Authors Note: I received at least six “WTF! You did the Army but not the Air Force orders of battle??” themed emails earlier this weekend. In the last one I was referred to as Benedict Arnold by a former squadron mate. So, since I had a bit of free time while recovering, I decided fair is fair. Here is the status of USAF combat wings and squadrons in Europe as it stood on D+13. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend.
| USAFE | |||||
| 17th Air Force | |||||
| Wing | Squadron | A/C Type | Base | Wartime Base/CMD | |
| 36th TFW | 22nd TFS | F-15C | Bitburg | ||
| 53rd TFS | F-15C | ||||
| 525th TFS | F-15C | ||||
| 50th TFW | 10th TFS | F-16C | Hahn | ||
| 313th TFS | F-16C | ||||
| 496th TFS | F-16C | ||||
| 86th TFW | 512th TFS | F-16C | Ramstein | ||
| 516th TFS | F-16C | ||||
| 52nd TFW | 23rd TFS | F-16C | Spangdahlem | ||
| 81st TFS | F-4G | ||||
| 480th TFS | F-16C | ||||
| 481st TFS | F-16C | ||||
| 26th TRW | 38th TRS | RF-4C | Zweibrucken | ||
| 32nd TFS | F-15C | Soesterburg | |||
| 3rd Air Force | |||||
| 10th TRW | 1st TRS | RF-4C | Alconbury | ||
| 48th TFW | 492nd TFS | F-111F | Lakenheath | ||
| 493rd TFS | F-111F | ||||
| 494th TFS | F-111F | ||||
| 495th TFS | F-111F | ||||
| 20th TFW | 55th TFS | F-111E | Upper Heyford | Bodo/ AFNORTH | |
| 77th TFS | F-111E | ||||
| 79th TFS | F-111E | ||||
| 42nd ECS | EF-111A | ||||
| 81st TFW | 78th TFS | A-10 | Bentwaters/Woodbridge | Sembach/4 ATAF | |
| 91st TFS | A-10 | Sembach/4 ATAF | |||
| 92nd TFS | A-10 | FOB | |||
| 509th TFS | A-10 | FOB | |||
| 510th TFS | A-10 | FOB | |||
| 511th TFS | A-10 | FOB | |||
| 16th Air Force | |||||
| 401st TFW | 612th TFS | F-16A | Torrejon | Izmir/ AFSOUTH | |
| 613th TFS | F-16A | Incirlik / AFSOUTH | |||
| 614th TFS | F-16A | ||||
Tactical Air Command (TAC Wings and Squadrons Deployed to, or Currently Deploying to Europe)
| 9th Air Force | |||||
| Wing | Squadron | A/C Type | Base | Wartime Base/CMD | |
| 23rd TFW | 74th TFS | A-10 | England AFB | Bodo/AFNORTH | |
| 75th TFS | A-10 | Aviano/ AFSOUTH | |||
| 76th TFS | A-10 | Denmark/ AFNORTH | |||
| 363rd TFW | 17th TFS | F-16A | Shaw AFB | Akinci/ AFSOUTH | |
| 19th TFS | F-16A | Akinci/ AFSOUTH | |||
| 30th TFS | F-16A | San Vito/ AFSOUTH | |||
| 31st TFW | 307th TFS | F-16C | Homestead AFB | Germany/4 ATAF | |
| 308th TFS | F-16C | Germany/4 ATAF | |||
| 309th TFS | F-16C | Germany/4 ATAF | |||
| 347th TFW | 68th TFS | F-16C | Moody AFB | Aviano/ AFSOUTH | |
| 69th TFS | F-16C | Hellinikon/AFSOUTH | |||
| 70th TFS | F-16C | Aviano/AFSOUTH | |||
| 1st TFW | 11th TFS | F-15C | Langley AFB | Bitburg / 4ATAF | |
| 27th TFS | F-15C | Bitburg/ 4ATAF | |||
| 71st TFS | F-15C | Bitburg/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 91st TFS | F-15C | Bodo/AFNORTH | |||
| 33rd TFW | 58th TFS | F-15C | Eglin AFB | Soesterburg/ 2 ATAF | |
| 59th TFS | F-15C | Lahr/4 ATAF | |||
| 60th TFS | F-15C | Denmark/ AFNORTH | |||
| 4th TFW | 334th TFS | F-4E | Seymour-Johnson AFB | Lahr/ 4 ATAF | |
| 335th TFS | F-4E | Lahr/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 336th TFS | F-4E | Lahr/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 337th TFS | F-4E | RAF Greenham Common | |||
| 57th FIS | F-15A | Keflavik, Iceland | |||
| 12th Air Force | |||||
| 388th TFW | 4th TFS | F-16A | Hill AFB | Comiso/ AFSOUTH | |
