History 525th Fighter Squadron

1 history

1.1 world war ii
1.2 cold war
1.3 gulf war
1.4 recent events
1.5 lineage
1.6 assignments
1.7 stations
1.8 aircraft
1.9 operations

history
world war ii

the 525th fighter squadron activated during world war ii 309th bombardment squadron (light) on 10 february 1942, support allied forces in european theater of operations. squadron began training operations @ rogers field, oklahoma, , assigned 86th bombardment group.

in august 1942, squadron transferred key field, mississippi, start flight training in douglas a-20 havoc. month later, squadron redesignated 309th bombardment squadron (dive). year s end, squadron started transition 2 new combat aircraft types, vultee a-31 vengeance , north american a-36 apache. squadron achieved combat ready status on 19 march 1943.

ready support war effort, 309th bombardment squadron boarded ss john erickson in april 1943. twelve days after departure united states, squadron landed @ la senia, algeria. 309th moved mediouna, french morocco, on 15 may 1943; marnia, french morocco, on 3 june 1943; , tafaraoui, algeria on 11 june 1943. squadron acquired first combat experience on 6 july 1943. on squadron s first day of combat, struck enemy entrenchments in sicily, softening enemy resistance general george s. patton s invading 7th army. following invasion, 309th bombardment squadron set operations in gela, sicily, on 20 july 1943, , barcellona pozzo di gotto, sicily, on 27 july 1943, support allied campaign, known naples-foggia, against west coast of italy.

the 309th bombardment squadron redesignated 525th fighter-bomber squadron on 23 august 1943. while in italy, 525th moved several more times while participating in rome-arno campaign. bases 525th included italian airfields @ sele, serretella, , pomigliano in 1943. during 1944, squadron operated marcianise, ciampino, orbetello, grosseto, italy , poretta, corsica. 2 of more famous battles during italian campaigns salerno , cassino. 525th fighter-bomber squadron figured prominently in these battles, providing air support allied ground forces.

in 1944, 525th transitioned republic p-47 thunderbolt. along new aircraft 525th redesignated 525th fighter squadron on 30 may 1944. in february 1945, squadron moved tantonville, france, fly missions against germany. 2 months later moved germany, establishing headquarters @ braunschardt on 18 april 1945. 525th flew last combat mission on 8 may 1945, , postwar headquarters moved schweinfurt on 23 october 1945.

cold war

the 525 fs administratively moved bolling field, washington d.c., on 23 october 1945, awaited realignment of u.s. forces under status of forces agreements @ end of world war ii. 525th fs temporarily inactivated on 31 march 1946.

it reactivated on 20 august 1946, @ nordholz airbase, germany, again flying p-47 thunderbolt. squadron made 3 more moves in germany; lechfeld on 13 november 1946, bad kissingen on 5 march 1947, , neubiberg air base on 12 june 1947, squadron closest operational air force unit iron curtain. on 20 january 1950, 525th fighter squadron redesignated 525th fighter-bomber squadron. in october 1950, squadron transitioned first jet aircraft, republic f-84e thunderjet , operated under mutual defense assistance program. part of mdap, 525th trained pilots , ground crews of many european , middle eastern countries.

the 525th fbs moved landstuhl, germany (later called ramstein air base), on 20 november 1952, transitioned north american f-86 sabre. f-86 europe s first all-weather fighter-interceptor, , 86th fighter group first fly in europe. 525th first flew f-86f sabre on 14 april 1953. flying f-86 in air defense role, 525th redesignated 525th fighter-interceptor squadron on 9 august 1954.

in 1957, squadrons of 86th group dispersed throughout europe provide better air defense coverage , reduce vulnerability attack. on 12 february 1957, squadron moved bitburg air base, germany. 525th squadron @ bitburg maintain air defense alert next 20 years.

the 525th received first convair f-102 delta dagger in february 1959 , selected represent u.s. air forces in europe (usafe) @ 1959 william tell competition. although new aircraft, 525th took lead in competition , held until last event when nosed out few points.

in 1965, 1967, , 1971 525th chosen sector iii representative nato air superiority competitions. in each competition, squadron made outstanding showing, winning guynemeyer trophy best sector performance in 1971.

the 525th officially became part of 36th tactical fighter wing on 1 november 1968. on 1 october 1969, squadron redesignated 525th tactical fighter squadron. still maintaining 2 aircraft on 24-hour air defense alert status, 525th s new mission included close air support , limited nuclear air-to-ground delivery. additionally, on 16 november 1969, 525th became first squadron in germany fly mcdonnell douglas f-4e phantom ii. 525th subsequently nominated usafe hughes trophy in 1969.

in 1970 , 1971, 525th awarded allied forces central europe scroll of honor. prestigious award outstanding operational achievement given twice consecutively earning coveted rating of 1 on tactical evaluations allied air forces central europe. in 1974, 525th nominated usafe again hughes trophy, , received commendable citation in close finals competition. year squadron established dissimilar air combat tactics (dact) training northrop f-5 aggressor squadron @ raf alconbury, england. later, squadron first in usafe establish dact programs non-aggressor , non-usaf adversaries. 525th chosen first squadron in europe fly mcdonnell douglas f-15 eagle.

