The squadron mission is to conduct suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), air interdiction, close air support, and counter-air missions both day and night. It participates in the defense of South Korea[4] and operates further afield.
History
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During its 101-year history, the 36th Fighter Squadron has flown 21 different types of aircraft, received 22 unit citations and accumulated 24 service and campaign streamers.[4]
World War I
Map of Cazaux AIC showing 36th Aero Squadron location
The 36th Aero Squadron came into existence at Kelly Field, Texas in June 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. Later that year, First LieutenantQuentin Roosevelt, the son of PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, briefly commanded the squadron. After a brief training period, the squadron moved overseas on the RMS Baltic. Landing in France in September 1917, the squadron shortly stopped at the Étampes aerodrome before settling at the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center on Issoudun Aerodrome, where it helped building the new center before being declared operational some time at the end of year.
On 21 February 1918, the 36th Aero Sqn (Repair) arrived at the Cazaux aerodrome, home of the French Aerial Gunnery School, where it helped maintaining the aircraft of the American detachment. On 5 November, it moved to the newly created American Aerial Gunnery School, in St. Jean de Monts, France.
On 16 February 1919, the squadron reached the harbor of St. Nazaire, France, from where it sailed back to the United States on 14 March, on the USS Manchuria and was demobilized in the spring of 1919 at Garden City, New York[3][4]
Interwar period
Berliner Joyce P-16Squadron Consolidated P-30
The squadron was reconstituted in 1923 as the 36th Pursuit Squadron. Although inactive, it was originally allotted to the Sixth Corps Area. In 1929 the squadron was designated as a "Regular Army Inactive" unit. Although remaining inactive as a regular unit, officers of the Organized Reserves were assigned to the unit and performed summer training with the squadron at Kelly Field for the next few years.[5]
In October 1930 the squadron was once again activated at Selfridge Field, Michigan,[note 5] where it was attached to the 1st Pursuit Group and equipped with various models of the Curtiss Hawk series of single engine biplane pursuit aircraft.[1] By 1932, the squadron's primary aircraft became the Boeing P-12, although the squadron continued to fly the P-6 model of the Hawk. As part of its mission to develop pursuit tactics, the squadron continued to fly a variety of other aircraft, notably including the Berliner-Joyce P-16 and Consolidated P-30 two-seat fighters. Training of fighter pilots and testing of tactics continued after 1932 when the squadron moved to Langley Field, Virginia, where it was assigned to the 8th Pursuit Group.[1][4]
In 1934, following a Congressional investigation of how air mail contracts had been awarded by the United States Postal Service, President Franklin D. Roosevelt cancelled all existing air mail contracts and assigned the duty of flying the mail to the Air Corps. The squadron began flying its P-12s on air mail routes, but they proved unsuitable for the work, lacking instruments to fly at night or in adverse weather. Moreover, they could only carry about 50 lbs of mail, and with the mail load, the planes were tail heavy and difficult to fly. The P-12s were withdrawn from the project within a week, although the larger observation aircraft continued to fly mail until May, when new air mail contracts were awarded.[6]
Curtiss YP-37
The P-30, along with the arrival of Curtiss YP-37s in 1938 marked a significant change in the squadron's equipment, the transition from fabric-covered biplanes to all metal monoplanes. By 1939, the squadron was flying Curtiss P-36 Hawks, which were quickly replaced by the more powerful Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. As the Air Corps expanded in 1940, the squadron moved to Mitchel Field, New York, and was located there when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred in December 1941.[1]
F-86F-30-NA Sabre 52-4408 Itazuke Air Base, Japan. 1954Lockheed F-80C-10-LO Shooting Star 49-689, Suwon Air Base, South Korea, 1950
When the communist forces attacked the Republic of Korea in June 1950, the 36th found itself in the fight from the beginning of the conflict. Flying F-80 Shooting Stars, the squadron attacked advancing North Koreantanks, trucks, artillery, and troops. The unit later converted back to the piston-engined F-51 Mustang, considered more suitable for operations in Korea. The 36th ended the war equipped with F-86 Sabres, flying bombing and strafing missions against enemy air fields. The 36th returned to Japan after the Korean War, operating out of Itazuke Air Base for the next 10 years.[4]
The 36th ushered in the era of the "Fighting Falcon" on 10 August 1988, when squadron commander Lieutenant Colonel Al Spitzer landed the first F-16 Fighting Falcon at Osan. The squadron's combat capabilities were transformed in 1990 when the squadron converted to the Block 40 Low Altitude Navigational and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) F-16C/D. The addition of LANTIRN gave the Fiends the current ability to fly at low levels and deliver precision guided munitions during nighttime conditions. Upgrades to the Block 40 in recent years have included GBU-31 JDAM capability for all weather precision engagement. The 36th FS, more recently, have begun training with the AIM-9X Sidewinder and the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper XR Advanced Targeting Pod. Additionally, in the Spring of 2012 the Fiends acquired the AN/ASQ-213 HARM Targeting System, becoming the first Block 40 SEAD squadron in the United States Air Force.[4]
Lineage
Organized as the 36th Aero Squadron on 12 June 1917
Redesignated 36th Aero Squadron (Construction) c. 1918
Demobilized on 7 April 1919
Reconstituted and redesignated 36th Pursuit Squadron on 24 March 1923
Activated on 2 October 1930
Redesignated 36th Pursuit Squadron (Fighter) on 6 December 1939
Redesignated 36th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 12 March 1941
Redesignated 36th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
Redesignated 36th Fighter Squadron, Two Engine on 19 February 1944
Redesignated 36th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 1 April 1946
Redesignated 36th Fighter Squadron, Jet on 1 January 1950
Redesignated 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 20 January 1950
Redesignated 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 July 1958
Redesignated 36th Fighter Squadron on 7 February 1992[1]
Assignments
Unknown, 12 June – c. 24 September 1917
Third Aviation Instruction Center, c. 24 September 1917
École de Tirage Aérienne, c. 21 February 1918
Aerial Gunnery School, c. 5 November 1918 – c. 16 February 1919
Deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 9 August – 5 October 1964; Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 6 March – 4 May, 26 August – 28 October 1965; Osan Air Base, South Korea, 1 October – 24 November 1968, 18 February – 24 March 1969, 27 May – 1 July 1969, 9 September – 18 October 1969, 27 December 1969 – 31 January 1970, 10 April – 9 May 1970, 20 June – 11 July 1970, 4 September – 2 October 1970, 27 November – 26 December 1970
^The squadron's reservists were reassigned to other units. Clay, p. 1401.
^Robertson Says 4th Air Division. However, in May 1964, the 4th Air Division was a Strategic Air Command bomber division at Barksdale Air Force Base. The 41st Air Division was in Japan.
United States
United States Air Force
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