63d Fighter Squadron The 63d Fighter Squadron ( 63 FS ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit , last assigned to the 56th Operations Group , at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona . It operated the F - 16 Fighting Falcon aircraft , conducting advanced fighter training until its inactivation on 22 May 2009 . History . World War II . The 63d Fighter Squadron was constituted as the 62d Pursuit Squadron as part of the 56th Pursuit Group at Savannah , Georgia , on 15 January 1941 . The squadron immediately began training for its wartime missions under III Fighter Command , rapidly transitioning through the P - 35 , P - 36 , P - 39 , and P - 40 aircraft . On 7 December 1941 , the 62d stepped up to defend the Northeastern United States from anticipated enemy air attack while it converted to the P - 47 aircraft and prepared to deploy overseas , operating under the I Fighter Command , New York Fighter Wing in the early months of 1942 . It was re - designated 62d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 , and deployed to RAF Kings Cliffe ( AAF - 367 ) , England on 9 January 1943 . It was declared operationally ready two months later and flew its first combat missions 13 April . The squadron was given fuselage code " LM " and operated from several RAF stations during the war , flying the P - 47C Thunderbolt as an VIII Fighter Command bomber - escort unit initially for B - 17 Flying Fortress es and beginning in 1944 for B - 24 Liberator s attacking enemy targets in Occupied Europe . Flying escort for fighter sweeps ahead of U . S . bomber fleets , the pilots destroyed 167 . 5 enemy aircraft in the air and 110 on the ground . After the end of the war in Europe , the squadron demobilized in England , and was inactivated as an administrative unit on 18 October 1945 . Cold War . The squadron was reactivated on 1 May 1946 as a Strategic Air Command escort fighter group , being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force at Selfridge Army Air Base , Michigan . Initially equipped with P - 47D Thunderbolt s , being replaced with long - range P - 51H Mustang s , originally developed for Twentieth Air Force bomber escort missions in the Pacific Theater . The mission of the squadron was to provide fighter escort of SAC ' s B - 29 Superfortress bombers on intercontinental strategic bombardment missions , deploying to Alaska and Europe in this role . In 1947 , the squadron was upgraded to Lockheed P - 80C Shooting Star s , as SAC introduced the B - 50 in the late 1940s . The squadron trained to maintain proficiency as a mobile strike force , including bomber escort mission until transferred from Strategic Air Command to Continental Air Command on 1 Dec 1948 . The squadron began performing air defense missions with its relocation to Wurtsmith Air Force Base , Michigan and re - equipped with the F - 86A Sabre . The squadron was re - designated as the 63d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron on 20 Jan 1950 . It was assigned to Air Defense Command 4706th Defense Wing in February 1952 . In 1954 , the squadron was re - equipped with the purpose - built F - 89H / J Scorpion interceptor . In 1957 began re - equipping with the North American F - 86L Sabre . Moved to O ' Hare Air Reserve Station , near Chicago , the squadron maintained the air defense alert at O ' Hare until being inactivated in January 1958 . The squadron was reactivated 30 June 1975 , as the 63d Tactical Fighter Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . Its mission was to train pilots and weapons systems officers for the F - 4E Phantom II . It changed equipment to the F - 4D in 1978 , sending the " E " models to operational squadrons . F - 16A Fighting Falcons started to arrive for the 63d in 1980 and was active with the F - 16A / B by 1981 . Squadron aircraft carried the " MC " tail code , with a red tail stripe outlined in white . On 1 October 1981 , the squadron was re - designated the 63d Tactical Fighter Training Squadron even though it had always trained crew when it flew the Phantom II . Starting in 1988 , the 63d converted to the F - 16C / D block 30 . Modern era . On 1 November 1991 , the host 56th Tactical Training Wing at MacDill implemented the Objective organization plan , and the subsequent re - designation of units led to the 63d becoming simply the 63d Fighter Squadron , and being assigned to the new 56th Operations Group . The end of the Cold War led to the BRAC commissions , and the downsizing of the Air Force to a smaller organization . As a result , it was decided first to close MacDill AFB , although under political pressure later it was realigned to a new mission . Like its two sister squadrons , the 61st and 62d FS , the 63d Fighter Squadron was reassigned to Luke AFB , Arizona , but instead of getting block 25s the squadron took over block 42 F - 16Cs . The 63d was activated at Luke AFB on 25 February 1993 . The move was one of the starts to the process of making Luke AFB the main F - 16 Replacement Training Unit . On 14 January 2008 , the 63d Fighter Squadron started a course that caught a few aviation headlines . They began training pilots selected to fly the F - 22 Raptor , pilots who have never flown a fighter before . Up to this point F - 22 pilots were hand - picked from the existing fighter community . Once the training in the F - 16 was completed , the student pilots were reassigned to the 43d Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB , Florida where they spent the next two years training with the F - 22 . In February 2008 , it was announced that the 63d FS was to be inactivated as a result of BRAC 2005 that Luke AFB give up twenty - five block 25 F - 16s . Although the 63d FS flew the Block 42 it transferred its F - 16s to the 61st FS , which did operate the block 25 . The 61st , due to its seniority and historical heritage , would remain active . On 4 April 2009 , the 63d graduated its last class of F - 16 pilots at which time it continued the process to inactivate . Officially the squadron stood down on 22 May 2009 after 68 years of service .