22d Fighter Squadron The 22d Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 52d Operations Group and stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base , Germany . It was inactivated on 13 August 2010 . History . World War II . Antilles Air Command . The 22d Pursuit Squadron ( Interceptor ) was constituted on 22 December 1939 , at Langley Field , Virginia . Flying the P - 36 Hawk , The squadron was one of several deployed to the Caribbean ( later Antilles Air Command ) and being stationed on bases established as part of the 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement with Great Britain . The squadron left from Norfolk , Virginia on 1 February 1940 with several others bound for Puerto Rico aboard the USAT Chateau Thierry from Norfolk for what turned into 29 months of overseas service , taking station at Ponce ( later Losey Field ) on 6 January 1941 . After its arrival at Ponce , the Squadron converted from the P - 36A to P - 40 Warhawk . After the Pearl Harbor Attack on 7 December 1941 , the Squadron was placed on 24 hour alert status and , the Squadron ' s P - 40E ' s were flown to Howard Field , in the Panama Canal Zone to reinforce the defense units of the Panama Canal . The squadron returned to Ponce without aircraft , and upon their return , the squadron received some Bell P - 39D Aircobra s which were flown to Puerto Rico from the United States which joined the single example which had been on hand since at least June 1941 . On 13 December , the unit Headquarters moved from Ponce to Vega Baja Field , an auxiliary aerodrome in Puetro Rico , to provide better interception coverage for the island . Operations during most of the remainder of 1942 are vague , but involved very extensive over - water flying and many scrambles in response to reported U - Boat sightings , the vast majority of which turned up negative . A detachment of three P - 39Ds was operating at Beane Field , St . Lucia by 28 February 1942 while the detachment at Waller Field . The unit was redesignated as the 22d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 . On 2 September 1942 , a detachment of the 32d Fighter Squadron which had been stationed at Curacao and Aruba was transferred outright to the 22d Fighter Squadron , but continued on at their stations on detached assignment . The detachment at Aruba was further attached to the 12th Bombardment Squadron and the detachment at Curacao was attached to the 59th Bombardment Squadron . The larger 22d Fighter Squadron detachment in Trinidad engaged in extensive anti - submarine activities . With the Navy taking over the antisubmarine mission , the Squadron was redeployed back to the United States , moving to Morrison Field , Florida by 27 May 1943 . Ninth Air Force . Transferred to III Fighter Command in June 1943 , began training for deployment to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) as a P - 47 Thunderbolt fighter - bomber squadron . Deployed to England in April 1944 as part of IX Fighter Command . Initial missions included strafing and dive - bombing armored vehicles , trains , bridges , buildings , factories , troop concentrations , gun emplacements , airfields , and other targets in preparation for the invasion of Normandy . The squadron also flew some escort missions with Eighth Air Force Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B - 24 Liberator strategic bombers . On D - Day the squadron patrolled the air over the landing zones and by flying close - support and interdiction missions . Moved to its Advanced Landing Ground at Brucheville Field , France ( A - 16 ) in July , then eastward as ground forces advanced on the continent . Operations supported the breakthrough at Saint - Lô in July and the thrust of U . S . Third Army toward Germany in August and September as part of the 303d Fighter Wing , XIX Tactical Air Command . In October , the squadron moved into Belgium to support U . S . Ninth Army . Participated in the Battle of the Bulge during December 1944 and January 1945 by flying armed reconnaissance and close - support missions . Aided U . S . First Army ' s push across the Roer River in February 1945 . Supported operations at the Remagen bridgehead and during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March . By V - E Day , the squadron was based at Kassel / Rothwesten airfield , Germany ( ALG R - 12 ) , where it remained until February 1946 as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe Army of Occupation . In February , the unit was transferred , without personnel or equipment to Bolling Field , Washington , D . C where it was inactivated as a paper unit . Bitburg Air Base . Re - activated in October 1946 under Caribbean Air Command in the Canal Zone , returning to its prewar mission of the defense of the Panama Canal . The squadron conducted air defense training missions for the next two years initially with P - 47 ' s . The squadron upgraded to jet aircraft in December 1947 with the arrival of the Lockheed F - 80 Shooting Star . As a result of the Berlin Blockade