| 16th TFS | F-16A | Ramstein/4 ATAF | |||
| 34th TFS | F-16A | Hahn/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 354th TFW | 353rd TFS | A-10 | Myrtle Beach AFB | Germany/ 4 ATAF | |
| 355th TFS | A-10 | Germany/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 356th TFS | A-10 | Germany/ 4 ATAF | |||
| 27th TFW | 522nd TFS | F-111D | Canon AFB | RAF Sculthorpe | |
| 523rd TFS | F-111D | RAF Sculthorpe | |||
| 524th TFS | F-111D | RAF Sculthorpe | |||
| 67th TRW | 433rd TRS | RF-4C | Bergstrom AFB | RAF Alconbury | |
| 4450th TG | (??) | F-117A | Nellis AFB | RAF Alconbury |
Air National Guard (Wings and Squadrons Deployed to, or Currently Deploying to Europe)
| Squadron | Wing | A/C Type | Base | Wartime Base/CMD | |
| 101st FIS | 102nd FIW | F-15A | Otis ANGB | Akinci/ AFSOUTH | |
| 182nd TFS | 149th TFG | F-16A | Kelly AFB | Erhac/ AFSOUTH | |
| 134th FIS | 158th FIW | F-16A | Burlington IAP | Rygge/ AFNORTH | |
| 157th TFS | 169th TFG | F-16A | McEntire ANGB | Germany/4 ATAF | |
| 160th TFS | 187th TFG | F-16A | Dannelly Field | Vaernes/AFNORTH | |
| 141st TFS | 108th TFW | F-4E | McGuire AFB | Ramstein/ 4 ATAF | |
| 178th FIS | 119th FIG | F-4D | Hector Fields | Orland/ AFNORTH | |
| 163rd TFS | 122nd TFW | F-4E | Fort Wayne MAP | Erhac/AFSOUTH | |
| 194th FIS | 144th FIW | F-4D | Fresno Air Terminal | Rygge/AFNORTH | |
| 196th TFS | 163rd TFG | F-4E | March ARB | Hahn/4 ATAF | |
| 175th TFS | 114th TFG | A-7 | Joe Ross Fields | RAF Molesworth | |
| 166th TFS | 121st TFW | A-7 | Rickenbacker ANGB | Spangdahlem/ 4ATAF | |
| 107th TFS | 127th TFW | A-7 | Selfridge ANGB | Incirlik/ AFSOUTH | |
| 124th TFS | 132nd TFW | A-7 | Des Moines MAP | RAF Molesworth | |
| 125th TFS | 138th TFG | A-7 | Tulsa IAP | Souda/AFSOUTH | |
| 120th TFS | 140th TFW | A-7 | Buckley ANGB | Konya/AFSOUTH | |
| 188th TFS | 150th TFG | A-7 | Kirtland AFB | RAF Molesworth | |
| 112th TFS | 180th TFG | A-7 | Toledo Express AP | Konya/AFSOUTH | |
| 118th TFS | 103rd TFG | A-10 | Bradley ANGB | Germany/2 ATAF | |
| 131st TFS | 104th TFG | A-10 | Barnes MAP | Germany/2 ATAF | |
| 138th TFS | 174th TFW | A-10 | Hancock Field | Germany/4 ATAF | |
| 104th TFS | 175th TFG | A-10 | Martine Airport | Izmir/ 4 ATAF | |
| 173rd TRS | 155th TRG | RF-4C | Lincoln MAP | RAF Coltishall | |
| 153rd TRS | 186th TRG | RF-4C | Key Field | Incirlik/AFSOUTH |
US Air Force Reserves (Deployed and Deploying Squadrons)
| Squadron | Wing | A/C Type | Base | Wartime Base/CMD | |
| 89th TFS | 906th TFG | F-4D | Wright Paterson AFB | Incirlik/ AFSOUTH | |
| 465th TFS | 507th TFG | F-4D | Tinker AFB | RAF Marham | |
| 704th TFS | 924th TFG | F-4D | Bergstrom AFB | Spangdahlem/4 ATAF | |
| 303rd TFS | 442nd TFG | A-10 | Richards-Gebaur AFB | Leipheim/4 ATAF | |
| 706th TFS | 926th TFG | A-10 | NAS New Orleans | Norway/ AFNORTH |
Third World War 1987 
You’ll have someone wanting a navy listing now …
Not sure about the A7 units at RAF Molesworth – this was GLCM oriented in the 80’s as far as I know, with the runway / hardstands removed prior to this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I’m going to have to drop the Navy listing down here sometime soon.
The wartime base for A-7 units should’ve been listed as RAF Alconbury. Not sure why Molesworth was selected instead. The bases are located close to one another and you’re right about the runways and hardstands being removed from Molesworth back then. I’ll have to make a few changes to that later on this week.
