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301st Fighter Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1944–1949; 1972–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Wing |
| Role | Fighter |
| Part of | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas |
| Engagements | Asiatic-Pacific Theater |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Col. Benjamin R. Harrison[1] |
| Insignia | |
| 301st Fighter Wing emblem[b][2][3] |  |
| Tail stripe | Texas flag tail stripe "TX" "Texas Longhorns" |
| Tail code | TX |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II |
The301st Fighter Wing is an Air Reserve Component of theUnited States Air Force. It is assigned to theTenth Air Force,Air Force Reserve Command, stationed atCarswell Field,Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. If mobilized, the Wing is gained by theAir Combat Command.
The mission of the unit is to maintain a state of readiness to deploy people and their assigned fighter aircraft (the F-16) wherever needed when notified of recall to active duty. Wing people assigned to the 301st Fighter Wing repeatedly demonstrate their flying expertise and professionalism inAir Combat Command,Air Force Reserve Command andNATO exercises designed to emphasize that to retain the country's combat ready posture it must train as it plans to fight.
The wing comes under10th Air Force, one of the three numbered Air Forces of the Air Force Reserve. If mobilized, the wing would come underAir Combat Command's12th Air Force.
Day-to-day activities of the wing are managed by full-time air reserve technicians (ARTs) and Department of the Air Force civilians. Ready Reservist assigned to the wing are required to attend unit training assemblies which are scheduled for one weekend each month, plus serve 15 days active duty each year to fulfill their reserve commitment. Since reserve pilots are required to maintain the same degree of readiness as their active duty counterparts, flying activities are scheduled Tuesday through Saturday of each week throughout the year.
The 301st Fighter Wing Commander is Colonel Benjamin R. Harrison.[4]
Wing attached units
The unit's origins begin duringWorld War II, when it was part ofTwentieth Air Force. The 301st Fighter Wing'sP-47N aircraft flew very long range (VLR) escort missions ofB-29 Superfortress bombardment groups against Japan.
The301st Fighter Wing was organized in the United States underFirst Air Force, initially atSeymour Johnson Field,North Carolina in October 1944, then moved toMitchel Field onLong Island in November. On Long Island, the wing coordinated the delivery of the very long range RepublicP-47N Thunderbolt from its manufacturing plant atFarmingdale, New York, with aircraft being flown to North Carolina where two of the newly assigned groups of the 301st (413th and 414th) were training.
The war in the Pacific required fighter ranges even greater than did operations over Germany, and the mission of the 301st Fighter Wing was to provide bomber escort forTwentieth Air ForceBoeing B-29 Superfortress bombers during their strategic bombing missions over Japan in 1945.
Soon afterSaipan andGuam were taken with B-29 units being stationed there, the 318th Group formed on theRyukyu Islands, consisting of six fighter groups, the 15th and 21st (being transferred fromSeventh Air Force) and the 413th, 414th, 506th and 507th, all being deployed from the United States. Being the first wing to be equipped with the P-47N, the groups operated as a long-range escort for B-29 Superfortress bombers attacking the Japanese mainland all the way from Saipan to Japan and on many other long, overwater flights.
In July 1945 the 301st was reassigned to theEighth Air Force with the same mission for Eighth Air Force in the plannedOperation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. The atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater.
The wing was reassigned toFar East Air Forces when Eighth Air Force returned to the United States in 1946. Its four wartime fighter groups returned to the United States early in 1946, being replaced by the51st Fighter Group as its operational unit. It served as part of the Army of Occupation on Okinawa. The wing performedair defense role over the Ryukyu Islands. After 18 August 1948, the wing had no units assigned and existed as a paper unit until inactivated on 20 January 1949.
The 301st was reactivated in July 1972 as the301st Tactical Fighter Wing atCarswell Air Force Base, Texas in theUnited States Air Force Reserve. Upon reactivation the wing was assigned theRepublic F-105 Thunderchief, with the Carswell-based457th Fighter Squadron using specially modified version of the F-105D called the "Thunderstick II". The 301st Fighter Wing led the way for Air Force Reserve fighter units in deploying to overseas bases forNATO exercises when it deployed to Norvenich Air Base, Germany, in August 1977 andGioia del Colle Air Base, Italy, in May 1979.
In 1981, the wing converted to theMcDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II. Subsequent overseas deployments by the 301st Fighter Wing included Cigli Air Base, Turkey, in October 1982. A deployment to Sivrihisar Air Base, Turkey, in May 1985 was an AFRES first when they operated under bare base conditions. The unit also deployed toHomestead Air Force Base, Florida, Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico,Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, andElmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. In 1987 the unit began swapping to the newerF-4E Phantom II. DuringOperation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, many wing people were recalled to active duty and served at various locations throughout the United States, Germany, England, and Southwest Asia.
In April 1991, the wing converted to the F-16C/D, "Fighting Falcon".
In December 1993, the wing deployed six F-16s, (along with six from the944th Fighter Wing atLuke Air Force Base, Arizona), and approximately 350 wing people toAviano Air Base, Italy, in support of United NationsOperation Deny Flight mission. Due to the wing converting from the F-4 to the F-16 fighter aircraft during Desert Shield/Storm, this voluntary deployment to Aviano AB was the first non-exercise operational aviation deployment since flying fighters out of Carswell in 1972. Due to achieving the highest rating possible from the May 1994 Operational Readiness Inspection and supporting the Deny Flight mission, the 301st Fighter Wing was awarded as an Air Force outstanding unit for the period May 1992 to May 1994.
In May and June 1997, the wing deployed toKarup Air Base, Denmark. The wing joined forces with three U.S. Air Force units and foreign air forces in two separate exercises while in Denmark. The first was the command and controlExercise Central Enterprise. The second exercise was calledBALTOPS (Baltic Operations).
In May 1998, the wing deployed with six Air Force Reserve aircraft to flyOperation Southern Watch sorties fromAhmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait.
Elements of the 301st Fighter Wing deployed in October 2001 to the Middle East as part of a regularly scheduledAir Expeditionary Force rotation to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. While there, the reservists also began flying combat missions as part of theUnited States invasion of Afghanistan. Throughout the 90-day deployment, the reservists flew between nine and 15 hours a day.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realignHill Air Force Base. It would distribute nine of the419th Fighter Wing F-16s to the 301st Fighter Wing. In 2007 the wing gained another eight aircraft from the192d Fighter Wing of theVirginia Air National Guard bringing its total to 32 airplanes.
On December 4, 2023, 301st Fighter Wing's 457th Fighter Squadron transferred its last F-16C to the706th Aggressor Squadron atNellis Air Force Base.[5]
On August 14, 2024, the wing received the first of fourLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs loaned to them by the388th Fighter Wing to begin operations with the new fighter. A total of 26 Lightning IIs will eventually be assigned to the unit. The 301st will be the onlyAir Force Reserve Command unit to operate thefifth-generation fighter without being associated to an active unit and the second Air Force Reserve F-35 unit. F-35A deliveries to the wing are expected until 2026.[6] The wing accepted its first "own" F-35 on 5 November 2024.[7]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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