389th Fighter Squadron

389th Fighter Squadron
389th Fighter Squadron Patch
Active	1 June 1943 – 20 August 1946 1 January 1953 – 1 April 1959 30 April 1962 – 22 July 1991 11 March 1992 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter
Part of	Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force 366th Fighter Wing 366th Operations Group
Garrison/HQ	Mountain Home Air Force Base
Decorations	DUC PUC AFOUA w/ V Device Belgium Fourragère RVGC w/ Palm

389th Tactical Fighter Squadron

The 389th Fighter Squadron (389 FS) is part of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. It operates F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft conducting close air support missions. Their current commander is Lt. Col. Meyers.

Mission

Perform close air support, interdiction, strategic attack, suppression of enemy air defense, and defensive counterair missions, employing the full array of U.S. Air Force capabilities including precision-guided munitions, inertially-aided munitions, night vision goggles, fighter data link, and Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN).

History

"Jenny Rebel", Republic P-47D-15-RE Thunderbolt 42-76347 of 389th Fighter Squadron

The 389th flew combat in the European Theater of Operations from, 14 March 1943 – 3 May 1945 and in Southeast Asia from, 14 March 1966 – 8 October 1971.

The squadron trained F-111 Aardvark aircrews from, 30 September 1979 – 26 June 1991.

Operations

• World War II
• Vietnam War

Lineage

• 389th Fighter Squadron (Single Engine) (1943)
• 389th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine (1943–1952)
• 389th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (1952–1958)
• 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1958–1979)
• 389th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (1979–1992)
• 389th Fighter Squadron (1992 – present)

Assignments

• 366th Fighter Group (1943–1946)
• 366th Tactical Fighter Wing (1953–1959)
  • Attached: 12th Air Force (29 September – 17 November 1954)
  • Attached: 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing (18 November 1954 – 28 March 1955)
  • Attached: United States Air Forces in Europe (c. 20 September - c. 3 October 1956)
  • Attached: 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing (10 June - c. October 1957)
  • Attached: 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing (10–22 December 1957)

• United States Air Forces in Europe (1962)
• 366th Tactical Fighter Wing (1962–1969)
  • Attached: Alaskan Air Command (15 September – 16 December 1965)
• 37th Tactical Fighter Wing (1969–1970)
• 12th Tactical Fighter Wing (1970–1971)
• 347th Tactical Fighter Wing (1971–1972)
• 366th Fighter Wing (1972–1991, 1992 – present)

Bases stationed

• Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia (1943)
• Bluethenthal, North Carolina (1943)
• RAF Membury, England (1944)
• RAF Thruxton, England (1944)
• Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, France (1944)
• Dreux, France (1944)
• Laon-Couvron Air Base, France (1944)
• Asch, Belgium (1944–1945)
• Münster, Germany (1945)
• Bayreuth, Germany (1945)
• Fritzlar, Germany (1945–1946)

• England Air Force Base, Louisiana (1953–1959)
  • Deployed: Toul-Rosières Air Base, France (29 September – 10 December 1954)
  • Deployed: Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France (11 December 1954 – 28 March 1955)
  • Deployed: Aviano Air Base, Italy (21 September – 2 October 1956)
  • Deployed: Aviano Air Base, Italy (10 June – 22 December 1957)
• Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France (1962–1963)
• Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico (1963–1966)
  • Deployed: Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska (15 September – 16 December 1965)
• Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam (1966)
• Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam (1966–1969)
• Phu Cat Air Base, South Vietnam (1969–1971)
• Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho (1971–1991, 1992 – present)
  • Deployed: Taegu Air Base, South Korea (16 September – 5 October 1976)
  • Deployed: Gwangju Air Base, South Korea (4–11 December 2009)
  • Deployed: Kunsan Air Base, South Korea (19 August 2009 – 19 January 2010)
  • Deployed: Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan (March 2011 - September 2011)

Aircraft

Lt. Col. Philip Hoover flies F-16C block 52 #91-0386 from the 389th FS over the Gulf of Mexico in order to fire an AIM-120A AMRAAM at a sub-scale aerial target drone during a Combat Archer mission on 26 March 2003

McDonnell F-4D-33-MC Phantom Serial 66-8820 of the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

• P-47 Thunderbolt (1943–1946)
• P-51 Mustang (1953)
• F-86 Sabre (1953–1955)
• F-84 Thunderjet (1955–1958, 1962–1965)
• F-100 Super Sabre (1958, 1963)
• F-4 Phantom II (1965–1971)
• F-111F then A model Aardvark (1971–1991)
• F-16 Fighting Falcon (1992–2007)
• F-15E Strike Eagle (2007 – present)

References

Bibliography

• USAF 389th Fighter Squadron History
• 366th Operations Group Fact Sheet