Nice job catching that 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok good job love the blog . Been reading this for years . Have one problem with the Air Force units -Where is the 527th Aggressor Squadron .
I am sure a unit trained in Soviet tactics based in Europe would have had fun going up against Warsaw Pact . And as my Cousin flew in the unit during the time period
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Gordon. Thanks for keeping up on the blog all this time. 🙂
I kept the aggressors off because they didn’t have a wartime function, and doing some research on USAFE I couldn’t find any plans about what would become of the squadron once the shooting started. I’ll keep looking though. Ask your cousin, see if he knows 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve have a couple of books that suggest that the 527th AS would have come under the command of the RAF’s 11 Group in wartime. Being part of the defence of the U.K.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I’ve seen some research material pointing to that. I think it would’ve been a judgment call in wartime whether or not 11 Group would’ve absorbed the 527th. Very possible though
LikeLike
I’m not here yet (I was just curious about the orbats), but glancing, I see a mistake: the ag squads are all set to instantly go into battle:
1. The European aggressor squadrons immediately go into combat: if there is any downtime before the war AT ALL (like in your story), a few of the younger student flyers attached to them would get re-assigned from CENTAG or SOUTHAG to mainland US aggressor squadrons while
2. US mainland aggressors squadrons would immediately start taking on more fresh students while exchanging about 15-20% of their most capable pilots. This would be to A) exchange on a 1 for 1 basis with the least capable of the European aggressors and 2) overfill the squadron for battle.
3. I don’t know what the Alaskan squadron has planned, though.
4. Navy: Here I am out of information. I think but am not sure the Navy had a similar plan: I think the mainland squadrons kept most of their best and brightest to teach the filler classes (which would naturally overwhelmed with students in a war), but some would go to overfill their brother squadrons in Europe and Japan.
After this happens, the flow of pilots would reverse: the mainland ag squads would exchange well trained student pilots for combat experienced veterans a la WWII: the American pilot training section is fantastic because it keeps bringing back combat experienced pilots who desperately need a break and gives trainees the benefit of their knowledge. It’s why the United States ended World War 2 with more highly trained and experienced pilots than the rest of the world combined.
They would have been immediately thrown into combat after exchanging their least trained pilots.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s how it went after the first phase of OIF. Summer of ’03 saw a pipeline established to Nellis and Weapons School. A group of pilots, recently blooded and experienced, had their brains sucked so that all of the lessons they learned could be analyzed and used to improve tactics and doctrine at the time.
