91st Tactical Fighter Squadron The 91st Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing , stationed at RAF Bentwaters , England . It was inactivated on 14 August 1992 . History . World War II . The squadron was activated in early 1942 under III Fighter Command in North Carolina . Initially trained with P - 39 Aircobra s , re - equipped with P - 38 Lightning s . Moved overseas , October 1942 – February 1943 , the ground echelon arriving in French Morocco with the force that invaded North Africa on 8 November , and the air echelon , which had trained for a time in England , arriving in North Africa between late December 1942 and early February 1943 . Began combat with Twelfth Air Force in January 1943 . Supported ground operations during the Allied drive against Axis forces in Tunisia . Patrolled the coast of North Africa and protected Allied shipping in the Mediterranean Sea , April – July 1943 . Provided cover for the convoys that landed troops on Pantelleria on 11 June and on Sicily on 10 July 1943 . Supported the landings at Anzio on 22 January 1944 and flew patrols in that area for a short time . Re - assigned to the China - Burma - India Theater ( CBI ) and moved to India , February – March 1944 . Initially performed training with P - 40 and P - 47 aircraft . Moved to China in May and became part of Fourteenth Air Force . Continued training and on occasion flew patrol and escort missions before returning to full - time combat duty in January 1945 . Attacked enemy airfields and installations , flew escort missions , and aided the operations of Chinese ground forces by attacking troop concentrations , ammunition dumps , lines of communications , and other targets to hinder Japanese efforts to move men and materiel to the front . Inactivated in China on 27 December 1945 . Cold War . Reactivated at Wheeler Field , Hawaii Territory in late 1946 . Equipped with P - 51 Mustang s and performed air defense of the Hawaiian Islands until 1949 . Was reassigned to the Tactical Air Command Ninth Air Force , being stationed in New Mexico . Re - equipped with F - 80 Shooting Star jet aircraft , trained as a tactical fighter squadron . Upgraded to F - 86 Sabre s in 1950 . Reassigned to Air Defense Command , becoming part of the Western Air Defense Force , being moved to Moses Lake AFB , Washington . In Washington the squadron ' s mission was the air defense of eastern Washington , including the Grand Coulee Dam and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation . United States Air Forces in Europe . Ordered to the United Kingdom in 1951 , mission to assist the Royal Air Force in the Air Defense of East Anglia , being assigned to the newly - refurbished RAF Bentwaters . Also operated from a dispersed station , RAF Shepherds Grove about forty miles apart . The squadron was one of the first Sabre Jet unit to be based in Europe , and the first to form an integral part of the peacetime air defense of Great Britain . In this role , the squadron came under the operational control of the RAF Fighter Command No . 11 Group during the actual defense of the United Kingdom , and for combined operational training . Under USAFE , the squadron came under the control of Third Air Force which coordinated its activities with the RAF . In October 1954 the mission of the squadron changed from fighter - interceptor to fighter - bomber operations , carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons . The squadron was charged with tactical operations in support of USAFE and NATO , with air defense as a secondary mission . To reflect this change , the unit traded in its F - 86s for the F - 84F Thunderstreak . Beginning in the fall of 1958 , the squadron was reequipped with the McDonnell F - 101 Voodoo . The F - 101 was configured as a fighter bomber , intended to carry a single nuclear weapon for use against battlefield targets such as airfields . The Voodos were equipped with Low Angle Drogued Delivery ( LADD ) and Low Altitude Bombing System ( LABS ) equipment for its primary mission of delivering nuclear weapons at extremely low altitudes . Pilots were trained for one - way missions into Soviet territory to increase effective range at some cost in negating pilot recovery . In November 1965 , the squadron received McDonnell F - 4 Phantom II to replace the Voodoos . Initially receiving the F - 4C this was later upgraded to the more capable F - 4D during late 1972 and 1973 . Began conversion to the Republic A - 10 Thunderbolt II in June 1979 . The A - 10 being a single - seat , twin - engine jet aircraft designed to provide close air support ( CAS ) of ground forces by attacking tanks , armored vehicles , and other ground targets . With the A - 10 , the squadron ' s mission changed to close air support and battlefield air interdiction in support of NATO ground forces . With the end of the Cold War in 1991 , the USAF presence at Bentwaters was gradually phased down . It was announced that the base would be closed and the squadron would be inactivated . Squadron was inactivated on 14 August 1992 .