield, Makin, Gilbert Islands, 15 January – 24 March 1944


 * Mokuleia Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 6 April 1944


 * Bellows Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 19 June 1944 – 5 February 1945
 * South Field, Iwo Jima, 7 March 1945
 * Bellows Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 25 November 1945
 * Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 9 February – 15 October 1946
 * Suffolk County AFB, New York, 1 November 1952
 * Sidi Slimane Air Base, French Morocco, 28 May 1953 – 8 January 1958
 * MacDill AFB, Florida, 8 May 1962 – 1 July 1971
 * Deployed to: Ubon RTAFB, Thailand, 4 April – 10 August 1965


 * Grissom AFB, Indiana, 1 October 1973 – 30 September 1994
 * Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, September 2008–present

Aircraft assigned

 * Boeing P-26 Peashooter, 1940–1941
 * Curtis P-36 Hawk, 1941
 * Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1942–1944
 * Curtis P-40 Tomahawk (and Warhawk), 1942–1944
 * North American P-51 Mustang, 1944–1946
 * Republic P-47N Thunderbolt, 1944–1945


 * North American F-86F Sabre, 1952–1956
 * North American F-100 Super Sabre, 1956–1957
 * Republic F-84 Thunderstreak, 1962–1964
 * McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, 1964–1970
 * Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, 1973–1981
 * Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II, 1981–1994; 2008-