14th Fighter Squadron Patch – Sew On Pilots and Crew! Enjoy this beautifully embroidered 14th Fighter Squadron Patch. You'll love the quality and be able to display or wear it proudly. 4 inches Embroidered US Veteran-Owned Business The 14th Fighter Squadron is part of the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base, Japan. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting Wild Weasel missions. The squadron has been stationed at Misawa since 1987. The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. After training in the United States, the squadron moved to the European Theater of Operations. where it flew combat reconnaissance missions. It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for missions flown over France between 31 May 1944 and the end of June. The squadron flew sorties to support Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy and Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack in the Netherlands. It conducted bomb damage assessment of Germany after VE Day. The squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation in December 1945. The squadron served in the reserves as a reconnaissance unit from November 1947 to June 1947 at Binghamton, New York and as a troop carrier unit at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York from 1952 until it was replaced in 1953 by a squadron that had been called to active duty for the Korean War. The squadron returned to the reconnaissance mission in April 1967 and after training in Texas moved to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base and flew combat missions in Southeast Asia from November 1967 until August 1973, earning two Presidential Unit Citations. For a period in 1971, it was the only reconnaissance squadron in Southeast Asia. The squadron was inactivated in June 1975 with the United States withdrawal from Southeast Asia. Mission The squadron operates General Dynamics F-16CJ Wild Weasel aircraft. It conducts Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses air operations. History World War II The squadron was first activated at Colorado Springs, Colorado in June 1942 as the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, although it was more than a month before it moved to nearby Peterson Field and began training with Lockheed F-4 Lightnings under the 3d Photographic Group. In August 1942, the 3d Group moved to England. The squadron remained assigned to the 3d, but remained in Colorado, where it was attached to Second Air Force.In July 1943, the squadron was assigned to the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group and moved on paper with the 7th Group to England. The 7th Group drew on the 13th Photographic Squadron, which was already flying Lightnings in England for its cadre. The 14th Squadron began to train with Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V fighters in July 1943 before equipping with the photographic reconnaissance Mk. XI version of the Spitfire in late summer. The 14th flew combat reconnaissance missions in the European Theater of Operations from 12 August 1943 until 25 April 1945. The squadron's Spitfires flew the majority of the target photography missions (including the first Spitfire reconnaissance mission over Berlin in March 1944), while the other squadrons of the 7th, equipped with Lightnings, concentrated on photographic mapping. Squadron deep penetration missions included reconnaissance of oil refineries to determine when repairs had been performed that could justify returning them to Eighth Air Force's target list.[6] It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for reconnaissance missions flown over France between 31 May 1944 and the end of June. The squadron flew over 300 successful sorties to support Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. It flew missions over the Netherlands to support Operation Market Garden in October 1944 and conducted damage assessment of Germany until 23 July 1945.In late 1944, the squadron's unarmed aircraft, flying by themselves, began to prove vulnerable to the jet powered Messerschmitt Me 262
