#1430 A-10C Thunderbolt II
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1430 - 78-0696 '25 FS', A-10C Thunderbolt II, 25th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea.
The 25th Fighter Squadron was originally activated as the 25th Pursuit Squadron in January 1941 at Hamilton Field, California. The summer, the squadron moved to March Field where it flew the Curtis P-40. Following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the 25th became one of the first units to leave the United States for a war theater. The squadron set up wartime operations in Karachi, India. However, when combat activities increased, they moved to Assam, India. It was here that the 25th picked their nickname “ASSAM DRAGGINSâ€. In late 1943, the Draggins were transferred to China where they supported the Chinese offensive which brought about the capture of the Burma Road. Near the end of WWII, their aging P-40s were replaced with P-51s. When hostilities finally ceased, the squadron moved to Okinawa, Japan. Along with the new location came new aircraft, first the P-47, later the F-80. In June of 1950, the 25th was placed on alert when fighting broke out in Korea. When the ground situation stabilized, the squadron moved to Suwon AB, Korea. There they were re-equipped with the new F-86 Sabre which enabled them to destroy 110.5 enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat. The squadron adopted a checker design for its F-86 tail markings and later became famous as the “Checker Tails†of the Korean War. Following the war, the 25th returned to Okinawa, and was later deactivated in June 1960. In June 1965, the squadron returned to duty at Eglin AFB, Florida where it flew the F-4 Phantom II. During the Vietnam conflict, the 25th flew out of Uban RTAFB, Thailand. There the Draggins received five Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards. In February of 1981, the 25th returned to Suwon AB. A year later, they received their first A-10 Thunderbolt II. In May of 1986, the 25th demonstrated the reliability of the A-10 by setting an Air Force wide sortie surge record when it flew 160 sorties in a single day. On September 30, 1993, the Assam Draggins moved to their current home, Osan AB, Korea. Their continued presence on the peninsula has helped maintain a peaceful armistice between North and South Korea which has existed for over 60 years.