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526th Fighter Squadron

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526th Fighter Squadron
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The 526th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 86th Operations Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1994.

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The squadron was first activated as the 310th Bombardment Squadron in February 1942. After training in the United States, it was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it became the 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and engaged in combat until the spring of 1945, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations. After VE Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces in Germany. Briefly inactivated in 1946, it returned to Germany a few months later.

During the Cold War, the squadron served in the fighter bomber role as the 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and in the air defense role as the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. It became the 526th Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1968. The squadron again saw combat service in the Gulf War before inactivating in July 1994.

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History

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World War II

The squadron originally activated on 10 February 1942 at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma as the 310th Bombardment Squadron (Light), one of the four squadrons of the 86th Bombardment Group.[1][3][4] In August 1942, it moved to Key Field, Mississippi, where it began training with the Douglas A-20 Havoc. In August, the squadron became a dive bomber unit. Before the end of 1942, the squadron transitioned briefly to Vultee A-31 Vengeance and then to North American A-36 Apache dive bombers.[1]

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86th Group A-36 in north Africa

The squadron boarded the SS John Ericsson in April 1943.[5] In early May, the squadron arrived at La Senia Airfield, Algeria. The 310th trained at bases in French Morocco and moved to Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria on 11 June 1943, entering combat on 6 July 1943.[3] Following Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, the squadron moved to Gela Airfield, Sicily on 20 July 1943, and to Barcellona Landing Ground, Sicily, on 1 September 1943,[1] to support Allied operations, engaging primarily in close air support, moving forward as the battle line on the ground changed.[3] In August 1943, the squadron was redesignated the 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.[1]

The squadron also flew patrols and interdiction missions, attacking convoys, trains, troop columns, bridges and rail lines, and supply dumps and columns.[3] It was redesignated the 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 August 1943.[1] While in Italy, the 525th moved several more times while participating in the Rome-Arno campaign. The 526th provided air support to Allied ground forces in Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy near Salerno, and the Battle of Monte Cassino, during the advance on Rome in the first six months of 1944.[3]

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86th Group P-47 Thunderbolts

In 1944, the 526th transitioned to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and was redesignated the 526th Fighter Squadron on 30 May 1944.[1] On 25 May, the squadron repeatedly dived through intense flak to destroy enemy enemy vehicles and troop positions when the Wehrmacht tried to stop the advance of Allied forces short of Rome. This action earned the squadron its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). In August 1944, the squadron provided support for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. Until the spring of 1945, the squadron concentrated on Operation Strangle, the effort to choke off supplies for Axis military in northern Italy through air interdiction.[3]

In February 1945, the squadron moved to Tatonville Airfield, France, to fly missions against Germany. Two months later it moved to Braunshardt Airfield, Germany on 18 April 1945.[1] On 20 April, it attacked airfields and convoys in northern Germany, disorganizing enemy efforts to withdraw from the area. For this action, the squadron received a second DUC.[3] The squadron flew its last combat mission on 8 May 1945, and postwar, the headquarters moved to AAF Station Schweinfurt on 23 October 1945.[5] Although the squadron was prmarily engaged in ground attack missions during the war, it received credit for the destruction of three enemy aircraft.[6] The squadron became part of the American occupation forces until February 1946, when it moved on paper to Bolling Field, District of Columbia, where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946.[1]

Cold War

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526th F-47 Thunderbolt, 1948
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526th F-84E Thunderjets in 1951, probably at Neubiberg AB

The squadron was reactivated in the postwar era 20 August 1946 at Nordholz Airbase, Germany equipped with surplus P-47 Thunderbolts from storage depots in Europe. Over the next several years, the squadron underwent several redesignations and several station assignments in occupied Germany. In June 1948, the squadron was moved to Neubiberg Air Base, near Munich when tensions with the Soviet Union culminated in the Berlin Blockade. By 1948, it was obvious that the piston-engine Thunderbolts would be no match for Soviet jet fighters, and in early 1950 the squadron was re-equipped with Republic F-84E Thunderjets for air defense of the Munich area.

