Question: In what year did the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, join the "Statue of Liberty Wing"?
Context: The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) to gain and maintain air supremacy in aerial combat.  Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas' design in 1967 to meet the service's need for a dedicated air superiority fighter.  The Eagle first flew in July 1972, and entered service in 1976.  It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, with the majority of the kills scored by the Israeli Air Force. ACES II is an ejection seat system manufactured by the United Technologies Aerospace Systems (UTAS) division of the United Technologies Corporation (UTC).  ACES is an acronym for Advanced Concept Ejection Seat.  It is used in Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Rockwell B-1 Lancer, WB-57, and Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit aircraft.  Over 10,000 ACES II seats have been produced with over 5,000 actively flying throughout the world as of 2013.  It is known throughout the industry as the lowest life cycle cost third generation seat due to the USAF owning the rights to the seat, facilitating competitive replacement part procurement.  In addition, the buying power of 5,000 in-service seats and previous service life extension programs have further driven down support costs. The 71st Fighter Training Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force, and part of the 1st Operations Group of the 1st Fighter Wing.  The 71st is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.  The squadron is equipped with the Northrop T-38B Talon, it was also the last squadron of the 1st Fighter Wing to fly the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, with the 27th and 94th now flying the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.  The squadron is known as "The Ironmen". The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW) is part of the United States Air Force's Third Air Force, assigned to Headquarters Air Command Europe and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE).  It is based at RAF Lakenheath, England.  The 48 FW is the only F-15 wing based in Europe and consists of both F-15C/D Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft as well as a rescue squadron of HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters.  The 48 FW was given the name "Statue of Liberty Wing" on 4 July 1954 and remains the only U.S. Air Force unit with both a name and a numerical designation. The McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD (Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator) is a modified F-15 Eagle.  Developed as a technology demonstrator, the F-15 STOL/MTD carried out research for studying the effects of thrust vectoring and enhanced maneuverability.  The aircraft used for the project was pre-production TF-15A (F-15B) No. 1 (USAF S/N 71-0290), the first two-seat F-15 Eagle built by McDonnell Douglas (out of 2 prototype), the sixth F-15 off the assembly line, and was the oldest F-15 flying up to its retirement.  It was also used as the avionics testbed for the F-15E Strike Eagle program.  The plane was on loan to NASA from the United States Air Force. The Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).  The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.  The subsequent F-15DJ and F-15J Kai variants were also produced.  Japan is the largest customer of the F-15 Eagle outside the United States.  In addition to combat, F-15DJ roles include training.  The F-15J Kai is a modernized version of the F-15J. The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.  The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic-warfare aircraft.  United States Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagles can be distinguished from other U.S. Eagle variants by darker aircraft camouflage and conformal fuel tanks mounted along the engine intake ramps. Ashley Rolfe is one of the United States Air Force female fighter pilots who qualified to fly McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.  As a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, she makes history at the 104th Fighter Wing as the first female fighter pilot in the wing’s 70-year history in Aug. 18, 2016.  She served in 67th Fighter Squadron at Kadena.  Kadena was Rolfe’s first duty assignment, where she also made history by serving in the 67th Fighter Squadron as the only female F-15 pilot.  In 2010 she was the only female fighter pilot participating in Exercise Commando Sling that appeared in Air Force TV News "One of a Kind". The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle has been in service with the United States Air Force since 1976.  Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and other nations have also operated the aircraft.  The units it has been assigned to, and the bases it has been stationed are listed below. The Mikoyan MiG-29 (Russian: Микоян МиГ-29 ; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union.  Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.  The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1982.
Answer: 1976