525th pilots flew first 23 f-15 eagles europe on 27 april 1977 during historic, non-stop deployment langley air force base, virginia, bitburg air base, germany. operation ready eagle became success when, 18 hours after arrival @ bitburg, squadron s pilots sitting five-minute alert status 2 of f-15s. after less 1 month on station, bulldogs declared europe s first operationally ready f-15 squadron on 26 may 1977.

in 1978, 525th featured part of mcdonnell douglas film, eagles in defense of europe. in october 1979, 525th flew first training missions @ new air combat maneuvering instrumentation range @ decimomannu air base, sardinia, italy. in 1984, squadron participated in exchange french air force, sending 6 f-15s orange-caritat air base, france, in exchange 4 mirage f-1 aircraft. french pilots flew several weeks 525th , operated out of 525 tfs operations facilities @ bitburg. in 1986, , again in 1987, 525th deployed morocco , set bare base operations @ sidi sliminc. 525th lived , functioned 4 weeks out of tents , flew missions f-1 , f-5 aircraft morocco. in november 1988, 525th won usafe s excalibur air-to-air weapons competition. in april 1989, squadron set wing record sorties in 1 month, flying 678 sorties, 14 aircraft, while deployed decimomannu air base, italy.

gulf war

in august 1990, iraqi military forces attacked , occupied nation of kuwait, precipitating gulf war. result 525 tfs deployed incirlik air base, turkey, in december 1990. when squadron arrived @ incirlik joined american general dynamics f-16 fighting falcons spain, general dynamics f-111 aardvarks england, wild weasels germany, boeing kc-135 stratotankers texas, , boeing e-3 sentry , other electronic combat support aircraft around world. these units, deployed incirlik air base, formed 7440th combat wing (provisional) - u.s. air force s first composite wing.

on night of 17 january 1991, squadron flew first strike against iraq. on 19 january 1991, 2 525th pilots used aim-7 sparrow radar missiles destroy 2 iraqi mirage f-1s. during next 6 weeks, until cease-fire, 525th flew around clock, protecting 2 strikes per day , 1 strike each night. these strikes targeted military airfields, nuclear , chemical facilities, communications centers, power plants, , oil refineries , storage facilities in northern iraq. middle of february, 525th attacking baghdad. in addition protecting strike aircraft, 525th tasked man barrier combat air patrols in eastern iraq destroy iraqi fighters attempting flee iran. these missions, lasting in excess of 5 hours, required squadron operate more 150 miles behind enemy lines without support assets.

the squadron flew 1,329 combat sorties total of 3,550 combat hours during operations against iraq. squadron shot down 6 enemy aircraft without losing of own aircraft. on 13 march 1991, 525th returned bitburg. squadron deployed incirlik ab on 5 april 1991 support operation provide comfort.

following war against iraq, numerous kurdish refugees fled northward remaining forces of saddam hussein. united states initiated vast airlift operation, named operation provide comfort, drop food , supplies these refugees concentrated in iraq along turkish border. because tensions between iraqi , allied forces in area remained quite high, 525th called turkey in april 1991 protect vulnerable allied cargo aircraft. in addition, 525th tasked, part of operation, fly @ low altitude on iraq , provide intelligence updates of iraqi troop , equipment locations.

between 5 april , 25 may 1991, 525th flew 285 sorties on iraq in support of operation provide comfort without single allied aircraft being lost in iraq due hostile fire.

recent events

the 525th deployed leeuwarden air base, netherlands, during october 1991. in december 1991, bulldogs deployed raf bentwaters, england, train on new north sea air combat maneuvering instrumentation range. final weapons training deployment 525th tfs @ leeuwarden air base, netherlands, 16–27 march 1992.

the 525 tfs inactivated @ bitburg ab on 1 april 1992. after 15 years of inactivation, pacific air forces redesignated , activated 525th fighter squadron @ elmendorf air force base, alaska, on 29 october 2007. 525th fighter squadron armed air force s newest fighter aircraft, lockheed martin f-22 raptor.

lineage

525th fighter-interceptor squadron - emblem



constituted 309th bombardment squadron (light) on 13 january 1942


activated on 10 february 1942
re-designated: 309th bombardment squadron (dive) on 3 september 1942
re-designated: 525th fighter-bomber squadron on 23 august 1943
re-designated: 525th fighter squadron on 30 may 1944
inactivated on 31 march 1946


activated on 20 august 1946


re-designated: 525th fighter-bomber squadron on 20 january 1950
re-designated: 525th fighter-interceptor squadron on 9 august 1954
re-designated: 525th tactical fighter squadron on 1 october 1969
inactivated on 31 march 1992


re-designated 525th fighter squadron on 18 september 2007


activated on 30 september 2007.

assignments

86th bombardment (later, 86th fighter-bomber; 86th fighter) group, 10 february 1942 – 31 march 1946
86th fighter (later, 86th composite; 86th fighter; 86th fighter-bomber; 86th fighter-interceptor) group, 20 august 1946


attached 86th fighter-interceptor wing, 22 may 1954-7 october 1955 , 10 august 1956 – 7 march 1958


86th fighter-interceptor wing (later, 86th air division), 8 march 1958
36th tactical fighter (later, 36th fighter) wing, 1 november 1968 – 31 march 1992
3d operations group, 30 september 2007 – present

stations

aircraft

operations

world war ii
operation desert storm
operation provide comfort