Description

159th FS Boxing Gators F-16

Fly with the 159th Fighter Squadron and the Boxing Gators again in a wooden F-16 model. Each model is carved from wood and hand painted to provide a unique piece you’ll love.

• Length – 18 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran-Owned Business
• Officially Licensed by Lockheed Martin
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

LOCKHEED MARTIN, F-16 Fighting Falcon, associated emblems and logos, and body designs of vehicles are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the USA and/or other jurisdictions, used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC.

Established in late 1942 as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron, it trained under I Fighter Command in the mid-Atlantic states. The 159th also flew air-defense missions as part of the Philadelphia Fighter Wing. The squadron was deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to VIII Fighter Command in England in June 1943.

The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack and withdrawal of B-17 and B-24 bomber formations that the USAAF sent against targets on the European continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, strafing and dive-bombing missions. It attacked such targets as airdromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the Luftwaffe and aircraft industry during the Big Week, 20–25 February 1944 and the attack on transportation facilities prior to the Normandy invasion and support of the invasion forces thereafter, including the Saint-Lô breakout in July.

The squadron supported the airborne attack in the Netherlands in September 1944 and upgraded to P-51 Mustangs in October. It deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine. The unit returned to England and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. It was demobilized during the summer of 1945 in England and inactivated in the United States as a paper unit in October 1945.

Florida Air National Guard
The early post-war years
At the conclusion of World War II, work began to organize an Air National Guard unit for Florida. A National Guard Bureau document dated 16 March 1946, gave states permission to request an Air Force unit allotment. Months later, Florida accepted the 159th Fighter Squadron with an authorized strength of 50 officers and 303 enlisted men. Governor Millard F. Caldwell formally accepted the unit on 30 August 1946, and full federal recognition was granted 9 February 1947.