USAF Patch Fighter USAFE a b 36 TFW Tactical Fighter Wing h F 15 Eagle 4sb

USAF Patch USAFE 36 TFW Tactical Fighter Wing Subdued Flight Suit Patch F 15 Eagle late 1970s Bitburg AB West Germany Large Fully embroidered cut edge 98mm three and seven eighth inches diameter.

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Wing History

36 Fighter Wing was activated at Howard AFB on 2 July 1948 with 22 Fighter Squadron 23 Fighter Squadron and 53 Fighter Squadron equipped with F 80 Shooting Stars assigned to Caribbean Air Command. With the start of the Cold War and the Berlin Blockade the Wing was reassigned to USAFE and located to to Fürstenfeldbruck AB West Germany on 13 August 1948 carrying out tactical operations included air defense tactical exercises manoeuvres and photographic reconnaissance. In May 1949 the Wing formed the Skyblazers aerial demonstration team.

The Wing was redesignated 36 Fighter Bomber Wing on 20 January 1950 reequipping with F 84E Thunderjets. On 17 November 1952 36 FBW relocated to newly constructed Bitburg Air Base in the Eifel Mountains west of the Rhine River to reduce vulnerability of being quickly overrun by Soviet Forces. The Wing reequipped with F 86F Sabre in August 1953. 36 FBW was assigned 1 Pilotless Bomber Squadron on 31 March 1954 equipped with B 61A Matador surface to surface cruise missiles. 36 FBW was redesignated 36 Fighter Day Wing on 9 August 1954. 1 PBS was redesignated 1 Tactical Missile Squadron on 14 March 1955 and while remaining at Bitburg was reassigned to 7382 Guided Missile Group Tactical headquartered at Hahn Air Base on 1 February 1956 before being reassigned to 585 Tactical Missile Group activated at Bitburg AB on 15 September 1956.

36 FDW received F 100 Super Sabre in 1956 and was redesignated 36 Tactical Fighter Wing on 15 May 1958 when the wing expanded its mission to include the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons. The Wing reequipped with F 105 Thunderchief Thud aircraft in May 1961. 36 TFW was assigned 71 Tactical Missile Squadron in October 1965 operating two hardened launch sites Site 7 at Rittersdorf and Site 8 at Idenheim with VA CGM 13B Mace tactical missiles. With delivery of nuclear weapons being taken over by Missile systems the Wings mission changed to Tactical Air Support of NATO ground units in West Germany and 36 TFW reequipped with F 4D Phantom II aircraft in 1966. In September 1969 the Wing took responsibility for Spangdahlem AB West Germany until December 1971.

36 TFW began conversion to F 15 A and B Eagle air superiority fighter aircraft on 27 April 1977 with the arrival of 525 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying in with its F 15s from the US followed by F 15s allocated to 22 TFS and 53 TFS and conducted routine training missions exercises and detachments throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1989 the Wing was assigned the responsibility for supporting and planning all Intermediate Nuclear Forces INF Treaty compliance inspections by Soviet inspection teams at Florennes Air Base Belgium. 36 TFW upgraded to F 15 C and D model aircraft and the Wing deployed to Incirlik Air Base Turkey as part of Operations Desert Shield in December 1990 and carrying out combat missions during Operation Desert Storm February 1991 credited with destroying 17 enemy aircraft in air combat. 36 TFW returned to Bitburg in March 1991 and deployed again to Incirlik on 5 April 1991 for Operation Provide Comfort flying 285 air superiority missions over Iraq coming back to Germany on 25 May 1991.

On 1 October 1991 The Wing was redesignated 36 Fighter Wing on 1 October 1991 and as part of the initial post Cold War drawdown 525 Fighter Squadron was inactivated 31 March 1992. In July 1993 HQ USAFE announced the pending closure of Bitburg Air Base leading to 53 Fighter Squadron inactivated on 1 February 1994 22 Fighter Squadron inactivated 31 March 1994 and 36 Fighter Wing inactivated on 1 October 1994 with Bitburg Air Base handed back to the German government.

The Wing was reactivated as 36 Air Base Wing at Andersen AFB Guam on 30 September 1994. 36 ABW as 36 Air Expeditionary Wing provided around the clock forward deployment support to Air Combat Command B 52 bombers during Operation Desert Strike bombing missions over Iraq in September 1996 and began hosting more than 6600 Kurdish evacuees during the 8 month humanitarian assistance mission Joint Task Force Pacific Haven. 36 ABW was redesignated 36 Wing on 12 April 2006 and 36th Operations Group was reactivated as a permanent subordinate unit to the 36th Wing, replacing the temporary 36th Expeditionary Operations Group in February 2007

This patch dates from the late 1970s.