Fighter squadron deactivating after deployment

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Les Waters
  • Operation Northern Watch Combined Information Bureau
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (AFPN) --  "Mission complete" are familiar words of relief to military people who have completed their duty and relinquished their post.

However, these words carry more meaning for 55th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron airmen as they complete their Operation Northern Watch mission here and prepare to deactivate their squadron once they return home to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

"If everything goes as planned, that should take place as soon as we get back," said Lt. Col. "Jack," 55th EFS commander. "We will start losing people and aircraft in March and April. In May, we will be down to seven airplanes and then in June, zero airplanes. There will be (me) and only a couple of other people who will be left to turn off the lights."

As part of the regular air and space expeditionary force rotation, 55th EFS airmen have been part of more than 1,400 British, Turkish and U.S. troops enforcing the no-fly zone in northern Iraq. Flying the F-16CJ Fighting Falcon, the squadron added to the more than 50 British and U.S. aircraft that work as one team to enforce the northern no-fly zone.

"It goes without saying, everyone plays an important part," said Chief Master Sgt. Travis Fagg, 55th Aircraft Maintenance Unit superintendent. "No one's job is more important than the others. We all have our areas of responsibility, and when we take care of our 'piece of the pie,' the job as a whole gets done."

This is not the first time the "Fighting Fifty-Fifth," has been deactivated. Shortly after being organized in 1917 as the 55th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field in Texas, the squadron was demobilized in 1919. The squadron was reconstituted and renamed the 55th Pursuit Squadron in 1923. For nearly 70 years afterward, the "Fighting Fifty-Fifth" flew combat missions in aircraft ranging from the P-26 Peashooter and P-36 Mohawk to the A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II and F-16.

"I'm not happy my squadron is deactivating, but I support the decision and have no doubt the 55th will be activated again in the future, as it has always risen to the challenges in the past," said Maj. Jay, 55th EFS operations officer.

Two years after participating in Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, the squadron was once again inactivated in October 1993. That was short-lived, because in January 1994, the squadron was reactivated and assigned to Shaw AFB, S.C., flying A-10s.

In summer 1996, the A-10s left and the squadron once again found itself without aircraft and people. A year later, the F-16C's added their name to the long list of "Fighting Fifty-Fifth" aircraft. Through it all, the mission has remained the same -- the suppression of enemy air defenses.

"It's quite humbling to be part of an organization that has seen virtually every aspect of modern aviation roll though its front doors," said Jay. "I will always remember being part of history and the Air Force heritage."