35th Fighter Squadron
35th Fighter Squadron
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35th Fighter Squadron

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35th Fighter Squadron

The 35th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 8th Operations Group, stationed at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. The squadron operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions.

The 35th FS is one of two squadrons of Block 40 F-16C/Ds at Kunsan, flying the Fighting Falcon since 1981. The 35th is one of the oldest squadrons in the United States Air Force, its history dating to 12 June 1917, when the unit was activated as the 35th Aero Squadron.

The 35th Aero Squadron was a significant unit of the United States during World War I, rather than the 35th Fighter Squadron referred to previously. It was formed on June 12, 1917, and was initially involved in construction duties, repairing war-damaged French villages, and working in salvage yards in France. The 35th Aero Squadron was moved to several different French aerodromes throughout 1917 and 1918, where they served in various non-combat capacities, such as assembling aircraft, maintaining vehicles, and ferrying pilots. After the end of WWI, the 35th was demobilized in 1919 without seeing any combat action but made significant contributions to the war effort in a supportive capacity.

The 35th Fighter Squadron was constituted as the 35th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 22 December 1939 It was activated on 1 February 1940 at Moffett Field, California, where it was assigned to the 8th Pursuit Group. Initially, the squadron trained new pilots and conceded their personnel to other units.

In 1941, the 35th Pursuit Squadron moved to Hamilton Field, California. Here they transitioned to aircraft like the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and the Bell P-39 Airacobra, in anticipation of potential involvement in World War II. Their duties involved coastal defense and training, ensuring a state of readiness for the upcoming conflict.

The 35th Fighter Squadron along with the 8th Pursuit Group and 22nd Airbase Group left San Francisco in Convoy Number 2033, escorted by USS New Orleans, for Australia on 12 February 1942 on the Army transport USAT Maui arriving with the convoy at Brisbane, Australia on 5 March 1942. The squadron has never been stationed in the United States since. It arrived in Brisbane, Queensland on 6 March 1942. After arrival, it moved to Amberley Airfield, west of Brisbane, where it was equipped with Bell P-39D Airacobras that were originally intended to go to the Philippines but the convoy carrying them was diverted to Brisbane.

They then moved to Woodstock Airport, Queensland outside of Townsville in northern Queensland on 26 April 1942 on their way to Port Moresby, New Guinea where they arrived on 30 April 1942. There, the squadron operated from a gravel fighter strip constructed by the Australians in the 1930s called Kila Kila Airfield (3 Mile Drome). After two months in combat, the squadron rotated back to Australia, returning to Woodstock on 29 June 1942 for various rest and re-equipment tasks. They relocated to Garbutt Field in Townsville on 27 July 1942 and then moved to Milne Bay in New Guinea on 18 September 1942 after the airfield was secured from the Japanese. It again engaged in combat operations against Japanese forces with its P-39s until rotated back to Queensland, being sent to Mareeba Airfield in February 1943 as its Airacobras were basically worn-out. At Mareeba, the squadron was re-equipped with Curtiss P-40N Warhawks before leaving Australia for good in May and heading back to Port Moresby.

In New Guinea, the squadron covered landings and supported offensive ground operations in New Britain, New Guinea, and Hollandia, with the group moving forward to different bases as territory was captured from the Japanese. At Cape Gloucester, the P-40s were replaced by Lockheed P-38F Lightnings that were ferried up from Australia. It was with the P-38 that the 8th Fighter Group became truly effective both against the Japanese Zero in air-to-air battles, as well as providing ground support to MacArthur's ground forces. Its twin engines offered an additional safety factory when operating over long stretches of water and jungle. The Lightnings proved to be extremely rugged and could take a lot of battle damage and still keep flying. Missions lasting 9, 10, or even 12 hours became routine, and many wounded Lightnings were able to limp home on only one engine.

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