561st Fighter Squadron The 561st Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron , being last assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Nellis Air Force Base , Nevada . It was inactivated on 1 October 1996 . The 561st FS was the last United States Air Force unit to fly the F - 4 Phantom II on operational missions . The last F - 105 shot down in the Vietnam War was from the 561st . History . World War II . Activated in 1942 as a B - 17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber squadron . Trained under II Bomber Command in Idaho , Utah and in Iowa . Deployed to Eighth Air Force in England , June 1943 at RAF Knettishall ( AAF - 136 ) , England . Entered combat in June 1943 by attacking an aircraft factory in Amsterdam . The squadron functioned primarily as a strategic bombardment Organization in the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) until the war ended . Targets included industries , naval installations , oil storage plants , refineries , and communications centers in Germany , France , Poland , Belgium , Norway , Romania , and the Netherlands . The squadron attacked many significant enemy targets , including aircraft factories in Kassel , Reims , and Brunswick ; airfields in Bordeaux , Paris , and Berlin ; naval works at La Pallice , Emden , and Kiel ; chemical industries in Ludwigshafen ; ball - bearing plants in Schweinfurt ; and marshalling yards in Brussels , Osnabrück , and Bielefeld . Operations also included support and interdictory missions . Helped prepare for the invasion of Normandy by attacking military installations in France , and on D - Day struck coastal guns , field batteries , and transportation . Continued to support ground forces during the campaign that followed , hitting such objectives as supply depots and troop concentrations . Bombed in support of ground forces at Saint - Lô in July 1944 and at Caen in August . Covered the airborne assault on the Netherlands in September 1944 by attacking military installations and airfields at Arnhem . Aided the final drive through Germany during the early months of 1945 by striking targets such as marshalling yards , rail bridges , and road junctions . Demoblized in England after V - E Day , aircraft flying back to the United States throughout the summer of 1945 , station personnel sailing on the Queen Elizabeth from Greenock on 5 August 1945 , and arrived in New York on 11 August 1945 . A skeleton unit of the squadron ws established at Sioux Falls AAFd , South Dakota , and inactivated there on 28 August 1945 . Cold War . The unit was active in the organized reserve from June 1947 to June 1949 , being stationed first at Orchard Place Airport in Park Ridge , Illinois , and later at Gen . Mitchell Field in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . In November 1953 , the 561st Fighter - Bomber Squadron started flying F - 86 Sabre s at Clovis Air Force Base in New Mexico . The entire wing shipped to Europe during November 1954 . Never out of action , the crisis in the Suez Canal area and the takeover of Hungary in 1956 provided flying time for the crews of the 561st out of Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in Germany . After the squadron completed transition training and became combat ready in F - 100 Super Sabre s , it was inactivated on 10 December 1957 . Vietnam War . The life of the 561st was resumed when the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing ( the famous Flying Tigers ) renumbered its squadrons the 560th , 561st , 562d , and 563d Tactical Fighter Squadrons . The 561st , 562nd and 563rd deployed to SEA in 1965 , the 561st being assigned to Takhli in Thailand and Da Nang in South Vietnam . " Wild Weasel " operations became the squadron ’ s primary mission in mid - 1970 , when the squadron exchanged its F - 105 B / D models for F - 105 / Gs . On 4 April 1972 General Giap launched a three - pronged attack into South Vietnam with 200 , 000 troops and in April 1972 , the 561st was deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand from McConnell AFB in Kansas immediately following a mobility alert . With only 69 , 000 American troops left on the ground in Vietnam , the US turned heavily towards air power . In his novel " Lawrence of Vietnam " Michael M . Peters , who served with the 561st , wrote " That ' s what war is like , you ' re heading towards hell , death and damnation and you ' re in a hurry to get there " . Throughout Linebacker I and Linebacker II , the 561st flew over 1 , 900 combat sorties accumulating nearly 6 , 000 combat hours , and was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat " V " for valor , a very rare award . The 561st also received the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation . Of the 200 , 000 invading North Vietnamese troops , 40 , 000 were killed , the North Vietnamese retreated back across the border and General Giap ( who had defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu ) was defeated by the US Air Force and was relieved of command . From 18 Dec . to 29 Dec . of 1972 the Christmas bombing ( humorously called by the Americans the " Twelve Days of Christmas " ) forced the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table where they were made to sign The Paris Peace Accords , thus ending the war . A plane from the 561st was the last F - 105 shot down in the Vietnam War ( F - 105G , 63 - 8359 ) ; it was hit by a SAM on 16 November 1972 ; the crew was rescued . The casualty rate for all Wild Weasel aircraft over the course of the Vietnam War was 63 % . Of the 12 F - 105G ' s assigned to the 561st during this time , four were shot down and one was lost to operational accident . One of the surviving aircraft from the original 12 airplanes of the squadron , S / N 63 - 8320 , is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force ; this plane is credited with three MiG kills in the Vietnam War . Wild Weasels became so effective in the Vietnam War that 90 % of North Vietnamese radar sites would turn off if Wild Weasels were in the vicinity . On 1 July 1973 , the 561st moved to George Air Force Base and joined the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing . The 561st transitioned from the F - 105 / G when the base received its first shipment of the F - 4G Advanced Wild Weasel in 1978 . Modern era . In August 1990 , the Wild Weasels deployed to Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain and during Operation Desert Storm flew over 2 , 400 sorties logging more than 8 , 000 combat hours . Inactivated at George AFB after the war , and reactivated at Nellis Air Force Base on 1 February 1993 , the 561st soon deployed to Incirlik Air Base in support of Operation Provide Comfort and returned to Southwest Asia at Dhahran Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia , supporting Operation Southern Watch and Operation Vigilant Warrior . In 1994 , the 561st became the largest fighter squadron in the United States Air Force . The 561st ' s presence over Iraq was continuous from just after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait . However , despite their mission over Iraq , the 561st was also employed as an " Aggressor " squadron during RED FLAG exercise s . With the retirement of the F - 4G Phantom II from the USAF on 26 March 1996 , the 561st inactivated and the SEAD mission was assumed by F - 16 s in different squadrons .