page_title: 4th Fighter Wing
section_title: Modern era
hierarchical_section_title: 4th Fighter Wing / History / Modern era
caption_attribution_description: English: KC-10 aerial tanker of the 68th Air Refueling Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
context_page_description: The 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit.
  The wing is one of two Air Force units that can trace its history to another country. The wing's 4th Operations Group had its origins as the Royal Air Force Eagle Squadrons. When the United States entered World War II, these units, and the American pilots in them, were transferred to the United States Army Air Forces VIII Fighter Command, forming the 4th Fighter Group on 12 September 1942.
  The 4th Fighter Group was the first fighter group to use belly tanks, the first to penetrate Germany, the first to accompany bombers to Berlin, the first to accomplish the England-to-Russia shuttle and the first to down jet fighters. The group was credited with the destruction of 1,016 enemy aircraft, more than any other American fighter unit, and produced 38 aces.
  The current commander of the 4th Fighter Wing is Colonel Donn Yates
context_section_description: On 22 April 1991, the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated as the 4th Wing, the Air Force's first composite wing. The 4th Wing incorporated under it all the people, KC-10 aircraft, and assets of the 68th Air Refueling Wing, a former Strategic Air Command unit.
  The 4th began a force structure change in 1994. The KC-10s were reassigned to Air Mobility Command bases in 1994 and 1995 and the F-15E formal training unit moved to Seymour Johnson in 1994 and 1995.  With the transfer of the KC-10s, aircrews, and support personnel to Air Mobility Command in 1994 and 1995, the 4th lost its status as a composite wing and was redesignated the 4th Fighter Wing 1 December 1995.
  On 1 October 1994, the 333d Fighter Squadron was transferred back to the 4th Operations Group, after a 29-year absence, from the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona to accommodate the training mission. The 333d was transferred to the 355th TFW while at Takhli RTAFB during the Vietnam War. The 334th FS began transitioning from an operational squadron to an F-15E training squadron in 1995, giving the 4th two F-15E training squadrons.
  During the Balkans crisis and 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the 4th Air Expeditionary Wing deployed over 700 personnel to Körfez Airport, Balikisir, Turkey in May, and completed a 2200-man tent city with an Air Transportable Hospital in six days.  Three days later, the Fourth was ready to receive F-15Es and F-16CJs to support Operation Allied Force (OAF) in Kosovo.  Although the aircraft were not needed in OAF, they were used to relieve overextended units from RAF Lakenheath.  In April 1999, the 336th FS deployed 4 F-15E's and support personnel to Incirlik AB, Turkey to participate in Operation Northern Watch.  The 335th FS replaced the 336th Fighter Squadron aircraft with 10 F-15E's and both squadrons combined, completed the longest continuous deployment by the 4th FW since Desert Shield/Desert Storm in December 1990.  Also in August 1999, eight F-15E Strike Eagles and 107 personnel from the 336th participated in COMBAT ARCHER,.  The 336th flew 99 sorties and expended seven air-to-air missiles.
  Calendar Year 2000 began with the 335th and 336th deployment of 22 F-15Es and over 350 personnel in support of exercise RED FLAG, 5 to 19 February.  Both squadrons performed Offensive Counter Air and Interdiction roles in a day/night high-threat scenario.  Additionally, the 4th covered the core unit responsibilities for seventy additional personnel from various base support agencies during RED FLAG, including the Deployed Force Commander and Deputy Deployed Force Commander.
  The 4th exercised as a 4th Aerospace Expeditionary Wing during a Phase II exercise for the first time in nearly two years.  The purpose of the exercise was for aircrew and support people to practice their war-fighting skills from a simulated deployed location.  The focus of the exercise was to practice aircraft launches and evaluate the wings "Ability To Survive and Operate" procedures in austere situations.  Specific ability to survive and operate procedures included, identification and marking of unexploded ordnance, protection of forces and proper wear of chemical protective clothing.
  In May 2000, aircraft and members of the 336th (Rocketeers) joined other ONW forces in actively patrolling the Iraqi northern no-fly zone.  The Rocketeers flew more than 60 combat sorties and dropped more than 69,000 pounds of ordnance.
  The 4th supported Exercise Roving Sands 2000 June 19 to 23, 2000, at Nellis AFB, Nevada.  Eight aircraft, 25 aircrew, and 147 personnel comprised the 336th team.  The Joint Theater Air and Missile Defense exercise consisted of both simulated and live operations conducted at multiple locations.
  In January 2001, the 4th Fighter Wing became the recipient of the Commander-In-Chief's Installation Excellence Award—receiving a one million dollar prize for quality of life and job enhancement.
caption: McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender AF Serial No. 85-0033 of the 68th Air Refueling Group. This aircraft is now with the 305th Air Mobility Wing, McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey
exif: {}