The 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit.
The wing is one of two Air Force units that can trace its history to another country. The wing's 4th Operations Group had its origins as the Royal Air Force Eagle Squadrons (Nos. 71, 121 and 133 Squadrons). When the United States entered World War II, these units, and the American pilots in them, were transferred to the United States Army Air Forces VIII Fighter Command, forming the 4th Fighter Group on 12 September 1942.
The 4th Fighter Group was the first fighter group to use belly tanks, the first to penetrate Germany, the first to accompany bombers to Berlin, the first to accomplish the England-to-Soviet Union shuttle and the first to down jet fighters. The group was credited with the destruction of 1,016 (including strafing kills) enemy aircraft, more than any other American fighter unit, and produced 38 aces.
The current commander of the 4th Fighter Wing is Colonel Luke Teel.
Units
The wing consists of four active duty groups—4th Maintenance Group, 4th Mission Support Group, 4th Operations Group and 4th Medical Group—and is assigned over 6,400 military members, about 600 civilians and 95 F-15E Strike Eagles. An additional organization, the 414th Fighter Group (414 FG) of the Air Force Reserve Command, is an Air Force Reserve "associate" unit to the 4th Fighter Wing, with its flight crews and maintenance crews flying, maintaining and supporting the same F-15E aircraft as their active duty counterparts.
4th Operations Group(Tail Code: SJ). The 4th Operations Group is the largest organization in the 4th Fighter Wing. The group consists of two operational fighter squadrons, the 335th and 336th; two fighter training squadrons, the 333d and 334th; and two support squadrons, which include the 4th Training Squadron (Strike Eagle Academics) and the 4th Operations Support Squadron. The group provides worldwide command and control for two operational F-15E squadrons and is responsible for conducting the Air Force's only F-15E training operation, qualifying crews to serve in worldwide combat-ready positions. 4th Maintenance GroupThe 4th Maintenance Group consists of four squadrons and more than 2,300 military and civilian personnel. The group is responsible for the maintenance support used to maintain, mobilize and deploy 96 F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft for worldwide expeditionary aerospace operations. The group also oversees all on- and off-aircraft equipment maintenance, while providing standardized weapons loading and academics training to support the execution of the wing's flying hour program consisting of more than 16,000 sorties and 25,000 hours 4th Mission Support GroupThe 4th Mission Support Group is responsible for the leadership and management of civil engineering, communications-computer systems support, security and law enforcement, personnel, information management, education, food services, housing, and recreation for a community of more than 13,000 people. The group is also responsible for maintaining the capability to deploy readiness teams worldwide to build, secure and operate bases to support combat forces 4th Medical Group 414th Fighter Group(Tail Code: SJ). The group consists of approximately 340 personnel comprising both part-time Traditional Reservists (TR) and full-time Air Reserve Technicians (ART) and Active Guard and Reserve (AGR). Collectively, they make up an operational fighter squadron, the 307th Fighter Squadron (307 FS) and the 414th Maintenance Squadron (414 MXS). The 307 FS reports operationally to the 4th Operations Group and the 414 MXS to the 4th Maintenance Group.
History
Korean War
As the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing it flew the North American F-86 Sabre during the Korean War and was the top MiG-killing organization during the conflict. Actually, on Dec 17, 1950, Lt. Col. Bruce H. Hinton shot down a MiG-15 during the very first Sabre mission of the war.
The 4 Wing moved to Japan following the Korean armistice in 1953 and remained there until 8 December 1957.