47th Fighter Squadron The 47th Fighter Squadron ( 47 FS ) is part of the 917th Fighter Group at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana , and falls under the operational control of the 442nd Fighter Wing , Whiteman Air Force Base , Missouri . Mission . The 47 FS conducts advanced A - 10 Thunderbolt II training . History . World War II . The 47th Fighter Squadron was activated on 1 December 1940 , as the 47th Pursuit Squadron , one of three squadrons assigned to the 15th Pursuit Group , Wheeler Field , territory of Hawaii . The squadron also flew missions from Hawaiian stations of Bellows , Haleiwa and Mokuleia Fields , as well as Barking Sands . The 47th Pursuit Squadron participated in numerous campaigns from 1940 to 1945 , flying P - 10 , P - 26 , P - 36 , P - 47 , and P - 51 aircraft . The squadron was credited with shooting down eight Japan ese aircraft on 7 December 1941 , before being inactivated on 15 October 1946 , at Wheeler Field . Air Defense Command . On 1 December 1952 , the 47th was re - designated the 47th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and was activated at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport , New York . Assigned to the 4708th Defense Wing under Air Defense Command , the squadron flew F - 47 aircraft . In February 1953 the 47th was reassigned to the 518th Air Defense Group , flying F - 84F Thunderstreak jet aircraft ; upgraded to the F - 86D Sabre Interceptor in September 1953 . In 1957 began re - equipping with the North American F - 86L Sabre , an improved version of the F - 86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment , or SAGE computer - controlled direction system for intercepts . The service of the F - 86L destined to be quite brief , since by the time the last F - 86L conversion was delivered , the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors . In May 1958 the Sabres were replaced by F - 102 Delta Dagger s . On 1 July 1960 , the 47th was again inactivated . Tactical Air Command . The summer of 1962 brought two significant changes to the 47th : The squadron was reactivated as the 47th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was returned to Tactical Air Command . Assigned to the 15th Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida , the 47th flew F - 84 and F - 4 Phantom II aircraft . In July 1965 , the 47th deployed to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base , Thailand , and compiled 1 , 743 combat missions over Southeast Asia . The squadron returned to MacDill on 27 November 1965 , and converted from a training mission to a combat training mission before being inactivated on 2 July 1971 . On 1 October 1973 the squadron was reactivated as the 47th Tactical Fighter Squadron , under the 917th Tactical Fighter Group at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana . The 47th flew A - 37 Dragonfly aircraft until 1 October 1980 , when A - 37s were phased out and replaced with the A - 10 Thunderbolt II . Air Combat Command . In December 1993 , August 1994 , and May 1995 , the squadron deployed to Aviano Air Base , Italy , to support the United Nations ’ no - fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina . In May 1996 the squadron deployed for the fourth time to Aviano , this time under the auspices of Operation Decisive Edge . The end result was a total of 501 sorties flown by the 47th from 1993 to 1996 as part of the NATO peacekeeping effort . On 7 October 1996 , the 47th ' s mission officially changed from combat to A - 10 pilot training . Since that time they have participated in Operation Century Eagle 1999 & 2001 , Saguaro Patriot 2001 , Patriot Claw 2001 and Patriot Buccaneer 2002 . During the first tactical and conventional gunnery competition open to A - 10s , Hawgsmoke 2000 , and the 47th took First Place for Top Hawgsmoke Tactical Unit , Top Overall Pilot and Top Overall Tactical Pilot . Then during the next Hawgsmoke competition in 2002 , they won Top A - 10 Squadron in the world . Modern era . In June 2003 , the 47 FS deployed to Combat Readiness Training Center , Gulfport , Mississippi , for Operation Patriot Pursuit . In April 2004 , the 47 FS hosted Hawgsmoke 2004 at the England Air Park , Alexandria , Louisiana . There were 18 A - 10 teams from all over the world deployed to participate in the biennial A - 10 bombing and tactical gunnery competition . The 47 FS deployed to MacDill Air Force Base , Florida for Operation Patriot Gator the end of July through the first of August 2004 . In 2005 , the 47 FS deployed to McChord Air Force Base , Washington , for Operation Patriot Lightning , a close air support training exercise in conjunction with the Army National Guard . In 2006 under Base Realignment and Closure the 47 FS gained eight A - 10 aircraft and a number of full - time and part - time positions . In March the 47 FS won third overall out of 17 teams in Hawgsmoke 2006 at Davis - Monthan Air Force Base , Arizona . Also in March , they participated in Operation Atlantic Strike III , a joint training exercise held at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . The school graduated about 45 active - duty , Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve students per year . 1 October 2011 , the 47th Fighter Squadron converted from a training unit to a combat coded unit . January 2012 , the 917 WG split . The wing ' s B - 52 squadron , the 93 BS , folded under a new 307 BW and the 47 FS organized under the new 917th Fighter Group . The 917 FG organized under the 442 FW at Whiteman AFB , MO .