44th Fighter Squadron

The 44th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The 44th Pursuit Squadron was activated on 1 January 1941 and assigned to the 18th Pursuit Group. The 44th Fighter Squadron was equipped with the F-15C/D Eagle, and is planned to transition to the F-15EX Eagle II in 2026.

The 44 FS operated the F-15C Eagle aircraft conducting air superiority missions.

The 44th Flew patrols over the Pacific from Hawaii from 7 December 1941 – October 1942. It went on to fly combat missions in the South and Southwest Pacific from 21 December 1942 – 15 August 1945.

It again flew combat missions in Southeast Asia from 18 December 1964 – 25 February 1965, 21 April – 22 June 1965, 19 – 29 October 1965, and 25 April 1967 – 6 October 1970.

The squadron was unmanned from 31 December 1966 – 24 April 1967 and November 1970–15 May 1971.

It has flown air defense over Okinawa and Japan since 1971.

On 17 January 2006 an F-15C of the squadron crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Okinawa. The pilot ejected and was rescued by an HH-60 of the 33d Rescue Squadron.

The 44th Fighter Squadron was named as the winner of the Raytheon Trophy for 2012.