Works that way after most wars.
As for Alaska-based squadrons, the F-15s were Alaskan Air Command. They’d stay put. The A-10 squadron at Eileson might end up in Korea or Norway.
LikeLike
Order of battle charts are one of those things I began to like more once I realized how rare they actually are.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Me too. Especially the orbats and charts for specific historical periods like this one.
LikeLike
Loved seeing the list of aircraft types- reminded me of the airshows I used to go to in the lates 80/ early 90s. I remember being at Lakenheath in I think it would have been 91 or 92, after the Gulf War anyway, and it was the first UK public appearance of the F117. Loads of other US aircraft there too. Great times.
Cheers for the nostalgia,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lakenheath always puts a smile on my face, and happy thoughts in my head, Pete. My time there was special and undoubtedly some of the best years of my life.
I think that appearance of the F-117 was in 1992. You know Britain is during the summer months: Airshow Season.
Pass along any other air memories as they resurface! 🙂
Mike
LikeLiked by 1 person
I miss air shows in the early 90’s. Went to one at the local base a few years ago, wasn’t even close to the same. The wings C-17s, a C-5, some tankers, and an F-15 up from the Oregon ANG.
91 or 92 sounds about right. My sister was a toddler at the time and dashed under the rope perimeter of an F-117. Mom had a guard aim his rifle at her as she went under the rope to get my sister. Same year I almost fell off the ladder when a B-1B flew over. Thank you guy behind me for not letting me crack my head open.
Miss those days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I assume those early 90s airshows you’re talking about were at McChord?
Those sky cops don’t play games around stealth aircraft at airshows. I saw something similar when a mom chased after her kid and got a little too close to an F-22. I’m glad you didn’t crack your head open! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for the OOB for Europe. Which wings/squadrons are are in the Middle East/CENTCOM? Or did I miss those?
Put a few maps in this blog and this would make several great Osprey Campaign series books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope, you didn’t miss them. Later this month I’ll post the USAF orbat for the Gulf, PACAF, and Central America.
Not a bad idea. I’d need a mapmaker though. My attempts at creating maps has so far failed. I’ll keep trying though 🙂
LikeLike
last air show I went to the f15 f16’s where the new toys and the 177th were still fling F106’s I remember the change over in the mid 80’s to the 16’s Russia was fling Bears out of Cuba to she what they went up have gun camera footage around here some when the 106;s intercepted them on valentine’s day
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, I remember when the Jersey Devils were flying -106s. I was a kid back then but remember some of the air shows around that time at McGuire.
LikeLike
Great read and brings back memories!
Couple things I’d like to throw out there as a late 80s- early 90s USAFE alum. Everything is …as I recall…!
1. There’s substantial SAC/MAC assets to factor into airfield capacity. Alconbury has the SAC 17 SRW/95 RS with TR-1s occupying a substantial portion of specialized HAS and ramp space in the north side of the airfield (and the only Lockheed tech rep in Europe for certain passive sensors…) Mildenhall has the SAC 306th SW with RC/EC-135 and 9th SRW det with the SR-71. Fairford has the SAC ETTF and a dual tasked BW. Ramstein and Mildenhall both hold C-130 wings. Rhein Main is pretty much a MAC show. At one point there were news articles about the ETTF being moved to Greenham Common post-INF. Ramp, runway, etc were ready.
2. WRT the A-7s and other reinforcements. I can attest that Alconbury got crowded when just the ANG RF-4 squadrons came during the summer. However, in 88 ANG A-7s deployed to RAF Wittering (harrier base just north of Peterborough) and had also deployed to RAF Wethersfield (peacetime USAF RED HORSE squadron). There’s also Bentwaters/Woodbridge (can’t let that BX mall go unused!).
Molesworth is most definitely out- the airfield was gone completely.
3. I think there were also units going to Dutch and maybe Belgian bases. I later heard about F-4 and F-16 units going to Volkel, Kleine Brogel, etc.