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North American F-86F Sabre, USAFE, 86th FBW, 526th FBS, probably at Landstuhl AB, ca 1953-56

With the arrival of the jet age in Europe, USAFE wanted to move its units west of the Rhine River, as its bases in the Munich area were just a few minutes flying time from Soviet MiG-15 bases in Czechoslovakia. The squadron relocated to a new base, located west of the Rhine River near Kaiserslautern, West Germany in 1952. Landstuhl Air Base opened for operations on 5 August 1952, and the 526th Fighter Bomber Squadron arrived on 21 Aug

In April 1953, the squadron completed its move to Landstuhl and was soon reequipped with the North American F-86F Sabre Jet, the first unit in USAFE to fly the most modern American fighter. The F-86F had been very successful as both a fighter and fighter bomber in the Korean War, and marked a quantum increase in the Wing's capabilities.

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526th F-102 Delta Dagger[c]

A year later the squadron was redesignated the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and assumed a new mission of air defense for the central European region. For this mission, the squadron was re-equipped with the rocket-armed F-86D Sabre interceptor which provided an all-weather capability.

Reassigned to the 86th Air Division and oriented for Air Defense of western Europe in 1960. Re-equipped with the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. On 14 November 1968 the 86th Air Division was inactivated. The 526th was assigned to the new 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Ramstein which replaced the 86th AD. With the phaseout of the F-102 from Europe, the 526 FIS was redesignated the ]26th Tactical Fighter Squadron and begun converting to the McDonnell F-4E Phantom IIfighter aircraft.

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526th F-4E Phantom II[d]

As part of operation "Creek Action", a command-wide effort to realign functions and streamline operations, HQ USAFE transferred the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing from Ramstein Air Base to Zweibrücken Air Base, and the 526th was assigned to the incoming 86th Tactical Fighter Wing from Zweibrücken to Ramstein on 31 January 1973.

Continued to operate the F-4E until upgraded to General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons 1985. Supported numerous military units located in the area and participated in numerous exercises that provided the wing with air combat tactics training essential to their mission.

Modern era

Taking off from Aviano Air Base, Italy, on 28 February 1994, two F-16Cs of the 526th Fighter Squadron shot down four Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Soko J-21 Jastrebs in support of Operation Deny Flight over Banja Luka, one aircraft scoring three victories. This was the first combat engagement in NATO history.[7]

In 1994 the decision was made to change the 86th Wing from a composite wing to a wing devoted to intra-theater airlift, and the 86th Wing began to assume the airlift mission previously held by C-130 Hercules aircraft at the 435th Airlift Wing at Rhein Main Air Base, Germany, which was slated for inactivation. With the influx of C-130 personnel, the 526th FS was inactivated on 1 October 1994, with its aircraft and personnel also being moved to Aviano AB, Italy, being assigned to the 510th and 555th Fighter Squadrons.

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Lineage

  • Constituted as the 310th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 13 January 1942
Activated on 10 February 1942
Redesignated 310th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 3 September 1942
Redesignated 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 August 1943
Redesignated 526th Fighter Squadron on 30 May 1944
Inactivated on 31 March 1946
  • Activated on 20 August 1946
Redesignated 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 20 January 1950
Redesignated 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 9 August 1954[8]
Redesignated 526th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 November 1968
Redesignated 526th Fighter Squadron on 1 May 1991
Inactivated on 1 July 1994

Assignments

  • 86th Bombardment Group (later 86th Fighter-Bomber Group, 86th Fighter Group), 10 February 1942 – 31 March 1946
  • 86th Fighter Group (later 86th Composite Group, 86th Fighter Fighter-Bomber; Fighter-Interceptor) Group, 20 August 1946
  • 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (later 86th Air Division), 8 March 1958[8][e]
  • 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 1 November 1968[9]
  • 86th Tactical Fighter Wing, 31 January 1973[10]
  • 86th Tactical Fighter Group, 22 September 1975
  • 86th Tactical Fighter Wing (later 86th Fighter Wing), 14 June 1985
  • 86th Operations Group, 1 May 1991 – 1 July 1994

Stations

Aircraft

  • Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1942
  • Douglas A-24 Banshee, 1942
  • North American A-36 Apache, 1942–1944
  • Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1944
  • Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944–1946, 1946–1950
  • F-84 Thunderjet, 1950–1953
  • North American F-86 Sabre, 1953–1960
  • Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, 1960–1968[8]
  • McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, 1968–1986
  • General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1986–1994
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References

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