18th Wing
The United States Air Force's 18th Wing is the host wing for Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan and is the Air Force's largest combat wing. It is the largest and principal organization in the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.
The Wing's 18th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 18th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II.
Mission
The 18th Wing's mission is to defend U.S. and Japanese' mutual interests by providing a responsive staging and operational airbase with integrated, deployable, forward-based airpower. The focus of the unit's operations is directed to accomplishing this mission. Strategy used to employ this mission centers around a composite force of combat-ready fighter, air refueling, airborne warning and control and rescue aircraft as well as medical aircrews tasked with transporting patients by air.Units
The 18th Wing is composed of five groups each with specific functions. The Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations. The Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance. The Mission Support Group has a wide range of responsibilities but a few of its functions are Security, Communications, Personnel Management, Logistics, Services and Contracting support. The Civil Engineer Group provides facilities management, while the Medical Group provides medical and dental care.- 18th Operations Group
- *18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
- *31st Rescue Squadron
- *33d Rescue Squadron
- * 44th Fighter Squadron "Vampire Bats"
- * 67th Fighter Squadron "Fighting Cocks"
- * 623d Air Control Squadron "Lightsword"
- * 909th Air Refueling Squadron "Young Tigers"
- * 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron "Ronin/Cowboy"
- 18th Mission Support Group
- *18th Contracting Squadron
- *18th Communications Squadron
- *18th Force Support Squadron
- **18th Force Support Squadron Detachment 2 @ Bellows AFS
- *18th Logistics Readiness Squadron
- *18th Security Forces Squadron
- 18th Maintenance Group
- *18th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
- *18th Component Maintenance Squadron
- *18th Equipment Maintenance Squadron
- *18th Munitions Squadron
- *718th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
- 18th Medical Group
- *18th Aerospace Medicine Squadron
- *18th Dental Squadron
- *18th Medical Operations Squadron
- *18th Medical Support Squadron
- 18th Civil Engineer Group
- *18th Civil Engineer Squadron
- *718th Civil Engineer Squadron
Heraldry
The fighting cock emblem, approved in 1931, symbolizes the courage and aggressiveness of a combat organization.History
The 18th Fighter Wing was established on 10 August 1948, and activated four days later at Clark Air Force Base. On 20 January 1950, the wing was re-designated the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing.Korean War
The 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Korea in July 1950 and entered combat. Its organization was as follows:- 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
- 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
- 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
- 2 Squadron SAAF, South African Air Force
From 28 July to 3 August, the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter Wing. Pilots exchanged their F-80s for F-51 Mustangs. Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles, locomotives and trucks, artillery and antiaircraft guns, fuel and ammunition dumps, warehouses and factories, and troop concentrations.
In August, advancing enemy forces and insufficient aircraft parking at Taegu forced the group to move to Japan, but it returned to South Korea the following month to support UN forces in a counteroffensive. Because the front advanced so rapidly, operations from Pusan East Air Base soon became impractical, and the group moved in November to Pyongyang East Air Base, North Korea. The 2nd SAAF Squadron joined the 18th in mid-November.
Maj Louis J. Sebille was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his action on 5 August 1950: although his plane was badly damaged by flak while attacking a concentration of enemy trucks, Maj Sebille continued his strafing passes until he crashed into an armored vehicle.
The Chinese Communist caused the group to move twice in as many weeks, first to Suwon AB, South Korea, then to Chinhae. From there the 18th FBG continued to support ground forces and carry out armed reconnaissance and interdiction missions. From November 1950 through January 1951, it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for destroying roughly 2,400 enemy vehicles and severely damaging almost 500 more.
From early 1951 until January 1953, the group and its tactical squadrons, moving from base to base in South Korea, operated separately from the rest of the 18th FBW. The group earned its second Distinguished Unit Citation from 22 April to 8 July 1951, when it flew 6,500 combat sorties while operating from sod, dirt filled, and damaged runways to counter the enemy's 1951 spring offensive.
