526th Fighter Squadron The 526th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 86th Operations Group , based at Ramstein Air Base , Germany . It was inactivated on July 1 , 1994 . History . World War II . Initially activated as an A - 20 Havoc dive - bomber squadron in the southeast , trained under Third Air Force . Was realigned to an A - 24 Banshee fighter - bomber squadron and re - designated from the 310th to 526th Fighter - Bomber Squadron in August 1943 . Was deployed to Twelfth Air Force in North Africa in May 1943 , being initially stationed in Algeria . Flying operations began 15 May from Médiouna Airfield , near Casablanca , French Morocco . Moved eastward supporting the Fifth Army with close air support missions . In the North African Campaign , the squadron engaged German positions in Tunisia . In July , initial elements of the squadron moved to Sicily . From the Gela West airfield , begin flying combat missions , supporting the 1st Division of II Army Corps . On 27 August , the squadron provided air support for the first Allied landings on the European mainland at Salerno , Italy . On 10 September , three days after the invasion of Salerno , advance echelons of the squadron moved to Sele Airfield , near the beachhead . Enemy shelling of the beaches caused considerable difficulty during the move , and the squadron did not fly its first missions until 15 September . Moved north through Italy during the Italian Campaign , supported Allied forces by attacking enemy lines of communication , troop concentrations and supply areas . In April 1944 the squadron attacked the German Gustav Line . It also attacked rail and road targets and strafed German troop and supply columns during late spring . The squadron was an active participant in Operation Strangle , the attempt to cut German supply lines prior to the Allied offensive aimed at rail and road networks , and attacking German troop and supply columns . While Strangle did not significantly cut into German supplies , it did disrupt enemy tactical mobility and was a major factor in the Allies ’ eventual breakthrough . During this period the squadron received P - 40 Warhawk s to augment its aging A - 36s , but the obsolescent P - 40s were only a stopgap measure . The squadron welcomed its first P - 47 Thunderbolt s a few weeks later , on 23 June . Moved to Corsica in July 1944 . From Poretta Airfield , the squadron flew bombing missions against coastal defenses in direct support of Operation Dragoon , the Allied invasion of southern France 15 August 1944 . Allied forces met little resistance as they moved inland twenty miles in the first twenty - four hours . Once the invasion was completed , the squadron moved back to northern Italy and continued its coastal basing by attacking enemy road and rail networks in northern Italy and , for the first time , flying regular escort missions with heavy bombers . The squadron also conducted armed reconnaissance against the enemy in the Po Valley region . The squadron continued combat in northern Italy until February 1945 , when it left the Mediterranean Theater and moved to Tantonville Airfield ( Y - 1 ) , France , in the Lorraine region , and operations shifted from targets in the Po Valley to those in southern Germany . The squadron ' s first mission to Germany – a cause of some excitement – was on 25 February 1945 , and by March most missions were flown into Germany against rail lines , roads , supply dumps , enemy installations and airfields . The squadron transferred from Tantonville to Braunshardt Airfield ( R - 12 ) , near Darmstadt , Germany , Flew its final combat mission on 8 May 1945 . Just after the war , the squadron performed military occupation duty in Germany , with personnel demobilizing throughout the summer . The squadron ' s last personnel were sent back to the United States from AAF Station Schweinfurt , Germany , on 15 February 1946 , with the squadron inactivated as an administrative unit in March . Cold War . The squadron was reactivated in the postwar era 20 August 1946 at Nordholz Airbase , Germany equipped with surplus P - 47 Thunderbolts from storage depots in Europe . Over the next several years , the squadron underwent several redesignations and several station assignments in occupied Germany . In June 1948 , the squadron was moved to Neubiberg Air Base , near Munich when tensions with the Soviet Union culminated in the Berlin Blockade . By 1948 , it was obvious that the piston - engine Thunderbolts would be no match for Soviet jet fighters , and in early 1950 the squadron was re - equipped with F - 84E Thunderjet s for air defense of the Munich area . With the arrival of the jet age in Europe , USAFE wanted to move its units west of the Rhine River , as its bases in the Munich area were just a few minutes flying time from Soviet Mig - 15 bases in Czechoslovakia . The squadron relocated to a new base , located west of the Rhine River near Kaiserslautern , West Germany in 1952 . Landstuhl Air Base opened for operations on 5 August 1952 , and the 526th Fighter Bomber Squadron arrived on 21 Aug . In April 1953 , the squadron completed its move to Landstuhl and was soon reequipped with the F - 86F Sabre Jet , the first unit in USAFE to fly the most modern American fighter . The F - 86F had been very successful as both a fighter and fighter bomber in the Korean War , and marked a quantum increase in the Wing ’ s capabilities . A year later the squadron was redesignated the 526th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and assumed a new mission of air defense for the central European region . For this mission , the squadron was re - equipped with the rocket - armed F - 86D Sabre interceptor which provided an all - weather capability . Re - assigned to the 86th Air Division and oriented for Air Defense of western Europe in 1960 . Re - equipped with the F - 102 Delta Dagger . On 14 November 1968 the 86th Air Division was inactivated . The 526th was assigned to the new 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Ramstein which replaced the 86th AD . With the phaseout of the F - 102 from Europe , the 526 FIS was redesignated the 526th Tactical Fighter Squadron ( TFS ) and begun converting to the F - 4E fighter aircraft . As part of operation " Creek Action " , a command - wide effort to realign functions and streamline operations , HQ USAFE transferred the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing from Ramstein Air Base to Zweibrücken Air Base , and the 526th was assigned to the incoming 86th Tactical Fighter Wing from Zweibrücken to Ramstein on 31 January 1973 . Continued to operate the F - 4E until upgraded to F - 16 Fighting Falcons 1985 . Supported numerous military units located in the area and participated in numerous exercises that provided the wing with air combat tactics training essential to their mission . Modern era . In 1994 the decision was made to change the 86th Wing from a composite wing to a wing devoted to intra - theater airlift , and the 86th Wing began to assume the airlift mission previously held by C - 130 Hercules aircraft at the 435th Airlift Wing at Rhein Main Air Base , Germany , which was slated for inactivation . With the influx of C - 130 personnel , the 526th FS was inactivated on 1 October 1994 , with its aircraft and personnel also being moved to Aviano AB , Italy , being assigned to the 510th and 555th Fighter Squadrons .