4th Fighter Squadron

The 4th Fighter Squadron (4 FS) "Fighting Fuujins" is part of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority, strike, and close air support missions.

Mission

Conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground operations for daylight and nighttime missions.

History

World War II

The 4th was activated at Selfridge Field, Michigan on 15 January 1941 and trained under Third Air Force as a tactical fighter squadron. Moved to several U.S. bases before relocating to Northern Ireland and England in 1942. Equipped with the British Supermarine Spitfire, was assigned to Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign in late 1942. Moved across Algeria and Tunisia flying ground support missions for American ground forces; taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943. Participated in the liberation of Corsica in 1943; then returning to Italy and being re-equipped with P-51D Mustangs in May 1944. Participated in Northern Italian Campaign, returning to the United States in August 1945 and inactivating.

Squadron (aviation)

A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force. Land based squadrons equipped with heavier type aircraft such as long-range bombers, or cargo aircraft, or air refueling tankers have around 12 aircraft as a typical authorization, while most fighter equipped units have an authorized number of 18 to 24.

In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some air forces (including the Royal Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, German Air Force, Republic of Singapore Air Force, and United States Air Force) also use the term squadrons for non-flying ground units (e.g., radar squadrons, missile squadrons, aircraft maintenance squadrons, security forces squadrons, civil engineering squadrons, medical squadrons, etc.).

United States military air services