45th Fighter Squadron The 45th Fighter Squadron ( 45 FS ) is a United States Air Force Reserve unit . It is assigned to the 924th Fighter Group and stationed at Davis - Monthan Air Force Base , Arizona . The squadron currently flies the A - 10 Thunderbolt . History . World War II . The history of the 45th Fighter Squadron goes back to 22 November 1940 , when the War Department constituted the 45th Pursuit Squadron ( fighter ) . The unit was activated at Wheeler Field , Hawaii on 1 December 1940 , where they served as part of the 15th Pursuit Group in defense of Hawaii . When the Japanese launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , the 45th PS suffered heavy losses , as did the other squadrons in the 15th Group . Two - thirds of the P - 36 and P - 40 aircraft at Wheeler Field were destroyed right on the ground . Earlier , the planes had been stripped of ammunition and fuel , and taken out of their protective earthen revetments because of potential for sabotage in these protected but difficult - to - see areas . Parked in the open , the planes were easy targets for the Japanese pilots as they strafed and bombed the field . Everyone on the ground scrambled for cover as the field was being hit , while at the same time pilots were trying to get their planes off the ground without too much success . However , Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth Taylor , two pilots from the 47th PS whose planes were at Haleiwa Field at the time , were able to get their Curtis P - 40B Tomahawks into the air soon after the attack began . Clearly outnumbered , they still managed to shoot down six Japanese planes . Meanwhile , Captain Aaron Tyler , commander of the 45th PS at Wheeler , ordered his crews to pull out all the undamaged planes they could find and have them fueled and armed . Less than a dozen aircraft were available , but the pilots who were selected to fly wasted no time boarding their planes . They quickly took off , hoping to tangle with the Japanese fighters . After searching the area for almost an hour , all they saw as they flew over Pearl Harbor were the burning ships and immense damage . By this time , the Japanese planes were long gone , having already headed back to their carrier at sea . In the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor , the pilots and ground personnel of the 45th PS had the job of cleaning up the mess at Wheeler Field . Among the first things they did was put the remaining aircraft back into their revetments . After moving their flight operations to different fields in Hawaii , the 45th PS was back in the air conducting daily air defense patrols over the islands . These long flights put a heavy toll on the P - 36s and P - 40Bs that the pilots flew , so they requested new aircraft . The pilots soon received new P - 40E Warhawks and the tricycled - gear P - 39 Airacobra . On 12 February 1942 , the squadron was redesignated the 45th Pursuit Squadron ( Interceptor ) . Although the 45th PS still had as its primary mission the conducting of aerial patrols , it was also given the duties of conducting combat training for pilots . Three months later , on 15 May 1942 , the antiquated term " pursuit " was dropped and the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter Squadron . Over the next two years , the squadron would be involved primarily with combat training , and the job of air defense would take on a secondary role . The 45th FS was sent to the Central Pacific in 1943 for combat operations against Japanese forces . Then , on 6 April 1944 , the squadron returned to Mokuleia Field , Hawaii , and began training for very - long - range ( VLR ) bomber escort missions . By this time , the pilots in the squadron were flying P - 47s . Later in the year they would acquire the longer range P - 51 Mustangs . In January 1945 , the 45th FS was ordered into combat , along with the other assigned squadrons in the 15th FG . They left Hawaii for Saipan in the Marianas Islands , staying there until the Marines on Iwo Jima could secure a landing strip . The first squadron to arrive at Iwo Jima was the 47th FS on the morning of 6 March , with the 45th landing the next day . They supported Marine ground units by bombing and strafing cave entrances , trenches , troop concentrations , and storage areas . Before the month was over , the 45th FS began strikes against enemy airfields , shipping and military installations in the Bonin Islands . Flying its first VLR mission to Japan on 7 April 1945 , the 45th FS provided fighter escort for the B - 29 Superfortresses that attacked the Nakajima aircraft plant near Tokyo . In late April and early May that year , the 45th struck airfields on the Japanese home island of Kyushu to hold back the enemy ' s Kamikaze attacks against the American invasion force on Okinawa . The squadron also attacked enemy troop trains , small factories , gun positions , and hangars in the Bonin Islands and Japan . During the summer of 1945 , the 45th FS was assigned to the 20th Air Force and continued its fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and other tactical targets . It continued to fly long - range B - 29 escort missions to Japanese cities until the end of the war . After the surrender of Japan , the squadron remained on Iwo Jima until 25 November 1945 , when it transferred to Bellows