4th Fighter Squadron The 4th Fighter Squadron ( 4 FS ) " Fighting Fuujin s " is part of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base , Utah . It operates the F - 16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority , strike , and close air support missions . Mission . Conduct air - to - air and air - to - ground operations for daylight and nighttime missions . History . The 4th was activated at Selfridge Field , Michigan on 15 January 1941 and trained under Third Air Force as a tactical fighter squadron . Moved to several U . S . bases before relocating to Northern Ireland and England in 1942 . Equipped with the British Supermarine Spitfire , was assigned to Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign in late 1942 . Moved across Algeria and Tunisia flying ground support missions for American ground forces ; taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943 . Participated in the liberation of Corsica in 1943 ; then returning to Italy and being re - equipped with P - 51D Mustang s in May 1944 . Participated in Northern Italian Campaign , returning to the United States in August 1945 and inactivating . Reactivated as part of Thirteenth Air Force in Okinawa , assuming personnel and P - 61 Black Widow s of the inactivated 418th Night Fighter Squadron . Performed air defense role over Okinawa during Chinese Civil War on the mainland during 1947 - 1950 . Re - equipped with new F - 82G Twin Mustangs in 1949 , retiring war - weary F - 61s in early 1950 . Deployed flight of F - 82s to Japan in June 1950 as part of Far East Air Force mobility upon breakout of Korean War . Engaged in combat operations over South Korea during 1950 , until F - 51D Mustang s and F - 84 Thunderjet s arrived in the Korean theater . Then few combat missions from Japan , rotating flights of F - 82s from Okinawa during 1950 - 1951 , largely performing long - range weather reconnaissance flights over North Korea . Began receiving F - 94C Starfire jet interceptors to replace F - 82s in 1951 , retiring the last of its Twin Mustangs in late 1951 . Continued air defense mission of Okinawa until 1954 ; moving to Japan and taking over interceptor mission until 1954 flying first F - 86D Sabres then F - 102As . Also train pilots of the Japanese Self - Defense Forces , the Republic of Korea and the Royal Thai Air Force , and flew combat missions over Korea and Vietnam . In June 1965 , the 4th moved to Eglin Air Force Base , Florida , and was renamed the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron , becoming the fourth Air Force fighter squadron trained in the F - 4C Phantom II s . Deployed in July 1967 , to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base , Thailand , where they were designated as the 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron and immediately began combat operations . Reassigned in 1969 to Da Nang Air Base , Republic of Vietnam ; flying tactical bombing missions over North Vietnam as part of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing . Remained in Vietnam until United States redeployment from DaNang Air Base in mid - 1972 . The squadron attained the U . S . Air Force ' s last Southeast Asia aerial victory , downing a MiG - 21 on 8 January 1973 . In all the 4th downed four enemy aircraft in combat over Vietnam . For the next two years , the squadron remained at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base , flying cover for evacuations of Phnom Pehn , Cambodia and Saigon , Republic of Vietnam . The 4th performed strike missions in support of a recovery operation for the S . S . Mayagüez , a merchant freighter captured by Cambodian Khmer Rouge guerillas in May 1975 . In December 1975 , the 4th moved to Hill Air Force Base , Utah , and formed the initial cadre of the relocation of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing flying the F - 4D Phantom IIs . In March 1980 , the squadron began conversion to the F - 16 Fighting Falcon as the Air Force ' s first operational F - 16 tactical fighter squadron . The squadron upgraded to the F - 16C Block 40 in January 1990 . When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 , the 4th found deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Shield . Their deployment took 16 hours non - stop with 10 aerial refueling s ( five at night ) . This set a record as the longest distance flown non - stop in the F - 16 . The squadron dropped more than 2 , 000 tons of conventional munitions on strategic and tactical targets in Iraq and Kuwait during more than 1 , 000 daytime combat sorties while only two of their aircraft were damaged by enemy fire and none lost in combat . 2013 Sequestration . Air Combat Command officials announced a stand down and reallocation of flying hours for the rest of the fiscal year 2013 due to mandatory budget cuts . The across - the board spending cuts , called sequestration , took effect 1 March when Congress failed to agree on a deficit - reduction plan . Squadrons either stood down on a rotating basis or kept combat ready or at a reduced readiness level called “ basic mission capable ” for part or all of the remaining months in fiscal 2013 . This affected the 4th Fighter Squadron with a reduction of its flying hours , grounding all assigned pilots from 5 April - 30 September 2013 .