page_title: Torrejón Air Base
section_title: Tactical operations
hierarchical_section_title: Torrejón Air Base / History / Tactical operations
caption_attribution_description: McDonell Douglas EF-18A (M) Spain Air Force C.15-65 / 12-23 C/N 892/A587 McDonell Douglas EF-18A (M) Spain Air Force C.15-44 / 12-02 C/N 718/A553 McDonell Douglas EF-18A (M) Spain Air Force C.15-69 / 12-27 C/N 925/A591
context_page_description: Torrejón Air Base is both a major Spanish Air Force base and the co-located Madrid–Torrejón Airport, a secondary civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Madrid.
context_section_description: With the phaseout of the B-47 from SAC in the mid-1960s, the need for SAC European bases diminished. The Sixteenth Air Force was turned over to United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) on 15 April 1966 and the strategic focus changed to tactical. Prior to 1966, Torrejón AB hosted TDY squadrons of tactical aircraft rotating from CONUS TAC bases which would perform 30-day rotations to Aviano Air Base Italy and Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.
  With the USAFE takeover of the base, Tactical Air Command transferred the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing from England Air Force Base Louisiana to USAFE on a permanent basis to Torrejón on 27 April 1966, to perform host functions at the base and to support the rotational TDY duty to Italy and Turkey for NATO alerts.
  The 401st TFW's initial operational squadrons at Torrejón were:
  307th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1966–1971) (Tail Code: TJ)
  353d Tactical Fighter Squadron (1966–1971) (Tail Code: TK)
  613th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1966–1993) (Yellow/Black Tails, Tail Code: TL)
  401st TFW squadrons flew the North American F-100D/FSuper Sabre.
  Due to the demands of the Vietnam War, the 401st had deployed two of its three permanently assigned fighter squadrons (612th, 614th) to South Vietnamese bases (Phan Rang AB, Phu Cat AB). To provide the 401st a full operational capability at Torrejón, aircraft and personnel were transferred on a permanent basis to the 401st TFW from Homestead AFB, Florida (307th TFS) and Myrtle Beach AFB South Carolina (353d TFS).
  As well as the USAFE tactical aircraft, SAC retained a presence at Torrejón with the 98th Strategic Wing flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers from the base. The 98th SW replaced the 3970th Strategic Wing on 25 June 1966. The 98th SW was inactivated at Lincoln Air Force Base Nebraska that same day with the closure of Lincoln AFB.
  The 98th SW had no permanently assigned aircraft assigned, however CONUS-based SAC wings deployed aircraft to provide air refueling sup-port to meet the operational, alert, and exercise commitments of SAC, TAC, USAFE, and NATO in an area including the eastern Atlantic, most of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
  Even though neither were assigned to the base, when a B-52 and a KC-135 crashed off the coast of Spain in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, Torrejón became the focal point for the search for the missing nuclear weapons.
  Military Airlift Command (MAC) operated the 625th Military Airlift Support Squadron at Torrejón to function as a major terminal for MAC transatlantic flights.
  In 1970 the 401st TFW upgraded to the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II. In September 1973, an equipment change to the F-4C model took place, then in 1979 to the F-4D.
  As a result of the withdrawal of USAF forces in South Vietnam, on 15 July 1971 the 307th and 353d fighter squadrons were returned to their home bases, and the 612th and 614th TFSs were assigned to Torrejón. Also in 1972, individual squadron tail codes were eliminated and "TJ" became the tail code for all 401st TFW aircraft.
  On 31 December 1976 the 98th Strategic Wing was inactivated with its air refueling mission being taken over by the 306th Strategic Wing, based at Ramstein Air Base West Germany.
  The 401st transitioned to the new General Dynamics Block 15 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon beginning with the first aircraft deliveries on 5 February 1983. The wing reached full F-16 operational capability on 1 January 1985. The F-16A/B models were upgraded to the Block 30 F-16C/D beginning in late 1987, with all aircraft replaced by September 1988.
  Operational squadrons were:
  612th Tactical Fighter Squadron (blue tail stripe)
  613th Tactical Fighter Squadron (yellow tail stripe)
  614th Tactical Fighter Squadron (red tail stripe)
caption: Three EF-18 of the Ala 12 at Torrejón
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