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162nd FIGHTER Squadron Patch – Sew On

$11.99

Airmen, Enjoy this 162nd Fighter Squadron Patch. You’ll be able to wear this patch proudly.

  • 4 inch
  • Embroidered
  • US Veteran-Owned Business

46 in stock

Description

162nd FIGHTER Squadron Patch

Airmen, Enjoy this 162nd Fighter Squadron Patch. You’ll be able to wear this patch proudly.

  • 4 inch
  • Embroidered
  • US Veteran-Owned Business

Air Combat Command
In March 1992, the unit adopted the USAF Objective Wing organization and the 178th Tactical Fighter Group became simply the 178th Fighter Group; the 162nd as a Fighter Squadron. On 1 June of that year, Tactical Air Command was inactivated as part of the Air Force re-organizing after the end of the Cold War. Air Combat Command (ACC) became the gaining major command for the 178th.

During May 1993 the squadron marked the end of 15 years of A-7D operations with the 162nd Fighter Squadron. Later in the year the conversion to the Block 30 F-16C Fighting Falcon. The 162nd took twelve F-16’s, 20 pilots and over 600 personnel to Operation WINTERBASE at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, Mississippi, to perform flight training for the first big deployment with the new F-16Cs. During the month long deployment, 30 aircrew certifications were attained and the sortie generation was the largest ever by the 178th Fighter Group. For LONGSHOT 94, the 162nd launched four F-16’s in support of the competition. The mission was for the aircraft to rendezvous with the various units fly to Nellis AFB, Nevada to drop ordnance on target and on time. Opposing Red Air Enemy attempted to thwart the attack. The 162nd was part of the outstanding 3rd place team.

In 1995, Operation SNOWBIRD occurred in February, with the 162nd flying 223 sorties for live weapons and desert combat simulations. Later in April 1995, the 162nd provided RED AIR for Tyndall AFB, Florida air training in Dissimilar air combat training (DACT) called LONGSHOT 95. In June 1995, the 162nd deployed to Karup Air Base, Denmark to participate in NATO exercises BALTOP 95 and CENTRAL ENTERPRISE. The 162nd provided RED AIR for the BALTOP exercise and flew 225 sorties in CENTRAL ENTERPRISE with eight of the F-16 aircraft from the 162nd.

On 11 October 1995, in accordance with the Air Force One Base-One Wing directive, the 178th Fighter Group was expanded and changed in status to the 178th Fighter Wing. Under the Objective Wing organization, the 162nd Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 178th Operations Group. Support groups to the wing were the 178th Maintenance Group, 178th Mission Support Group and the 178th Medical Group. In December 1995, DACT training occurred again for the 162nd at the Gulfport CRTC, Mississippi.

During the period of 1995 to 1998, the 162nd took first place in the “Turkey Shoot” Competition in Indiana, taking on units from the Ohio ANG and other participating states showing the 162nd skill and accuracy in air-to-ground employment.

F-16C block 30 #86-0364 from the 162nd FS is on a training mission, armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, over Savannah, Georgia on 14 January 2003.
In mid-1996, the Air Force, in response to budget cuts, and changing world situations, began experimenting with Air Expeditionary organizations. The Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) concept was developed that would mix Active-Duty, Reserve and Air National Guard elements into a combined force. Instead of entire permanent units deploying as “Provisional” as in the 1991 Gulf War, Expeditionary units are composed of “aviation packages” from several wings, including active-duty Air Force, the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, would be married together to carry out the assigned deployment rotation.

In August 1996, the 162nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (162 EFS) was first formed from 178th personnel and aircraft and deployed to Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait to support Operation Southern Watch and Operation Desert Strike with the mission to enforce the southern no-fly zone imposed by the United Nations over Iraq. In 1997, the 162nd Fighter Squadron deployed to Tyndall AFB, Florida for a COMBAT ARCHER exercise to perform supersonic air-to-air combat with drones.

In May 1997, the 162nd EFS was again formed, deploying to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey to support Operation Northern Watch. Later in 1997, the 162nd Fighter Squadron invited past members to attend the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the squadron at Springfield. In 1998 the 162nd deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska for Exercise Cope Thunder arctic training.