4. USAFE also gets some host nation support. RAF regiment 6 wing rapiers provided shored in the UK at 3rd AF MOBs.
Hope this helps- definately not trying to sharpshoot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Afternoon, Amir. Glad you’re enjoying the blog! Welcome aboard. Thanks for your comments, they’re definitely a help, not a snipe. 🙂
1. Good point about Alconbury, SAC assets, and Trash Haulers. Dependent evacuation flights would’ve been going through the UK. I didn’t realize Mildenhall had a -130 wing back then. I’m a USAFE alum too, put in my time at Lakenheath in the early 00s. By the time I was there, Mildenhall was a pure tanker hub and still is. They talked about closing it down a couple of years ago but wised up and realized that would be a bad move. Alconbury and Molesworth close up shop this year. Might’ve even happened by now.
2. They would’ve had to spread the A-7s around England. There just wasn’t going to be enough room at Alconbury. Not sure why the plans mentioned Molesworth unless they planned to set up a temporary runway there.
3. Volkel was a big base. Definitely could’ve absorbed an influx of ANG squadrons. Not sure about Kleine and the rest back then.
4. Rapiers, and I believe HAWK batteries would’ve come in from stateside. Have to keep those airbases safe!
LikeLike
COBs, at least around 1987-1988, in the Netherlands were Vlb Gilze-Rijen (1st overseas deployement of F-117 after Desert Storm and Coronet base for F-15As), Vlb De Peel (up the road from Volkel) and Woensdrecht, with Soesterberg AB expected to host a second F-15 squadron. Especially Gilze-Rijen and Soesterberg were important, as both of them already had around 36 or so TAC-V shelters and plenty of dispersal space.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Valuable information. Thanks so much for sharing it. The only Dutch airbase I had the opportunity to visit was Volkel. Good base.
LikeLike
Can’t wait to see PACAF and Southern Air Division. I remember seeing OV-10s in Korea during the 80s and watching coverage of A-37s on AFN during Just Cause in 89.
Classic aircraft; hard to imagine them in same Aur Force as the F-117.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Seems like the A-37 was tailor-made for Central American operations. The OV-10…well she’s timeless. There are a few back in service now, believe it or not.
LikeLike
I read an article about the “new” OV-10s. I remember they had only come out of Sembach in the early/mid 80s. Given their losses in desert storm, I wouldn’t want think about being a slow fac on the central front.
Odd bit of Trivia is that the Ramstein 130s (permanently assigned) and all the assets at Rhein Main were MAC.
The 130s at Mildenhall we’re USAFE and made up of rotational detachments from CONUS, just like the ETTF at Fairford.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I guess the Broncos would’ve taken heavy losses. That was one reason they started looking at a two-seat version of the A-10 so a FAC-A’s aircraft would be more survivable.
Ramstein still has Hercs there now, I believe.
LikeLike
For a real way back experience, you have the sherpas (c-23?). I think they flew out of Germany, but they ran ring routes all around carrying hi-priority cargo, mail and pax.
(You could also hop one for a pass to Greece, Spain, or Italy if you had friends in ops and a supervisor who was good with you sliding out a little early😀!)
I could see them getting used the same way in a general war, but probably well back from the lines. I think they were a civilian cargo plane in lizard camo.
I think they didn’t survive the drawdown.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They lasted a while. The last Sherpa was retired in 2014 I think and for budget reasons. Too bad too, it was a useful aircraft. Saw a couple in Iraq, they were very useful there for short hauls.
Wasn’t Europe great for leaves? Every free weekend was spent exploring a new country. We did a lot of TDYs, and cross-countries too so places like Aviano and Deci were regular stops.
LikeLike
I know what you mean. Did a TDY to Akrotiri, Cyprus in 91 and another to Istres in the south of France. Never went to Deci, but Spanish hams and cheese used to always appear after one or two hogs declared an “emergency” on recovery from Zaragoza!