Field , Hawaii . On 8 February 1946 , the squadron moved to Wheeler Field , where it stayed until inactivated on 15 October 1946 . Air Defense Command . On 11 September 1952 , the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and was activated on 1 November 1952 , at Suffolk County AFB , New York . It replaced the 118th FIS of the Connecticut Air National Guard which was disbanded . The 45th FIS was assigned to the 519th Air Defense Group on 16 February 1953 , as part of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) . Their primary mission was in defending the American east coast from any Soviet threats . The war in Korea was still being fought at the time , but the main concern was still Russia and what it might do next . North Africa . The squadron had a short ADC commitment , however , as they were transferred to United States Air Forces Europe ( USAFE ) in French Morocco , North Africa . On 25 May 1953 , the squadron left Suffolk County AFB and flew all their aircraft over to Sidi Slimane Air Base , which was a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) base . Making stops along the way , the squadron arrived at Sidi Slimane AB on 28 May . The base was shared with rotating bomber groups that flew B - 47 Stratojet medium - range bombers . Now part of the 17th Air Force , the squadron was attached to Air Defense Division on 8 June 1953 . A short time later , on 18 September 1953 , they were assigned to the 316th Air Division . The primary mission of the 45th at Sidi Slimane AB was flying air defense patrols off the coast of Morocco and around the Atlas mountains to the east . Pilots also took turns on alert duty in case an unidentified aircraft was spotted on radar coming towards French Morocco . The squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter - Day Squadron on 8 October 1954 . The pilots in the 45th FDS continued to fly the F - 86F Sabre until March 1956 , when they received new F - 100C Super Sabres . Defense patrols were still carried out by the 45th until the end of December 1957 . On 8 January 1958 , the squadron was inactivated again . Tactical Air command . On 1 April 1962 , the squadron was redesignated 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron and activated a short time later , on 17 April . They organized on 8 May at MacDill AFB , Florida , a former SAC base now under Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) , and were assigned to the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing . They were transferred to the 15th TFW at MacDill on 1 July 1962 . The 45th TFS flew F - 84F Thunderstreaks for two years while at MacDill , then in 1964 received F - 4 Phantoms . The mission of the squadron was conducting combat crew training , and they took part in many exercises , flight operations , and readiness tests . During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 , the squadron temporarily reorganized as a combat - capable unit ready to strike Cuba if necessary . After the crisis was over , the squadron returned to its training mission . In 1965 , the 45th TFS was sent from their home base at MacDill to Southeast Asia . Under the command of Colonel William A . Alden , they arrived at Ubon Royal Thai AFB in Thailand on 4 April . The 45th was the first F - 4 Phantom II unit to arrive in SEA . They achieved another first a little over three months later , when on 10 July 1965 , two F - 4C Phantoms from the 45th TFS shot down two North Vietnamese MiG - 17s . This was the first U . S . Air Force aerial victory of the Vietnam War . Captain Thomas Roberts was the pilot of one of the F - 4s , and Captain Ronald Anderson was his backseat Weapon Systems Officer . Captain Kenneth Holcombe with Captain Arthur Clark as WSO piloted the other F - 4 . The 45th TFS left Ubon on 10 August 1965 , and returned to MacDill AFB . For the next five years they would serve as a replacement training unit ( RTU ) for F - 4 pilots headed to SEA . On 1 October 1970 , the 15th TFW was inactivated and the 1st TFW , which was formerly at Hamilton AFB in California , took its place at MacDill . The 45th TFS was assigned to the 1st TFW and continued their role as a training unit until they were inactivated on 1 July 1971 . On 1 October 1973 , the 45th TFS was activated and assigned to the 434th TFW at Grissom AFB , Indiana . For the next eight years they would fly the A - 37 Dragonfly , an upgraded version of the T - 37 trainer with more performance and armament capabilities . Air Force Reserve . In 1981 the squadron transitioned to the A - 10 Thunderbolt II , affectionately called the " Warthog " by those who flew it . On 1 July 1987 , the squadron was reassigned to the 930th Tactical Fighter Group at Grissom , which became the 930th Operations Group . It was an Air Force Reserve unit , and they still flew the A - 10 . On 1 February 1992 , the squadron was redesignated 45th Fighter Squadron . Known as the " Hoosier Hogs , " the pilots of the 45th FS flew their missions with pride up until September 1994 . The squadron was inactivated on 1 October 1994 . In September 2008 , the 45th FS will be activated and attached to the 917th Wing , which is based at Barksdale AFB , Louisiana . The squadron will fly the A - 10 and be assigned to Davis - Monthan AFB in Arizona . On 7 January 2010 , the unit was reactivated .