48th Fighter Wing
The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name. Since activation at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France, on 10 July 1952, Liberty Wing has been one of the premier fighter wings of the United States Air Forces in Europe, spending more than over 50 years as part of USAFE. The 48 FW has nearly 5,700 active-duty military members, 2,000 British and U.S. civilians, and includes a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) at nearby RAF Feltwell.
Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are:
- 492d Fighter Squadron (F-15E)
- 493d Fighter Squadron (F-15C/D)
- 494th Fighter Squadron (F-15E)
Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.
RAF Lakenheath, and nearby, RAF Mildenhall, are the two main U.S. Air Force-operated bases in United Kingdom, and 48th Fighter Wing is the only U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) F-15 fighter wing. As the U.S. Air Force continues reducing its inventory of combat aircraft, the 48th FW will probably relocate to the USA.
Read more about this topic: RAF Lakenheath
Famous quotes containing the words fighter and/or wing:
“A pleasant smell of frying sausages
Attacks the sense, along with an old, mostly invisible
Photograph of what seems to be girls lounging around
An old fighter bomber, circa 1942 vintage.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“As if her velvet helmet high
Did turret rationality.
She fans her wing up to the winde
As if her Pettycoate were lin’de
With reasons fleece, and hoises saile
And humming flies in thankfull gaile”
—Edward Taylor (1645–1729)