page_title: 18th Wing
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 18th Wing / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: F-105D 2-4375 12th TFS/18th TFW 18 May 1971 Kadena AB, Okinawa.
context_page_description: The United States Air Force's 18th Wing is the host wing for Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan and is the Air Force's largest combat wing. It is the largest and principal organization in the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.
  The Wing's 18th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 18th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II.
context_section_description: Since November 1954, the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena Air Base.  Over the past 50 years, the 18th has maintained assigned aircraft, crews, and supporting personnel in a high state of readiness for tactical air requirements of Fifth Air Force and the Pacific Air Forces. Known Cold War-Era operational squadrons were:
  12th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter (12th FBS was at Kadena AFB November 1954 – September 1967) F-86F, F-100D/F, F-105D/F/G
  44th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter (November 1954 – March 1971) F-86F, F-100D/F F-105D/F
  67th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter (67th FBS was at Kadena AFB November 1954) – March 1971) F-86F, F-100D/F, F-105D/F
  Flying the North American F-86 Sabres, the wing supported tactical fighter operations in Okinawa, as well as in South Korea, Japan, Formosa (later Taiwan), and the Philippines with frequent deployments.  In 1957, the wing upgraded to the North American F-100 Super Sabre and the designation was changed to the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing.   In 1960, a tactical reconnaissance mission was added to the wing with the arrival of the McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo and the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (Tail Code: ZZ) The McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
  Beginning in 1961, the 18th was sending its tactical squadrons frequently to South Vietnam and Thailand, initially with its RF-101 reconnaissance forces, and beginning in 1964 with its tactical fighter forces supporting USAF combat missions in the Vietnam War.  In 1963, the Republic F-105 Thunderchief replaced the Super Sabres.  Known Vietnam-era squadrons of the wing were:
  12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Tail Code: ZA, ZZ) (September 1967 – June 1972) (F-105D/F)
  Det 1, 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron (Tail Code: ZB) (F-105F/G)
  (Deployed at Korat RTAFB, Thailand, September–November 1970.  Redesignated as 6010 Wild Weasel Squadron and reassigned to 388th TFW)
  44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Tail Code: ZL, ZZ) (March 1971 – December 1972) (F-4C)
  67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Tail Code: ZG, ZZ) (March 1971 – October 1973) (F-4C)
  The deployments to Southeast Asia continued until the end of United States involvement in the conflict.  An electronic warfare capability was added to the wing in late 1968 with the reassignment of the 19th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron  from Shaw AFB, South Carolina flying the Douglas EB-66E Destroyer (Tail Code: ZT). The B-66s remained until 1970, flying daily over the skies of Southeast Asia.
  During the 1968 Pueblo crisis, the 18th deployed between January and June to Osan Air Base, South Korea following the North Korean seizure of the vessel. Frequent deployments to South Korea have been performed ever since to maintain the air defense alert mission there. The McDonnell Douglas F-4C/D Phantom II replaced the F-105s in 1971, and a further upgrade to the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was made in 1979.
  On 6 November 1972, the 18th Wing dispatched the McDonnell Douglas F-4C/D Phantom II fighters of 44th Fighter Squadron and 67th Fighter Squadron to the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan until 31 May 1975, to assist Taiwan ’s air defense, defend against aerial threats from China.
  The following are the units that the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing once stationed at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan：
  44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Tail Code: ZL)
  (6 November 1972 – 31 May 1975) (F-4C/D)
  67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Tail Code: ZG)
  (6 November 1972 – 31 July 1974) (EF-4C)
  In May 1971, the 556th RS was also transferred from Yokota to Kadena with Martin EB-57E Canberra aircraft (Tail Code: GT) to the wing. It inactivated in 1973. In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized C-130E-I. (Combat Talon) The RF-4C reconnaissance mission ended in 1989 with the transfer of the RF-4Cs to the 460th TRG at Taegu AB in Korea.
  Post Vietnam-era squadrons have been:
  12th Tactical Fighter (June 1972 – May 1978, February 1981 – October 1991)
  F-4D (June 1972 – July 1979)
caption: Republic F-105D-31-RE Thunderchief, AF Ser. No. 62-4375, 12th TFS/18th TFW on 18 May 1971. Noted in October 2003 at the Combat Air Museum, Topeka, KS and still there October 2006, this F-105 was the last of its kind in use with any US military service when retired from the Air National Guard in 1983. It was a static display for four years at McGhee Tyson ANG Base, Knoxville, Tennessee, prior to transfer to the Combat Air Museum in 1992.
exif: {}