History
On 23 September 1942 the 4 FG moved to its initial airfield at RAF Debden; however, the 336 FS moved to a satellite field at RAF Great Sampford. They conducted operations from there until rejoining the group at Debden on 30 October 1942.
Fighter aircraft escorted first bombing raid over Berlin, March 1944. On 21 June 1944, escorted bombers in the first shuttle bombing mission from England to Russia. Received Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for destroying enemy aircraft and attacking air bases in France, 5 March – 24 April 1944.
In 1946 trained in jet aircraft; participated in air shows around the US; began night flying in late 1947. Combat in Korea, December 1950-July 1953. Received second and third DUCs for combat in Korean War, 22 April – 8 July 1951 and 9 July – 27 November 1951.
Deployed to Florida in October 1962 during Cuban missile crisis.
From January–June 1968, deployed to Korea; tasked with operations associated with USS Pueblo incident. Combat in Southeast Asia, April–September 1972 and March 1973.
During the 1980s, trained in combat readiness in order to maintain worldwide commitment and air-to-air mission capability. Deployed to Europe under dual-based mission concept in support of NATO objectives, 1978-1985.
Participated in initial attack on Iraq, 17 January 1991. During the action, 335th squadron F-15E Strike Eagle tail # 89-0487 destroyed an airborne Iraqi MI-24 helicopter by dropping a laser-guided GBU-10 bomb on it. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123286330 During 1990-1994, shared quarterly rotation duties to Southwest Asia with 334 and 335 FS.
Since 1991, trained as combat ready fighter squadron prepared for rapid world wide deployment of fighter aircraft to accomplish air-to-ground, air-to-air, strategic attack and deep interdiction missions.
Deployed to combat areas in Middle East as part of Global War on Terrorism, 2001–present
On 18 July 2009, F-15E tail #90-0231 from the 336th Fighter Squadron crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing the two-man crew, Captain Mark R. McDowell and Thomas J. Gramith. The US military reported that the jet was not downed by enemy action.
Read more about this topic: 336th Fighter Squadron
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The history of a soldier’s wound beguiles the pain of it.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“Postmodernism is, almost by definition, a transitional cusp of social, cultural, economic and ideological history when modernism’s high-minded principles and preoccupations have ceased to function, but before they have been replaced with a totally new system of values. It represents a moment of suspension before the batteries are recharged for the new millennium, an acknowledgment that preceding the future is a strange and hybrid interregnum that might be called the last gasp of the past.”
—Gilbert Adair, British author, critic. Sunday Times: Books (London, April 21, 1991)