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OPERATION ALLIED FORCE
OPERATION DECISIVE EDGE (1996)
81st Fighter Squadron "Black Panthers"

The 81st Fighter Squadron, the Panthers, boasts a proud record of more than 50 years of distinguished flying in defense of America's interests abroad.
On Jan. 6, 1942 the 81st Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) was constituted. The squadron was activated on Jan. 15, 1942, at Key Field, Missouri, flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and, May 15, it was redesignated 81st Fighter Squadron. The unit moved to Orlando, Florida, then to Cross City Army Airfield, in the same State, and back to Orlando, acting as a part of the AAF School of Applied Tactics with air defense training duties. The squadron saw its first combat duty during World War II, performing a variety of missions, including fighter escort, close air support and interdiction.
In March 1944, the 81st received a new aircraft, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and, in April, a new home at Lymington, England, with the 9th Air Force in Europe. Between March 1944 and the Armistice in May 1945, the 81st flew hundreds of close air support missions, moving its base eastward in France at Carentan, Meautis, Orly, Laon, Lyon-Bron, Toul-Ochey and then in Germany at Giebelstadt and Mannheim. The members of the squadron were credited with 47 aerial victories and received two Distinguished Unit Citations for combat. During the war the squadron was assigned to the 50th Pursuit (later Fighter) Group.
On Nov. 7, 1945, the unit was inactivated at La Junta Army Airfield, Colorado, then reactivated at McChord Field, Wash., in July 1947. Over the next eight years, the 81st, redesignated Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in March 1950, tested a number of different aircraft, but it was not until the spring of 1953 that the 81st (now a Fighter Bomber Squadon) was completely outfitted with the North American F-86 Sabrejet. In August 1953, the squadron relocated to Hahn Air Base, Germany.
In July 1956, the 81st moved to Toul-Roisieres Air Base, France, converting to the F-100 Super Sabre in July 1958 and becoming the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron. One year later, the 81st returned to Hahn and in December 1966, reequipped with the F-4C Phantom II. The Phanters took their aircraft to Zweibrucken Air Base, Germany, in June 1971 to fill the vacancy left by the Canadian armed forces departure.
In 1973, the 81st, assigned in 1949 to the 50th Fighter Group (later Wing), moved to the 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, where it took on the Wild Weasel mission of defense suppression. As NATO's only defense suppression squadron, the 81st received the first 24 F-4G advanced Wild Weasel equipped with the APG-38 Radar Attack and Warning System. In 1984, the 81st transitioned to a mixed F-4G and F-4E hunter/killer team, using the AGM-88A Harm and AGM-45A Shrike, as the 52nd TFW became the only defense suppression wing in NATO.
In January 1988, the 81st converted its F-4E aircraft to F-16C Fighting Falcon, becoming a member of the only wing in the U.S.Air Force to fly two different aircraft in the same combat element. In June 1988 the squadron upgraded its F-4G with APR-47. The 81st crews flew the F-4G and F-16C in the hunter/killer role until December 1990, when the 81st again became an all-F-4G squadron.
They served until Dec. 31, 1993, when they racked up 113 radar kills, flew more than 12,000 combat sorties and 25,000 hours over Iraq. The last F-4G left Spangdahlem Feb. 18, 1994. The 81st then became an A/OA-10 squadron and replaced the 510th FS which had Thunderbolts deployed to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in support of Operation Deny Flight, enforcing a no-fly zone over Bosnia. Within September 1995, the A-10s have flown more than 1,500 combat sorties and 5,000 combat hours since being deployed in July 1993.

In the picture: 81-984 is a late production Fairchild Republic A-10A "Thunderbolt II", used by the 81st FS at Aviano early 1996.

(Aeromedia, May 1999)

Operation Decisive Edge
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Operation Allied Force