334th Fighter Squadron EAGLES

Established:  22 August 1942

Assigned to: 4th Fighter Wing

Home Station: Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina

Primary Mission: F-15E training squadron

Unit History:

One of the original Royal Air Force "Eagle Squadrons," the 334th was activated at Bushy Hall, England on 22 August 1942 and assigned to United Army Air Force's 4th Fighter Group. Prior to this time, the Eagle squadrons had served as American volunteer units with the RAF. The 4th Fighter Group was the first USAAF unit to be activated in the European theater of operations in the Second World War. The 4th Fighter Group was based at Debden Airdrome, Essex, England. The 334th initially were equipped with the British-supplied Supermarine Spitfire, the same type of aircraft they had flown as the RAF's 71st squadron.  The squadron's first American-built aircraft, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, arrived in early 1943.

One year later in 1944 the squadron transitioned to the North American P-51 Mustang, which the served as the primary aircraft for the reminder of the war.

At the end of the war, the 334th was the top scoring squadron in the 4th Fighter group with395 kills against the German Luftwaffe. On this, 210 were aerial victories while the remaining 185 were against aircraft on the ground.

In April 1947 the Fighting Eagles were equipped with the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star aircraft and moved to Andrews AFB, Maryland.

During 1949, the squadron was equipped with the North American F-86 Sabre aircraft and moved south to Langley AFB, Virginia.

In Dec of 1950, more than five years after the end of the Second World War, the Fighting Eagles were deployed to Korea. During this conflict, the 334th was credited with the destruction of 142.5 enemy aircraft. Major George A. Davis Jr., a 334th pilot, received the Medal of Honor. The leading ace of the Korean war at that time, Maj. Davis  was shot down while dogfighting a MiG-15 on 10 Feb 1952. He had just destroyed his 13th and 14th MiGs of the war and was zeroing in on another when a MiG pulled in from behind and shot him down.

Following the Korean conflict, the unit remained in the Far East until 8 Dec 1957, when it was reassigned to Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. The 334th began flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre at this time.

In mid-1959 the Eagles transitioned to the fabled "Thud", the Republican F-105 Thunderchief.

After completing a six-month tour of Southeast Asia, the 334th returned to Seymour Johnson in Feb 1966 and briefly instructed new pilots in F-105 operations. By the end of 1966, the unit began transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II aircraft.

The Fighting Eagles rushed to Korea 8 Jan 1968 supporting operations during the Pueblo incident. The unit returned to Seymour Johnson in June 1968. The 334th began upgrading their aircraft to the McDonnell Douglas F-4E in Apr 1970. Their transition was complete by 1971.

In October 1973 the Eagles participated in Operation Peace Echo by delivering F-4E aircraft and materials to Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

The 334th began the transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle in late 1990 and flew it's first sortie on Jan 1 1991.

During this month the squadron served as the host unit for several units deploying to Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Additionally 334th aircrew and support personnel deployed to Desert Storm as augmentees. The Squadron became operational in the F-15Eon 18 June of 1991, and deployed to Saudi Arabia the next day to relieve remaining elements of the 335th, providing combat air patrol and ground alert forces supporting withdrawal of troops of Operation Desert Storm. The unit returned to Seymour Johnson six months later. During Operation Southern Watch, the unit made three 90 day rotations between June of 1992 and Mar of 1994.

Due to the increased volume of aircrew training for the Strike Eagle, the 334th converted from it's operational mission into the second F-15E training squadron on 1 Jan 1996.

PRIMARY ASSIGNED F-15E AIRCRAFT: