525th Fighter Squadron

The 525th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 3rd Operations Group at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska. The squadron was first activated as the 309th Bombardment Squadron in February 1942. After training in the United States, it was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it became the 525th 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 525th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and in the air defense role as the 525th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. It became the 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1969. The squadron again saw combat service in the Gulf War before inactivating in March 1992.

The squadron was reactivated in its current location in September 2007.

Mission

The squadron prepares for rapid worldwide deployment of Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor aircraft to engage surface targets using a wide variety of conventional air-to-surface munitions. It trains in the fighter missions of strategic attack, interdiction, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, as well as offensive and defensive counterair.

History

World War II

The squadron originally activated on 10 February 1942 at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma as the 309th Bombardment Squadron (Light), one of the four squadrons of the 86th Bombardment Group. 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. The squadron became combat ready on 19 March 1943.

The squadron boarded the SS John Ericsson in April 1943. Twelve days later, the squadron landed at La Senia Airfield, Algeria. The 309th moved to Mediouna Airfield, French Morocco in May 1943, to Marnia Airfield, French Morocco on 3 June 1943, and Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria on 11 June 1943. The squadron trained until it entered combat on 6 July 1943, striking enemy entrenchments in Sicily, softening enemy resistance for General George S. Patton's Seventh Army. Following Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, the 309th Squadron moved to Gela Airfield, Sicily on 20 July 1943, and to Barcellona Landing Ground, Sicily, on 27 July 1943, to support Allied operations against the west coast of Italy. The squadron engaged primarily in close air support, moving forward as the battle line on the ground changed.

The squadron also flew patrols and interdiction missions, attacking convoys, trains, troop columns, bridges and rail lines, and supply dumps and columns. It was redesignated the 525th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 August 1943. While in Italy, the 525th moved several more times while participating in the Rome-Arno campaign. The 525th 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.

In 1944, the 525th transitioned to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and was redesignated the 525th Fighter Squadron on 30 May 1944. On 25 May, the squadron repeatedly dived through intense flak to destroy 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.

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. 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. The squadron flew its last combat mission on 8 May 1945, and postwar, the headquarters moved to AAF Station Schweinfurt on 23 October 1945. Although the squadron was prmarily engaged in ground attack missions during the war, it received credit for the destruction of three enemy aircraft. 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.

Cold War

The squadron was reactivated in the occupation forces on 20 August 1946, at AAF Station Nordholz, Germany, where it took over the personnel and P-47 Thunderbolts of the 512th Fighter Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. The squadron made two moves in Germany that year before settling at Neubiberg Air Force Base on 12 June 1947, where the squadron was the closest operational Air Force unit to the Iron Curtain. On 20 January 1950, the squadron was redesignated the 525th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. In October 1950, the squadron transitioned to its first jet aircraft, the Republic F-84E Thunderjet. In addition to its other duties, the 525th trained pilots and ground crews of European and Middle Eastern countries receiving F-84s under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.

The 525th moved to Landstuhl Air Base, Germany on 20 November 1952, where it transitioned to the North American F-86 Sabre. The 525th first flew the F-86F Sabre fighter-bomber in April 1953. The following year, the squadron transitioned to the F-86D, equipped with airborne intercept radar and armed with Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets. The F-86D was Europe's first all-weather fighter-interceptor. Flying the F-86D in the air defense role, the 525th was redesignated the 525th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 9 August 1954.

In 1957, the 86th Group dispersed its squadrons throughout Europe to provide better air defense coverage and reduce their vulnerability to attack. On 12 February, the squadron moved to Bitburg Air Base, Germany. The 525th maintained air defense alert at Bitburg for the next 20 years. It received its first Convair F-102 Delta Daggers in February 1959. The F-102 was equipped with data link for inerception control as the 86th Air Division was upgrading from a manual to a semi-automatic air defense network.

The squadron was selected to represent the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) at the 1959 William Tell competition. Although new to its aircraft, the 525th took the lead in the competition and held it until the last event when it was nosed out by a few points. In 1965, 1967 and 1971 the squadron was chosen as the Sector III representative to the NATO Air Superiority Competition.

On 1 October 1969, the squadron was renamed the 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron and became part of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing on 1 November. Although it still maintained two aircraft on 24-hour air defense alert status, the squadron's mission now included close air support and limited nuclear delivery as began to convert to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It became the first squadron in Germany to fly the F-4E model of the Phantom, equipped with an internal gun. The 525th was nominated by USAFE for the Hughes Trophy in 1969. In 1974, USAFE again nominated the 525th for the Hughes Trophy. It had won other awards in 1970 and 1971, earning the Allied Forces Central Europe Scroll of Honor those years based on tactical evaluations of the squadron by Allied Air Forces Central Europe. In 1971, the squadron won the Guynemer Trophy for the best sector performance in 1971.

The squadron began Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics (DACT) training with the Northrop F-5 Tiger II equipped 527th Aggressor Squadron at RAF Alconbury, England. Later, the squadron was the first in USAFE to establish DACT programs with non-aggressor and non-USAF adversaries.

The 525th was the first squadron to fly the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Squadron pilots flew the first F-15 Eagles to Europe on 27 April 1977 in a non-stop deployment from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia to Bitburg. Eighteen hours after arrival at Bitburg, squadron pilots were standing five-minute alert status with two of the F-15s. After less than one month, the Bulldogs were declared Europe's first operationally ready F-15 squadron.

In October 1979, the 525th flew the first training missions at the new air combat maneuvering instrumentation range at Decimomannu Air Base, Sardinia, Italy. In 1984, the squadron participated in an exchange with the French Air Force, sending six F-15s to Orange-Caritat Air Base, France, while four Dassault Mirage F-1 aircraft flew for several weeks from Bitburg. In 1986, and again in 1987, the 525th deployed to Sidi Slimane Air Base, Morocco where it operated from tents and flew missions with Moroccan Mirage F-1 and F-5 fighters. In November 1988, the 525th won USAFE's Excalibur air-to-air weapons competition.

Gulf War

After the August 1990 Iraqi invarion of Kuwait, the 525th deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey in December 1990. On 17 January 1991, the squadron was joined with other combat aircraft from units around the world to form the 7440th Composite Wing (Provisional). On the night of 17 January 1991, the squadron flew its first strike against Iraq. On 19 January 1991, two 525th pilots used AIM-7 Sparrow radar missiles to destroy two Iraqi Mirage F-1s. During the next six weeks, the 525th flew around the clock, targeting military airfields, nuclear and chemical facilities, communications centers, power plants, and oil refineries and storage facilities in northern Iraq. By the middle of February, the 525th was attacking Baghdad. In addition to protecting strike aircraft, the 525th was tasked to fly combat air patrols in eastern Iraq to destroy Iraqi fighters attempting to flee to Iran. The squadron shot down six enemy aircraft without losing any of its own aircraft. On 13 March 1991, the 525th returned to Bitburg.

Following the war against Iraq, numerous Kurdish refugees fled northward from the remaining forces of Saddam Hussein. The United States initiated Operation Provide Comfort, to drop food and supplies to these refugees. Because tensions between the Iraqi and Allied forces in the area remained high, the squadron deployed back to Incirlik on 5 April 1991 to protect Allied cargo aircraft. In addition, the squadron was tasked to fly at low altitude over Iraq and provide intelligence updates of Iraqi troop and equipment locations. Between 5 April and 25 May 1991, the 525th flew 285 sorties over Iraq in support of Operation Provide Comfort without a single Allied aircraft being lost in Iraq due to hostile fire. Following this deployment, the squadron inactivated on 1 April 1992.

Reactivation in Alaska

The squadron activated at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska on 29 October 2007 and was equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. In November 2022, the squadron deployed to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa as Pacific Air Forces brought more advanced fighter aircraft forward to the western Pacific while the 18th Wing began transferring its F-15C Eagles back to the United States.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 309th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 13 January 1942

Activated on 10 February 1942

Redesignated 309th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 3 September 1942

Redesignated 525th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 August 1943

Redesignated 525th Fighter Squadron on 30 May 1944

Inactivated on 31 March 1946

• Activated on 20 August 1946

Redesignated 525th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 20 January 1950

Redesignated 525th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 9 August 1954

Redesignated 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 October 1969

Inactivated on 31 March 1992

• Redesignated 525th Fighter Squadron on 18 September 2007

Activated on 30 September 2007

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 Group, 86th Fighter-Bomber Group, 86th Fighter-Interceptor Group), 20 August 1946 (attached to 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 22 May 1954 – 7 October 1955 and after 10 August 1956)
• 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (later 86th Air Division), 8 March 1958
• 36th Tactical Fighter Wing (later 36th Fighter Wing), 1 November 1968 – 31 March 1992
• 3d Operations Group, 30 September 2007 – present

Stations

Aircraft

Awards and Campaigns

See also

• List of Douglas A-20 Havoc operators
• List of F-86 Sabre units
• List of F-4 Phantom II operators
• List of McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle operators
• List of United States Air Force fighter squadrons

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

This article incorporates public domain material from the

• Hubbard, Gerard (1943). . The National Geographic Magazine. LXXXIII (6). National Geographic Society: 718–722. (subscription required for web access)
• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from (PDF) on 29 September 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN .{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN . OCLC . Archived from (PDF) on 20 December 2016.
• Newton, Wesely P., Jr.; Senning, Calvin F. (1963). (PDF). Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). . Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.