When in January 1953 the group rejoined the wing at Osan-ni AB, its squadrons transitioned to F-86 Sabrejets without halting the fight against the enemy. It flew its first F-86 counter air mission on 26 February 1953. In the final days of the war, the 18th FBG attacked dispersed enemy aircraft at Sinuiju and Uiju Airfields.
The group remained in Korea for some time after the armistice. The wing moved to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa in November 1954.
Cold War
Since November 1954, the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena Air Base. Over the past 50 years, the 18th has maintained assigned aircraft, crews, and supporting personnel in a high state of readiness for tactical air requirements of Fifth Air Force and the Pacific Air Forces. Known Cold War-Era operational squadrons were:- 12th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter F-86F, F-100D/F, F-105D/F/G
- 44th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter F-86F, F-100D/F F-105D/F
- 67th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter F-86F, F-100D/F, F-105D/F
Image:F-105D-62-4375-12thTFS-18thTFW-Kadena-18May1971.jpg|thumb|Republic F-105D-31-RE Thunderchief, AF Ser. No. 62-4375, 12th TFS/18th TFW on 18 May 1971. Noted in October 2003 at the Combat Air Museum, Topeka, KS and still there October 2006, this F-105 was the last of its kind in use with any US military service when retired from the Air National Guard in 1983. It was a static display for four years at McGhee Tyson ANG Base, Knoxville, Tennessee, prior to transfer to the Combat Air Museum in 1992.
Image:F-4c-63-7474-67tfs-18tfw-atkorat.jpg|thumb|McDonnell F-4C-18-MC Phantom, AF Ser. No. 63-7474, 67th TFS/18th TFW. This aircraft was later modified to the EF-4C Wild Weasel flak suppression aircraft.
Image:Eb-66e-54-0542-19thtews-18tfw-23aug74.jpg|thumb|Douglas RB-66B-DL Destroyer, AF Ser, No. 54-0542, 19th TEWS/18th TFW on 23 August 1974.
Flying the North American F-86 Sabre, the wing supported tactical fighter operations in Okinawa, as well as in South Korea, Japan, Formosa, and the Philippines with frequent deployments. In 1957, the wing upgraded to the North American F-100 Super Sabre and the designation was changed to the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing. In 1960, a tactical reconnaissance mission was added to the wing with the arrival of the McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo and the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron The McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
From 14 – 28 March 1961, the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing deployed the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron to Kung Kuan Air Base, Taiwan equipped with McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo.
Beginning in 1961, the 18th was sending its tactical squadrons frequently to South Vietnam and Thailand, initially with its RF-101 reconnaissance forces, and beginning in 1964 with its tactical fighter forces supporting USAF combat missions in the Vietnam War. In 1963, the Republic F-105 Thunderchief replaced the Super Sabres. Known Vietnam-era squadrons of the wing were:
- 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
- Det 1, 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron
- 44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
- 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
During the 1968 Pueblo crisis, the 18th deployed between January and June to Osan Air Base, South Korea following the North Korean seizure of the vessel. Frequent deployments to South Korea have been performed ever since to maintain the air defense alert mission there. The McDonnell Douglas F-4C/D Phantom II replaced the F-105s in 1971, and a further upgrade to the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was made in 1979.
On 6 November 1972, the 18th Wing dispatched the McDonnell F-4C/D Phantom II fighters of the 44th and 67th Tactical Fighter Squadrons] to the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan until 31 May 1975, to assist Taiwan 's air defense, defend against aerial threats from China.
The following are the units that the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing once stationed at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan：
In May 1971, the 556th RS was also transferred from Yokota to Kadena with Martin EB-57E Canberra aircraft to the wing. It inactivated in 1973. In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized C-130E-I. The RF-4C reconnaissance mission ended in 1989 with the transfer of the RF-4Cs to the 460th TRG at Taegu AB in Korea.
Post Vietnam-era squadrons have been:
- 12th Tactical Fighter
- 44th Tactical Fighter
- 67th Tactical Fighter