Of course, you could also be the lucky guy that pulled a det to Alhorn in the winter…
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL Whenever we came back the crew chiefs just knew we had goodies stowed away. Manchego cheese from Spain, fresh pasta from The Boot, or other provisions from elsewhere on the continent. We always hooked them up too, so they looked the other way in some cases when discretion was necessary
LikeLike
There was also NCOA at Upwood. I heard that got moved in the 90s. Maybe to somewhere like the ‘Heath or Mildenhall. Upwood was “isolated”. And it looked like the base from Full Metal Jacket.
LikeLiked by 1 person
After the Cold War a medical unit moved in there for a while. Not sure if the NCOA went to our patch of the woods but now it’s in Germany near K-Town I hear
LikeLike
Not about this but can you ex-USAF guys tell me if the South Koreans ever flew A10s? One of the story arcs in Red Phoenix has a Korean A10 driver who gets shot down behind enemy lines and choppered out after evading capture?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there was serious interest by the ROKAF in purchasing the A-10 but for some reason it never came to fruition. I remember seeing that in the book too. Maybe Bond was just surmising.
Good question though. Wish I had a better answer. If anyone else can shed light on this, please do. 🙂
LikeLike
It would seem like the perfect plane for what they have to face across the DMZ if things ever got hot in Korea. I guess the Koreans figured they’d leave those sort of tankbusting gun/cluster bomb-runs to the real experts in the USAF and concentrate their air assets on something else. Crazy to think that the North Koreans went through the Cold War never renewing hostilities but now in 2020 they might well decide to have a go on the bidding of their Chinese paymasters.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good bird for low threat environments. Could find a place in a new Korean conflict
LikeLike
In 87 there were ROKAF O-2s that sometimes came through, maybe to work with the OV-10s. Never saw a ROKAF A-10. I’ve been back since in the 90’s and the 00’s- never saw one and no ROK I worked with mentioned it.
I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded ditching some of their older stuff (F-86, etc) for A-10s in the 80s. They definitely had the infrastructure- highway strips would make great FOLs.
They story I heard from A-10 guys in later years was that the two seater was intended to sell to the south as a day/night indiction and counter infiltration aircraft. I think there’s a lot of stories about that single aircraft!
The air battle over the peninsula in 1987 would have been eclectic- a force encompassing the shiny new F-16s at the Kun to ROKAF Sabres facing everything from high end MIG-23MLs down to MIG-15s!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The two seater was the O/A-10. Would’ve been a great idea too. Great FAC-A concept. I think a couple prototypes were even built.
LikeLike
Just a quick aside, the O/A-10 was a (sort of) unofficial A-10 designation for Hogs equipped with smoke rockets, etc., dedicated solely for FO/FAC work; but they could be quickly re-tasked to CAS by dint of putting different things on their pylons, so it wasn’t a full designation. The two-seater was the N/AW A-10 (Night/Adverse Weather). Two were built, one’s on display I think at the USAF museum, the other at Eglin AFB in Florida. They should’ve been built, but the USAF has been trying to kill the Warthog since the day it was born; they sure as hell weren’t going to make better, more specialized versions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the A-10. Never enough to want to fly it though 🙂 And for that matter the A-10 is not a fighter plane in any way, shape, or form. It serves a valuable purpose though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I meant to come back to this, I hope I’m not too late, Mike, how is the F117-A organized? To what units?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The -117 unit was the 4450th Tactical Group. It was a real world squadron but mainly just for training and making the jet operational. In this timeline, the stealth fighters deploy to Europe as the 4450 Tactical Squadron. There are some aircraft left back in Nevada, but those may be heading to the Pacific soon
LikeLiked by 1 person
Remember a very pleasant flight from Kyiv to London in 2015 sitting next to a former RF-4C ground crew from Alconbury who’d served in the 1980s, from his tales there were times when it all got a bit real (even if Air Ukraine red wine may have embellished things).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bet his stories were interesting to say the least. Probably a combo of real and the Air Ukraine wine. 🙂
LikeLike