#1224 A-10C, F-15C, F-15E, F-16C, F-22A, F-35A
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1224 - A-10C, F-15C, F-15E, F-16C, F-22A, F-35A, 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron, 53d Wind, Nellis AFB, Nevada.
Activated at Orlando Air Base, Florida, in August 1943, as the 422d Night Fighter Squadron the squadron began by flying the Douglas A-20 Havoc, the P-70 night-fighter version of the A-20, and an early model of the Northrop YP-61 Black Widow. The men of the 422 NFS spent 1943 and early 1944 training for combat. In March 1944, the squadron touched down in England, and within weeks flew combat missions from RAF Charmy Downs, Scorton, Hurn, and Ford in the heavily armed, radar equipped P-61. Following Operation OVERLORD, the squadron relocated to Maupertus, France to help secure the gains made during the summer of 1944. By the winter of 1944 the squadron had moved twice more before ending the year in Florennes, Belgium. From there the squadron flew support for the 101st Airborne Division’s defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, earning the Distinguished Unit Citation. Over the next year, the squadron continued to punish the Luftwaffe’s bombers at night, leading all night fighter squadrons with 43 confirmed kills. The 422 NFS continued to advance, concluding the war in Kassel/Rothwesten, Germany, and in September 1945 the squadron relocated to the United States and was inactivated on 30 September 1945. During the height of the Vietnam War, the squadron was reactivated on 15 October 1969 and redesignated the 422d Fighter Weapons Squadron. The 422 FWS was assigned to Nellis AFB, Nevada as part of the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing and was responsible for conducting operational test and evaluation of the F-4 Phantom II, F-111 Aardvark, and A-7 Corsair II. In 1981, it was again redesignated, this time as the 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron. Over the last twenty years, the squadron has flown A-10A Thunderbolt, F-4G Wild Weasel, F-15C Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft. It then added the F-22A Raptor in 2003 and the F-35A in 2013. Now part of the 53d Wing, the 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron is the U.S. Air Force’s premier operational test unit. Known as the Green Bats, the squadron is charged with testing and evaluating the frontline fighter and attack aircraft in Air Force’s inventory. The 422 TES’s honors include seven World War Two campaign streamers, one Distinguished Unit Citation, and four Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards.