Description

335th TFS Chiefs, 4-inch Patch

Pilots and Crew!  Enjoy this beautifully embroidered 335th TFS Chiefs 1960s Patch.  You’ll be able to wear this patch proudly!

• 4 inches
• Embroidered /Sew On
• US Naval Aviator Owned Business
• Reproduction

The 335th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 4th Operations Group and stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

The 335th was constituted on 22 August 1942 as an incorporation of the No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron of the Royal Air Force, formed on 14 May 1941 as the second of three Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. These squadrons were composed of American volunteers, recruited by the RAF as a result of the heavy loss of pilots during the Battle of Britain in 1940; the volunteers were ineligible to join the USAAF. In this capacity, the squadron operated Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes.

Its current emblem contains the head of an American Indian chief, which dates back to the original emblem of 121 Squadron RAF.

1940s
After less than a year, the 335th was reactivated on 9 September 1946 at Selfridge Field, Michigan, and has remained on active duty since. In 1947, the squadron was redesignated as the 335th Fighter Squadron, Jet Propelled, as it received the new Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars.

They flew out of Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, until 1949, when they moved to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and received the North American F-86 Sabre.

1950s

335th FIS F-86Fs over North Korea[note 2] On 10 November 1950 they took their Sabres to Korea as the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the Fifth Air Force. By the end of the Korean War, the 335th led all squadrons with 218.5 kills (for around forty losses) and had become a part of the “MiG Killer” legend with 12 aces.

The 335th remained in the Far East until 8 December 1957, when they moved to their current base at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, and converted to the North American F-100 Super Sabre.

In May 1958, the squadron deployed to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, tasked with operational testing of the new Republic F-105 Thunderchief for the next three years. In May 1959, the 335th became the first squadron in the Air Force to receive the F-105 Thunderchief, and the transition from F-100s to F-105s began. The squadron returned to Seymour Johnson AFB in November 1961.

1960s

The squadron saw action in Southeast Asia in November 1965, flying the F-105 out of Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. In 1969, the 335th transitioned to the airframe its aircrew would fly for the next twenty-three years—the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II; later this year, they briefly deployed to South Korea.

1970s
In 1972, the squadron again saw action in Vietnam, from July to December, flying out of Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand.

Later in the 1970s, they became the first operational squadron to qualify with the GBU-15 guided bomb, and in doing so, exceeded 100,000 consecutive accident-free hours. They deployed briefly to Ramstein Air Base, Germany in 1978 and 1979, for a month each time.