page_title: 1st Fighter Wing
section_title: From 1991
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Fighter Wing / History / From 1991
caption_attribution_description: English: OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO -- First Lt. Charles Schuck fires an en:AIM-7 Sparrow medium range en:air-to-air missile from an en:F-15 Eagle here while supporting a Combat Archer air-to-air weapons system evaluation program mission. He and other Airmen of the en:71st Fighter Squadron deployed from en:Langley Air Force Base, Va., to Tyndall AFB, Fla., to support the program. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Michael Ammons)
context_page_description: The 1st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va. where it is a tenant unit, being supported by the 633d Air Base Wing.
  Its 1st Operations Group is a successor organization of the 1st Fighter Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. The 1 OG is the oldest major air combat unit in the United States Air Force, its origins formed on 5 May 1918.
  The wing was initially part of Tactical Air Command being formed at March Field, California in 1947 and was one of the first wings to be equipped with the North American F-86 Sabre in February 1949. Briefly a part of Strategic Air Command in 1949, it was reassigned to Air Defense Command in 1950 and provided air defense of the Upper Midwest of the United States until being reassigned to Tactical Air Command in 1970. The 1 FW was the first operational wing equipped with the F-15A/B Eagle in 1976; and in 2005, was the first operational wing equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor air superiority fighter.
context_section_description: On 1 October 1991, the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated 1st Fighter Wing; the 1st Fighter Group was redesignated as the 1st Operations Group and reactivated as part of the wing. The 1st Fighter Wing assumed responsibility of three additional missions—air control, airlift, and search and rescue:
  —On 15 March 1992, the 74th Air Control Squadron was transferred to the 1st Fighter Wing. The 74th provided command and control of air operations for worldwide operations.
  —On 1 February 1993, the 41st and 71st Rescue Squadrons, and the 741st Maintenance Squadron were assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing. Stationed at Patrick AFB, Fla., the units provided search and rescue for NASA's space shuttle missions, and support of combat search and rescue operations in Southwest Asia. Additionally,
  —On 1 April 1993 C-21 operational support aircraft were assigned to the Wing with the establishment of Detachment 1, 1 OG. On 1 May, the detachment inactivated and the 12th Airlift Flight, with the same mission, activated.
  The 1st Rescue Group was activated as part of the 1st Fighter Wing on 14 June 1995, to provide operational control of the Search and Rescue mission.
  Two realignments ordered by Air Combat Command took effect on the same day, 1 April 1997. The most substantial one had been the 1st Rescue Group's reassignment to the 347th Wing at Moody Air Force Base. This move meant the loss of two types of aircraft, the HC-130P "Hercules" gunship, and the HH-60G "Pave Hawk" helicopter. When the Air Force decided to transfer 12th Airlift Flight to Air Mobility Command, another type of aircraft, the C-21, was removed from the 1st Fighter Wing's possession exactly four years after it had been assigned.
  What made the wing's valued participation in this contingency unique is the fact it sent no aircraft in support of it, exemplifying the diversity of the 1st Fighter Wing's comprehensive mission. More than 150 personnel from 11 units within the 1st Fighter Wing deployed to the European theater in direct support of Operation Allied Force and associated operations such as Noble Anvil and Shining Hope.
  Responsible for the worldwide mobility commitment to execute command and control operations, the 74th Air Control Squadron provided the largest contingent of 1st Fighter Wing personnel and equipment to Operation Noble Anvil. The 74th ACS set up their equipment outside Budapest, Hungary, to provide joint forces and theater commanders with an accurate air picture for conducting offensive and defensive missions. During Operation Allied Force, the 74th Air Control Squadron deployed to provide critical air control in the European Theater of Operations.
caption: 27th Fighter Squadron F-15C firing an AIM-7M Sparrow missile.
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