68th Fighter Squadron The 68th Fighter Squadron ( 68 FS ) was one of the longest - serving Fighter Squadrons in U . S . Air Force history , remaining activated almost continually for 60 years . Known as the " Lightning Lancers " , the squadron pioneered radar interception while flying the P - 61 Black Widow during World War II . On the morning of 27 June 1950 pilots of the 68th Fighter ( All Weather ) Squadron flying the F - 82 Twin Mustang made history by achieving the first aerial kill of the Korean War . The 68th FS was most recently part of the 347th Wing at Moody Air Force Base , Georgia . It operated F - 16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions . The squadron was inactivated in 2001 . History . World War II . Established in early 1941 as part of the United States ' defense buildup after the breakout of World War II in Europe . Trained under Third Air Force , then deployed to the Southwest Pacific after the Attack on Pearl Harbor for combat duty with Fifth Air Force . Reassigned to Thirteenth Air Force and provided provided air defense of Tongatabu from , June – October 1942 with a mixture of P - 40s and P - 39s . Engaged in Combat in Solomon Islands , 1943 - 1944 using long - range P - 38 Lightning s ; moved to Southwest Pacific and flew missions over New Guinea and Dutch East Indies during MacArthur ' s island hopping campaign ; arrived in the Philippines in February 1945 and spent the remainder of the war clearing the Japanese from those islands . Far East Air Forces . Reassigned to Japan as part of the Occupation Forces , December 1945 although most personnel had been demobilized and returned to the United States . From 2 November 1945 to 1 October 1946 , the 68th was non - operational and became , in name only , part of the large occupational force stationed in Japan . Then , in October 1946 , the squadron began search and patrol missions and participated in exercises and maneuvers out of various bases in Japan flying the P - 51D Mustang . In February 1947 assumed the air defense mission of Northern Japan with P - 61 Black Widow night fighters assumed from an inactivated night fighter unit along with its personnel and equipment . Replaced war - weary F - 61s in 1949 with new F - 82G Twin Mustang s . Hurriedly engaged in combat operations over Korea , June 1950 as the first USAF squadron operational over war zone . Engaged North Korean Air Force aircraft and scored first aerial victories of the conflict . Replaced by F - 84 Thunderjet s for combat air patrols in July 1950 , engaging largely in long - range reconnaissance and weather flights over North Korea , 1950 - 1951 as F - 51D Mustang s used for ground support and jets for air superiority missions , also maintained air defense of Southern Japan . Also engaged in night - interceptor missions over North Korea . Twin Mustangs replaced by jet F - 94C Starfire interceptors in 1951 ; later F - 86D Sabre s in 1954 and F - 102A Delta Dagger s in 1959 . Began rotational deployments to Osan AB , South Korea in 1960 , providing air defense over South Korean airspace until withdraw from Japan in 1964 . Vietnam War . Reassigned to Tactical Air Command , re - equipped with new F - 4C Phantom II s in 1964 . Deployed to bases in Thailand in 1964 - 1965 flying air superiority missions over North and South Vietnam during early stages of the United States ' involvement in that conflict . Returned to George AFB and became a replacement training unit for F - 4 aircrews from February 1966 to October 1968 . The unit became nonoperational for a short time . Assigned to Florida in 1968 with TAC ' s control of Homestead AFB , but deployed to South Korea in 1968 in the wake of the Pueblo Crisis . Returned to the United States in late 1969 ; leaving F - 4 Phantoms in South Korea and being re - equipped with F - 100 Super Sabre s in Louisiana before being reassigned to the Philippines in 1973 as an F - 4E squadron at Clark AB . Tactical Fighter Squadron . Returned again to the United States with TAC ' s activation at Moody AFB , GA in 1975 . Flew F - 4Es and deployed overseas in February 1985 to Panama to take part in exercise Kindle Liberty . It regularly deploys to Nellis AFB , NV , for intensive Red Flag and Green Flag mock combat exercises , then in 1987 being re - equipped with F - 16C / D Falcons . It deployed aircraft and personnel to Saudi Arabia from , 26 June – 22 December 1991 . In 1999 the 68th conducted two deployments to Al Jaber Air Base Kuwait in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH . During the two deployments the Lancers flew 460 combat sorties dropping their first bombs in combat since the Vietnam War . The 68th was credited with the destruction of numerous 57 and 100 MM AAA guns , radar / cable relay stations , ammunition storage facilities , and surface to air missile sites . Of particular note ; during the first deployment the 68th delivered 14 GBU - 12 and 6 GBU - 10 laser - guided bombs ( LGBs ) on Iraqi targets with a perfect 100 percent hit rate for the entire rotation , a US Air Force record . Inactivated in 2001 as part of realignment at Moody .