#1630 480th FS F-16C Fighting Falcon print
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograoh No. 1630 - 96-0080 '480 FS', F-16CM Fighting Falcon, 480th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
The 480th Fighter Squadron, the “Warhawks,” was activated in 1957 at England Air Force Base, Louisiana as the 480 Fighter Bomber Squadron, flying the F-100 Super Sabre. After a tumultuous deactivation/reactivation period in the late 50s, the 480th was reactivated as the 480 Tactical Fighter Squadron on 8 May 1962, under United States Air Forces in Europe, and based at Chaumont and later Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base, France flying first the F-84F Thunderstreak and later the F-100 Super Sabre. The 480 TFS and its F-100s were reassigned to Holloman AFB, NM, in 1963 and in 1965 the squadron began to receive F-4C Phantom II fighters. It was deployed to Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, in February 1966 as part of USAF buildup in Southeast Asia and was engaged in combat operations, mostly over North Vietnam, from 1966-1971. During this period, the squadron scored nine MiG kills, including the first MiG-21 kill of the Vietnam War, and received two Presidential Unit Citations. Also during this period a member of the 480 TFS, Captain Lance Sijan, became the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism as a prisoner in North Vietnam. In 1969 the 480 TFS moved to Phu Cat Air Base, South Vietnam, then to Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam in 1970. With the drawdown of American forces in South Vietnam, Warhawks flew their last combat mission, and the last combat sortie from Cam Ranh Bay, on 20 October 1971. The squadron deactivated November 1971. The “Warhawks” were reactivated in 1976 as part of the 52 Tactical Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, flying the F-4D Phantom II, the F-4E and then F-4G as part of the “Wild Weasel” Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) mission. In March 1987, the Warhawks began flying the Air Force’s newest fighter, the F-16C Fighting Falcon (AKA Viper) and during Gulf War I received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation for Valor. Cold War military reductions forced the 480 TFS into temporary retirement in 1994, but the Great Warhawk Nation was reactivated in 2010 as the 480 Fighter Squadron flying the F-16CM Block-50 as part of 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem. The 480th flew combat sorties in Operations Enduring Freedom, Odyssey Dawn, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve, and Octave Quartz. Today the squadron is the only U.S. Air Force SEAD squadron in Europe, and the Warhawks proudly carry on the Wild Weasel legacy and the tradition of “First In, Last Out!”