page_title: 31st Fighter Wing
section_title: Hurricane Andrew and Balkan Operations
hierarchical_section_title: 31st Fighter Wing / History / Hurricane Andrew and Balkan Operations
caption_attribution_description: English: The damaged control tower and base operations building on Homestead AFB, Florida, after Hurricane Andrew smashed into the base on 24 August 1992. (UASF Photo, 31st Fighter Wing History Office collection)
context_page_description: The 31st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe major command and the Third Air Force. It is stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization base run by the Italian Air Force.
  The 31st Fighter Wing is the only United States fighter wing south of the Alps. This strategic location makes the wing important for operations in NATO's southern region. The 31st FW maintains two F-16 fighter squadrons, the 555th Fighter Squadron
  and the 510th Fighter Squadron, allowing the wing to conduct offense and defensive combat air operations.
  In peacetime, the 31st FW prepares for its combat role by maintaining aircraft and personnel in a high state of readiness.
  The commander of the 31st Fighter Wing is Brigadier General Daniel L. Lasica. The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Matthew S. Lusson.
context_section_description: As part of the most extensive restructuring since the Air Force became a separate service, Tactical Air Command was inactivated and Air Combat Command was activated and the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated to its current name, the 31st Fighter Wing.
  On 24 August 1992 Hurricane Andrew swept across southern Florida, leaving extensive damage in its wake. Every building at Homestead AFB received some damage, many buildings were destroyed. The fighter squadrons evacuated most of the planes before the storm but were unable to return. In the aftermath, the Secretary of Defense recommended complete closure of the base, but in June 1993, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended realigning the base under the Air Force Reserve Command and inactivating the 31st Fighter Wing. The squadrons were assigned to other wings and the 31st began inactivation proceedings.
  To avoid losing the wing's heritage and history as the highest scoring Army Air Force unit in the Mediterranean Theater in WWII, the impressive combat record in Vietnam and number of significant firsts they produced in the early years of the Air Force, the 31st was chosen to move rather than fade into obscurity. On 1 April 1994, the 31st Fighter Wing inactivated at Homestead and subsequently activated at Aviano Air Base, Italy in place of the 401st Fighter Wing.
  The 31st received two new squadrons at that time, the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons, along with their Block-40 F-16s. The wing immediately become involved with events in Bosnia, part of the former communist country of Yugoslavia, in May 1994 as part of Operation Deny Flight. A year later, a massive search and rescue operation took place to extract Captain Scott O’Grady of the 555th FS from behind enemy lines. An HH-53 of the United States Marine Corps picked him up after he evaded capture for six days.
  In August and September, Operation Deliberate Force began and the 31st conducted air strikes against Bosnian Serbs conducting ethnic purges among the Muslim population of the country. Peacekeeping operations continued in the Balkans through the end of 2004, when the European Union assumed responsibility for the region.
  In 1999, USAFE activated the 31st Air Expeditionary Wing-NOBLE ANVIL (31st AEW) at Aviano for Operation Allied Force, the NATO operation to stop Serbian atrocities in the Province of Kosovo. Assigned under a joint task force, the 31st AEW, flew from Aviano and joined NATO allies in a 78-day air campaign against Serbia. From 24 March to 10 June 1999, the 31st AEW, the largest expeditionary wing in Air Force history flew nearly 9,000 combat sorties and accumulated almost 40,000 hours of combat service over the skies of Kosovo, Serbia and the rest of the Balkans in support of NATO operations. The wing accomplished much during Opearation Allied Force as the two permanently assigned flying squadrons, the 510th and 555th, flew more than 2,400 combined sorties and more than 10,000 combat hours.
caption: The damaged control tower and base operations building on Homestead AFB, Florida, after Hurricane Andrew smashed into the base on 24 August 1992.
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