and other Cold War tensions in Europe , the squadron was deployed to Germany and was reassigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe during August 1948 , becoming part of the third F - 80 jet group assigned to USAFE . At Fürstenfeldbruck AB tactical operations included air defense , tactical exercises , maneuvers , and photographic reconnaissance . Upgraded to new F - 84E Thunderjet s in 1950 . Remained at Fürstenfeldbruck until 1952 when it was reassigned to the new Bitburg Air Base , west of the Rhine River near the French border in the Eifel mountains . In August 1953 , the North American F - 86F Sabre was introduced to the squadron , replacing the F - 84s . In 1956 , the squadron received the North American F - 100 Super Sabre , marking the first time a wing in USAFE flew supersonic jets . On 15 May 1958 , the squadron was redesignated as a Tactical Fighter Squadron because its missions had now grown to include delivery of tactical nuclear weapons . In May 1961 , received the Republic F - 105 Thunderchief and continued to carry on its Cold War mission of tactical nuclear weapons delivery . Twice in the early 1960s when Cold War tensions were elevated due to the 1961 Berlin Wall crisis and 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis the squadron rose to a high level of alert . Was upgraded to the F - 4 Phantom II in 1966 . The squadron was upgraded to the McDonnell Douglas F - 15A Eagle in April 1976 In 1980 more advanced F - 15Cs and F - 15Ds would replace the original F - 15As . Throughout the 1970s and 1980s , the squadron conducted routine training missions however the outbreak of the 1990 – 91 Gulf War put the F - 15s of Bitburg into the heart of the conflict . The squadron ' s pilots and aircraft engaged in combat operations during Operation Desert Storm . Not a single F - 15 aircraft was lost in combat during the war . On 13 March 1991 , the deployed squadron returned to Bitburg AB . Spangdahlem Air Base . As part of the drawdown at Bitburg Air Base , the unit ' s F - 15s were sent to RAF Lakenheath , England , in the spring of 1994 . The squadron was transferred to Spangdahlem Air Base , Germany , on 1 April 1994 , to become the new standard of the former 480th Fighter Squadron . The squadron currently flies the Block 50 F - 16CJ , the Air Force ' s latest version of the Fighting Falcon . In 1998 , the 22d transitioned from a primary general - purpose air interdiction squadron to its new primary mission as a " Wild Weasel " unit performing suppression of enemy air defenses ( SEAD ) . The squadron ' s most current version of the F - 16 , outfitted with the high - speed anti - radiation missiles ( HARM ) , GPS guided - inertial aided munitions , and the HARM targeting system ( HTS ) pod , is a lethal platform against enemy air defense systems . Peacekeeping operations . The 22d was quickly put into combat with its new capability when it deployed to Operation Northern Watch in January 1999 , and engaged Iraqi radars with 12 HARMs while protecting coalition assets during heightened tensions with Iraq . After three months flying Operations Northern Watch missions , the squadron was retasked and returned to Spangdahlem Air Base where they flew combat missions into northern Yugoslavia protecting F - 117s and B - 2 s striking key military targets in and around Belgrade , Yugoslavia , in support of Operation Allied Force . The pilots of the 22d flew combat missions over Yugoslavia and fired 202 HARMs at Serbian radars . In addition , the squadron performed its secondary and tertiary missions , employing 16 MK - 84s on key military targets while providing air superiority . In December 2000 to March 2001 , the squadron was assigned to Air Expeditionary Force 9 . It regularly flew combat missions in support of Operations Northern and Southern Watch . Operation Enduring Freedom . In response to U . S . presidential directives , following the 11 September attacks 22d provided fighter escort to C - 17 aircraft over Afghanistan during humanitarian relief missions , within 100 hours of notification , as part of Operation Enduring Freedom . This effort served as the template for USAFE ' s Euro Lightning operations concept . Operation Iraqi Freedom . In January 2003 , the squadron forward deployed as the 22d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to Southwest Asia in support of U . S . Central Command and flew combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom . The squadron played a key role during the 27 - day air war by fulfilling its " Wild Weasel " mission of suppressing enemy air defenses and destroying Iraqi radar sites . In April 2010 20 F - 16Cs were flown from Spangdahlem to the 148th Fighter Wing , Minnesota Air National Guard , one F - 16 was transferred to Edwards Air Force Base , California . All aircraft were from the 22d Fighter Squadron . As a result of the drawdown of F - 16s , the 22d and 23rd Fighter Squadrons were inactivated on 13 August 2010 and formed the a single " new " squadron , the 480th Fighter Squadron .