Description

426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron Patch

Pilots and Crew!  Enjoy a beautifully embroidered 426th TFTS patch. You’ll be able to wear this patch proudly.

• 4 inches
• Embroidered/Hook and Loop
• US Veteran-Owned Business
• Reproduction

The 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force fighter squadron. Its last assignment was with the 405th Tactical Training Wing, being inactivated at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, on 19 November 1990.

During World War II, the 426th Night Fighter Squadron was a night fighter squadron assigned to Tenth Air Force in India, and Fourteenth Air Force in China. It was reactivated in 1970 as a tactical fighter Replacement Training Unit (RTU) At Luke AFB.

In 1970, the 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron was assigned to the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona from 18 January 1970 until being reassigned to the 405th Tactical Training Wing on 1 January 1981 Squadron carried tail code “LA”.[2] The squadron was initially equipped with the F-100D Super Sabres that it inherited from the provisional 4515th Combat Crew Training Squadron. Its mission was to train Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) fighter-interceptor squadron pilots flying F-106 Delta Darts to intercept intruder aircraft. The F-100s would act as supersonic intruder aircraft in training flights over the large desert ranges of Arizona. As part of the phase-out of the F-100 from active service, it received McDonnell F-4C Phantom IIs in August 1971, with aircraft carrying a blue fin cap.[2]

In 1981 the squadron received F-15A/B Eagles, and its mission was changed to train interceptor pilots with the F-15, which was beginning to replace the F-106 Delta Dart in the air defense mission of the United States.[3] The F-15s carried red tail stripes by 1983 and added a yellow centered delta shape.[2] The squadron also flew some F-15D models in 1989. It was inactivated in 1990 when the air defense training on the F-15 was moved to Tyndall AFB, Florida and to First Air Force as part of the realignment of air defense of the United States from the active-duty air force to the Air National Guard.[4]