354th Fighter Wing - History - A-7D Corsair II Era

A-7D Corsair II Era

The 354th Tactical Fighter Wing was re-activated and transferred (without personnel or equipment) to Myrtle Beach AFB, SC on 15 June 1970, absorbing the resources of the 4554th TFW at Myrtle Beach AFB, SC. The 354 TFW was charged with combat crew training in T-33s and with becoming proficient in A-7D aircraft, with the first aircraft arriving in November 1970

On 1 November 1970, the 355 TFS was reactivated and was reassigned to the 354 TFW, being the first Myrtle Beach squadron to be equipped with A-7D's.

The 4456th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated as placeholder unit on 15 January 1971 to receive new A-7D aircraft. On 15 May 1971, the 356 TFS returned from Misawa AB Japan, and was reassigned to the 354 TFW, absorbing the assets of the 4556th TFS which was deactivated.

On 15 July 1971, the 353 TFS returned from Torrejon AB, Spain, and was reassigned to the 354 TFW, receiving its complement of A-7D's. The 511th TFS was inactivated and redesignated the 354th TFS at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona as part of the 355th TFW's reactivation.

Initially, separate tail codes were assigned to the various squadrons of the wing. These were: 353 TFS "MN", 355 TFS "MR" and 356 TFS "MB". In 1972, the squadron tail codes were abolished and all 354 TFW standardized on "MB" for Myrtle Beach AFB. Squadrons were identified by a painted color stripe on the tail of the aircraft, red for the 353d, blue for the 355th and green for the 356th.

On 15 May 1972 the 4554th Tactical Fighter Replacement Squadron was activated as a training squadron. The T-33's and T-29 were assigned for this mission. The 4554th was inactivated on 15 October 1975 and its aircraft sent to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center.

However, the 354 TFW did not remain long at Myrtle Beach AFB. In September 1972 the wing split into Rear and Advanced echelons. The 353 and 355 TFSs deployed 72 A-7D's to Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, while the 356 TFS remained at Myrtle Beach. This was the first combat deployment of the A-7D into Southeast Asia. This operation was known as Constant Guard VI.

The 354 TFW (Advanced) commenced combat operations from Korat on 16 October 1972. In addition to the deployment to Korat, a small number of personnel from the 354th were deployed to Bien Hoa Air Base South Vietnam where they performed turnaround service on A-7Ds through 11 February 1973.

From Korat, the 354th interdicted lines of communications to halt the flow of North Vietnamese supplies to enemy units in South Vietnam, provided close air support to ground troops, and escorted surface ship convoys up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In November 1972, the 354th took over the Combat Search and Rescue role formerly assigned to the A-1 "Sandy" aircraft, and during the Linebacker II campaign assisted in 22 rescues of downed airmen while simultaneously flying over 4,000 combat sorties. The wing earned the Presidential Unit Citation for its Vietnam war service from September 1972 through January 1973.

In March 1973, A-7D aircraft drawn from the deployed Myrtle Beach squadrons were formed into the 3d Tactical Fighter Squadron and permanently assigned to the host 388 TFW at Korat. The 3 TFS's A-7D's were tail coded "JH" and remained at Korat until the base's closure. In May 1975, former Myrlte Beach A-7D's were used in the SS Mayaguez operation, the last combat action of the United States in Southeast Asia.

In addition to its Myrtle Beach squadrons, the 354 TFW (Advanced) had the following temporary A-7D squadrons attached while at Korat:

The 354 TFW (Advanced) flew combat operations in Vietnam until mid-January 1973, in Laos until 22 February 1973, and in Cambodia until 15 August 1973.

The last shot fired in anger by United States military forces in Southeast Asia was fired by an A-7D of the deployed 353 TFS assigned to Korat RTAFB on 15 July 1973. In October the wing rotated personnel at Korat once again, but with the establishment of the 3 TFS in Thailand and the end of American combat in Southeast Asia, the mission of the 354th was ended. Some additional aircraft and equipment were transferred to the 388 TFW, and on 23 May 1974 the wing returned from Thailand and the Advanced and Rear echelons were recombined at Myrtle Beach AFB.

On 1 February 1974, the 354th began a 15-month deployment to Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone to support operation "Coronet Cove". This entailed rotating a contingent of aircraft, aircrews and maintenance technicians to Panama on 45-day cycles to provide close air support for US Army training exercises for the air defense of the Panama Canal.

In April 1974, A-7D's were deployed from Myrtle Beach to NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii for exercises with Army and Marine Corps units. Also T-33A aircraft were deployed to McConnell AFB, Kansas, to support the USAF Tactical Air Weapons Center's comparative flight evaluation of the A-7D and the A-10A aircraft.

A phaseout of the A-7D at Myrtle Beach AFB started in the summer of 1974, with the A-7D's being transferred to Air National Guard units. These transfers continued until 1978, when the last A-7D was sent to the South Carolina ANG. In addition, the T-33's and VT-29 of the deactivated 4554th were retired and sent to AMARC in 1976. The former Myrtle Beach A-7D's continued service in the Air National Guard until the late 1980s, with the last at Rickenbacker ANGB (Ohio), Des Moines (Iowa), Tulsa (Oklahoma) and Springfield (Ohio) being replaced by the F-16 by mid-1993. By the end of 1998, all were disposed of by AMARC.