#1533CU F-16A Fighting Falcon
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1533CU - 93-0711, F-16A Fighting Falcon, 21st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke AFB, Arizona.
The 21st Fighter Squadron was activated on 15 October 1944 at Seymour-Johnson Field, North Carolina and was assigned to the 413rd Fighter Group flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The following month, the squadron was moved to Bluethenthal Field, Wilmington, North Carolina. From there, in April 1945, the squadron was sent to the airfields on Ie Shima, off Okinawa, Japan. From the 20 May until 14 August 1945, the squadron conducted combat missions in the Pacific Theatre where it earned five campaign streamers. Following the ending of hostilities in August 1945, the squadron was moved to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan in November 1945 as part of the occupation force and was later re-deployed to Yontan, Okinawa in January 1946. The squadron was subsequently deactivated on 15 October 1946 at the end of the occupation mission. On 11 November 1954, the 21st Fighter Squadron was reactivated at George Air Force Base, California, operating the North American F-86 Sabre. In 1956, the squadron converted to the North American F-100 Super Sabre and was re-designated the 21st Tactical Fighter Squadron in July 1958. On 15 March 1959, its aircraft were re-assigned to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing and the unit was deactivated once more. It was not until December 1972 that the unit was reactivated once again at George Air Force Base as the 21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and was assigned to the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing where it provided "wild weasel" tactical fighter radar detection and suppression training. In 1980, the squadron was re-designated the 21st Tactical Fighter Squadron. The following year, the squadron converted to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and was again re-named the 21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron in July 1983. The unit once again deactivated on 28 June 1991. Later that year the unit reactivated as the 21st Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina flying the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II. Deactivation for the squadron came once again at the end of 1993. However, the 21st Fighter Squadron was reactivated once more on 8 August 1996 at its current home at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Here, as part of the 56th Operations Group, the "Gamblers" provide continuation training for the Republic of China Air Force using the Block 20 variant of the F-16A and B models.