Air Education and Training Command
In 1998 the mission of the 178th Fighter Wing was changed to become a flying training unit under Air Education and Training Command (AETC). Its new mission was to skillfully train and support Active Duty, Guard and Reserve F-16 pilots as an Advanced Flight Training Unit. Its gaining command was officially changed from Air Combat Command to AETC on 17 March 1999. As part of the new mission, the 162nd received Block 30 F-16D twin-seat trainers which provided the aircraft required for training. Courses included the Basic Course, or also known as the B-course, which was for students who have never flown a fighter aircraft, but are graduates of Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. Students were put through an 8.5-month training module. This included in class time, simulator training and in-flight training.

In 2000 the 162nd took their F-16’s to Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia for Annual Training. In 2001, the 162nd went back to Hickam AFB, Hawaii for the first time in 20 years to participate in exercise SENTRY ALOHA 01.

In September 2001, while on Annual Training at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Michigan, 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon occurred. The 162nd flew numerous missions in support of homeland defense and for Operation Noble Eagle.

BRAC 2005 and closeout of F-16 operations

Pilots from the 178th FW gather in front of F-16C block 30 #86-0364 from the 162nd FS on 30 July 2010 in Springfield, Ohio. It is the last time these pilots would fly together here at Springfield.
Under the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), a decision came down that the parent 178th Fighter Wing would lose its sixteen F-16s and ultimately convert to a drone squadron. The Springfield aircraft would be distributed to the 132nd Fighter Wing, Des Moines IAP AGS, IA (nine aircraft); the 140th Wing (ANG), Buckley AFB, CO (three aircraft) and 149th Fighter Wing (ANG), Lackland AFB, TX (four aircraft). It was later revealed that the decision may have been a mistake as the 2005 BRAC decision did not take into account that the 162nd FS was indeed a training squadron, however the decision stood.

In the interim, through the Foreign Military Sales program, the 178th was able to obtain another training mission with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. In April 2007 the Dutch 306 Detachment from Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona moved to Springfield to provide a different training environment. The detachment was not associated directly to the 162nd FS. However the Springfield facilities were F-16 ready so as a result, when the 162nd FS shut down their F-16 operations, the Dutch detachment would leave shortly after. The current RNlAF training mission at Springfield ANGB ended in 2010 when the unit returned for Arizona. About 6 classes graduated out of the Dutch detachment while at Springfield.

The 162nd FS graduated its final American F-16 Basic Course class on 12 December 2009. The class had started on 30 March 2009. In the squadron’s tenure, as a training squadron, a total 77 pilots went through the B-course. Another 273 people went for pilots upgrading to operational or formal training instructor pilot. This made a total of 350 pilots that received any pilot training at Springfield.

Knowing the American training mission would be ending soon, the 178th pursued another foreign military training mission with the Singapore Air Force. However, in 2009 it became apparent that mission would not be coming to Springfield due to economic limitations.

162nd FS and Hungarian Air Force MiG-29 and SAAB Gripen
Just prior to the squadron closing out Viper operations, on 22 April 2010 the squadron had a more well received deployment in Hungary. The fifteen-day deployment allowed USAF F-16s to fly with Hungarian Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripens, MiG-29s and the Mi-24s. The American pilots and Hungarian AF pilots had the opportunity to engage in various air-to-air scenarios.

For the 162nd FS the final sortie was on 30 July 2010. To celebrate the squadron’s history, F-16C #86-0364 was painted up in special markings and incorporated some markings from the famous Second World War P-51 Mustang ‘Old Crow’. On the last flight four of the most senior pilots in the squadron with the most hours in the F-16 flew. The four pilots had a combined 100 years in fighters and topped out at 15,920 hours in fighters with 12,380 of those hours in the Viper.

Although the last sortie had been a few months earlier, the last American aircraft departed Springfield on 20 September 2010. This ended the manned flying mission of the 162nd FS. The Dutch detachment was scheduled to return to Tucson AGB, Arizona by January 2011. Instead they pulled out early and were gone from Springfield by 15 November 2010 when the last Dutch F-16 departed.

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