page_title: 354th Fighter Wing
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 354th Fighter Wing / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: F-100F of the 356th TFS over Aviano Italy
context_page_description: The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces. It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force.
  The wing replaced the 343d Fighter Wing on 20 August 1993 as part of a service-wide effort to preserve the lineage of the Air Force's most honored wings. Prior to its inactivation, the 343d was the oldest surviving air combat unit in Alaska, with a lineage dating back to the Aleutian Campaign.
  The 18th Fighter Squadron, whose history also dated back to World War II, remained active, but the 355th Fighter Squadron replaced the 11 TASS.
  Also changing names were the 3d Fighter Training Squadron, which became the 353d Fighter Squadron. The 353 FS and 355 FS had long associations with the new host unit.
  All 354th Fighter Wing Aircraft carry the tail code "AK". The 355 FS was inactivated in August 2007 as a result of Base Realignment and Closure 2005 action and all A-10 aircraft were reassigned to other USAF units. The 18 FS was redesignated as the 18th Aggressor Squadron and remains at Eielson, operating the F-16 in an adversary role.
context_section_description: On 19 November 1956, the Air Force redesignated the 342d Fighter Day Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina as the 354th Fighter-Day Wing. The 342d Fighter-Day Group's fighter squadrons were redesignated the 353nd, 355th and the 356th Fighter-Day Squadrons. The non-flying support elements of the wing were consolidated into the 354th Air Base Group. The total manpower force of the 354th FDW at the time of its activation was 84 Officers, 3 Warrant Officers and 911 enlisted men. The history, battle honors and colors earned during World War II by the 354th Fighter Group were bestowed on the new Fighter Wing and subordinate groups and squadrons.
  On activation, the 354th had several RF-80s and one B-26 Invader aircraft for training. On 15 March 1957, F-100D/F "Super Sabre" fighters were transferred to Myrtle Beach AFB from the 31st Fighter-Bomber Wing at Turner AFB, Georgia. Squadron identification of the 354th's F-100 aircraft could be determined by the tail color of the aircraft. The 353rd was red, the 355th blue and the 356th was green.
  25 September 1957, a fourth fighter squadron, the 352 FDS was activated with the 354th FDW from F-100 aircraft drawn from the three existing squadrons. Aircraft of the 352nd had yellow tails.
  On 8 July 1958, the 354 FDW the wing's name changed to the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing as part of a worldwide USAF naming reorganization. On 1 October 1962, the 354th Air Base Group support element was renamed the 354th Combat Support Group.
  The 354th was committed to NATO, and deployed often to Europe with its F-100s. After the Lebanon Crisis, starting in July 1958, Tactical Air Command began a rotation of combat squadrons to Incirlik AB, Turkey and Aviano AB, Italy in support of NATO alert commitments and Air Force weapons training deployments to the nearby Maniago Range.
  On 15 July 1958, the 355th TFS made the first deployment of the 354th TFW to Europe, deploying F-100D/Fs to Aviano AB, Italy for 100 days. The 352nd TFS deployed the next day (16 Jul 58) to stand by during a presidential overthrow in Lebanon.
  On 4 September 1961, eighteen F-100 jets from Myrtle Beach were deployed to Hahn Air Base in West Germany during the crisis over Soviet construction of the Berlin Wall.
  NATO deployments were made by all four squadrons on a rotating basis until 1965. A deployment was also made by the 354th TFW to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska during February–March 1963.
  During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, elements of all four fighter squadrons were deployed to McCoy AFB, FL. The 353rd deployed on 8 October; the 352nd, 355th and 356th deployed on 21 October. After the crisis ended, the 352nd, 355th and 356th returned to Myrtle Beach on 1 December, with the 353rd remaining at McCoy AFB until 20 January 1963.
  During the Dominican Republic Crisis of April/May 1965, the 354th deployed the 353rd TFS and more than 400 people and 18 F-100s to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, and San Isidro AB, Dominican Republic on 2 May. The squadron returned on 28 May.
caption: North American F-100F-10-NA Super Sabre Serial 56-3899 of the 356 TFS being aerial refueled over Aviano Italy, 1960
exif: {}