page_title: 8th Fighter Squadron
section_title: Holloman Air Force Base
hierarchical_section_title: 8th Fighter Squadron / History / Holloman Air Force Base
caption_attribution_description: English: 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron McDonnell F-4D-26-MC Phantom 65-0590 Holloman AFB, New Mexico. Aircraft was retired to AMARC as FP492 Apr 12, 1990. Still on AMARC inventory Jan 15, 2008
context_page_description: The 8th Fighter Squadron is an active United States Air Force squadron, assigned to the 54th Fighter Group Air Education and Training Command, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
  It currently operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, conducting initial training, transition and instructor upgrades training.
  The squadron have a proud lineage of aircraft and assignments. The origin of the 8th Fighter Squadron can be traced back to 1940, and since then, the squadron has served in several war and peace time assignments across the globe.
context_section_description: At Holloman, the squadron participated in Tactical Air Command tactical exercises and firepower demonstrations to maintain combat readiness. Also, the first "Tail Codes" to identify squadron aircraft were applied, rather than the traditional yellow colors of the 8th which had been used since the Korean War.   Initially "HC" was the tail code identifier for the 8th, however, in 1972, the Air Force issued AFM 66-1 which specified wing tail codes and the squadron's planes were standardized on the 49th's "HO" tail code.  However, a yellow tail stripe was applied to identify squadron aircraft.
  The 8th also retained its NATO commitment to return once a year to its "dual base" home in West Germany.  These deployments were known as "Crested Cap", and are listed belowi in the squadron station list. With the end of the Cold War and subsequent force drawdowns by USAFE, these annual exercises ended in 1991.
caption: 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron F-4D about 1970[note 4]
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