56th Fighter Wing, US Air Force: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 09:44, 30 January 2024
56TH FIGHTER WING, US AIR FORCE
History: Established as 56 Fighter Wing on 28 July 1947. Organized on 15 August 1947. Redesignated 56 Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 20 January 1950. Inactivated on 6 February 1952. Redesignated 56 Fighter Wing (Air Defense), and activated, on 28 December 1960. Organized on 1 February 1961. Discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 January 1964. Redesignated 56 Air Commando Wing, and activated, on 16 March 1967. Organized on 8 April 1967. Redesignated: 56 Special Operations Wing on 1 August 1968; 56 Tactical Fighter Wing on 30 June 1975; 56 Tactical Training Wing on 1 October 1981; 56 Fighter Wing on 1 October 1991. The wing supported exercises, operations, and training programs of Strategic Air Command, 1947-1948. It pioneered the first west-to-east jet fighter transatlantic crossing along the northern air route in July 1948 and provided air defense for a large portion of the northeastern United States, December 1948-February 1952. The 56th provided air defense in the Michigan area, 1961-1963. It performed combat in Southeast Asia, April 1967-August 1973, and combat support until June 1975, employing a wide variety of aircraft to meet specialized missions. Those missions included interdiction, psychological warfare, close air support, search and rescue, forward air control, training Thai and Laotian air forces, and helicopter escort for clandestine insertion and extraction of personnel in Laos and North Vietnam. Provided close air support during the sieges of Khe Sanh, February-April 1968, and Lima Site 85, January-March 1968. Wing elements participated in the Son Tay Prison raid on 21 November 1970 and continued combat in Vietnam until mid-January 1973, in Laos until 22 February 1973, and in Cambodia until 15 August 1973. The 56th assisted in the evacuations of Phnom Penh on 11 April 1975 and Saigon, 29-30 April 1975. Provided forward air control and helicopter insertion/extraction support during the SS Mayaguez rescue operation on 15 May 1975. Upon return to the United States on 30 June 1975, it absorbed resources of the 1 Tactical Fighter Wing and operated MacDill AFB and nearby Avon Park Range, FL. The wing conducted F-4D/E replacement training for pilots, weapon systems officers, and maintenance personnel, July 1975-July 1982. It was equipped with UH-1P helicopters, 1976-1987, to support Avon Range logistics needs, search and rescue efforts, and humanitarian missions. With conversion to F-16A/B aircraft in 1980-1982, the 56th became the designated unit for transitioning USAF and select allied nation pilots into the new fighter, while continuing to augment NORAD’s air defense forces in the southeastern US. The wing provided logistic support to US Central Command beginning in 1983 and to US Special Operations Command after 1986. It upgraded to F-16C/D aircraft in 1988-1990, providing support personnel and equipment to units in Southwest Asia, August 1990-March 1991. Beginning in 1994, the wing primarily provided combat crew training to US and Allied services. In 2014, the wing began transitioning to the F-35A, but continued to be the primary F-16 combat crew training wing.
 (Historical - 56th Fighter Group) |
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Origin/meaning
The Emblem was approved for 56 Group on 4 April 1942 and for 56 Wing on 19 April 1967; newest rendition approved on 16 May 2013.
Literature: Information from https://www.afhra.af.mil/
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