33d Fighter Wing F-15 Eagle ping.
Posted on 10/01/2009 4:34:14 AM PDT by myknowledge
A video of the last F-15C Eagles of the 33d Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB after thirty years of service (sad to see them go).
33d Fighter Wing F-15 Eagle ping.
The first time I saw a picture of an Eagle I could not take my eyes off of it.
Guess I could say the same for the Tomcat and the Worthog.
So, what’s the story? Is the wing being disbanded? Getting F-22’s?
The last three remaining F-15 Eagles depart for a new home as the 33rd Fighter Wing prepares for new mission with F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The F-15C/D model is being supplanted in U.S. service by the F-22 Raptor. The F-15E, however, will remain in service for years to come because of their different air-to-ground role and the lower number of hours on their airframes. The USAF will upgrade 178 F-15Cs with the AN/APG-63(V)3 AESA radar, and upgrade other F-15s with the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System. The Air Force will keep 178 F-15Cs as well as the 224 F-15Es in service beyond 2025.
F-35: the Edsel of the 21st century.
From the Air Forces Times
The F-15 Eagle era is over for the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
On Sept. 8, the last three of the wing’s F-15s left for the boneyard in Arizona.
In October, the wing formally ends its association with Air Combat Command and stands up as Air Education and Training Command’s schoolhouse for F-35 Lightning II pilots and crew chiefs.
“It’s bittersweet knowing that once I’m airborne, it’s the end of the Eagle’s 30-year association with the 33rd Fighter Wing, and the ramp will sit empty until the F-35s arrive next year,” Col. Todd Harmer, commander of the 33rd, said in an Air Force statement.
At one time, the 33rd was home to a trio of F-15 squadrons and more than 70 fighters. Several four-star commanders flew F-15s at the wing, including ACC commander Gen. John Corley, Air Force Vice Commander Gen. Howie Chandler and retired generals T. Michael Moseley, John Jumper, Gregory “Speedy” Martin and William Looney.
During Desert Storm, the wing’s F-15s were credited with shooting down 16 Iraqi jets.
The F-15 has been in service with the US Air Force since the Mid-70s. F-15 Pilots shot down over 100 enemy aircraft in air to air combat without loosing a single F-15.
The first Eagle entered service in November 1974 with the 58th Tactical Training Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. The first Air Force air defense squadron to transition to the F-15 was the 48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., in January 1982. By 1989, more than 1,200 Eagles were in service; most were built by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Mo., and more than 110 were built by Mitsubishi of Japan.
F-15C, D and E models were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm where they proved their superior combat capability with a confirmed 26:0 kill ratio. F-15 fighters accounted for 36 of the 39 Air Force air-to-air victories.
The F-15 in all air forces had an air-to-air combined record of 104 kills to 0 losses in air combat as of February 2008. To date, no air superiority versions of the F-15 (A/B/C/D models) have ever been shot down by enemy forces. Over half of the F-15's kills were made by Israeli Air Force pilots.
Helluva plane.....
I’d wish the 33d FW were to get F-22 Raptors as replacements for their aging F-15 Eagles, but unfortunately, they’ll have to wait several years for the F-35 Lightning II. The 33d FW won’t be disbanded altogether.
At least half of the kills for F-15 were done by Israeli Air Force pilots.
The 33rd Fighter Wing is stationed at Eglin AFB, Florida. The 33d TFW received its first F-15 Eagle 1978 and continues to fly the Eagle to present day. In 1980s the wing was the first in Tactical Air Command to take part in the Multi-Stage Improvement Program (MSIP). Additionally, the wing won William Tell, a biennial Air Force-wide air-to-air competition, in 1984 and 1986, followed by the "Long Arrow" competition, a no-notice air-to-air competition, in 1987.
The wing's F-15s saw their first combat in October 1984 when the 33d participated in Operation Urgent Fury, the rescue of American medical students from Grenada. Five years later, Nomads saw action during the removal of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in Operation Just Cause.
In 1990-91, the wing participated in the thwarting of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The wing distinguished itself by scoring 16 aerial kills, including the first kill of the war, the most of any single unit. In addition to the kills, the 33d accomplished a number of firsts including: the most air-to-air kills, the most double kills and the most sorties and hours flown by any unit in the combat theater. The 33d Fighter Wing (FW), the only unit whose wing commander scored an air-to-air victory, destroyed the most MiG-29's (a total of five). Following Desert Shield/Story, the Air Force restructured its forces. Under the new structure the 33d was re-designated the 33d Fighter Wing. The same year, it became the first fighter wing to bring the AIM-20 AMRAAM (Advance Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) into full combat capable service.
In 1994, the 33d participated in Operation Uphold Democracy, providing support to the recognized government in Haiti. The same year, the wing participated in Operation Vigilant Warrior, the close monitoring of Saddam Hussein in a perceived strengthening of force.
Currently the 33d FW is a combat-flying unit of Air Combat Command's 9th Air Force and is a major tenant unit on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing operates two flying squadrons, the 58th and 60th, each with 26 MSIP F-15C/D Eagles, along with the 33d Operations Support Squadron, the 33d Logistics Support Squadron, the 33d Maintenance Squadron and the 728th Air Control Squadron. The wing's mission is to "Maintain the world's best rapidly deployable air control and air superiority forces for theater Commander-in-Chiefs." The 33d FW supports an annual rotation to Saudi Arabia for Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the no-fly zone in Iraq. The wing recently participated in Airpower Expeditionary Force III (AEF III) in the small southwest Asia country of Qatar and currently has an alert commitment to the North Atlantic country of Iceland. In addition to the flying operations of the 33d, the 728th Air Control Squadron has participated in Steady State (support of the drug war in South America), Deny Flight and supports a rotation to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Calm. The 33d remains continually devoted to providing air superiority forces to the various theater Commander-in-Chief's who call upon its service.
Source: 33d Fighter Wing
I attended the redesignation and assumption of command ceremony this morning. The 33rd FW was redesignated from Air Combat Command to Air Education and Training Command. The 33rd FW will be the training wing for the F-35.
I was the Superintendent of Pilot Training for the F-15 schoolhouse at Tyndall AFB from 91-96. All F-15 pilots came through our training program so I got to meet a lot of the guys at Eglin. We had the gun camera tapes of all of the F-15 kills in our library.
We had the gun camera tapes of all of the F-15 kills in our library.
And all of you exhibited fascination watching the gun camera video collection, right?
You betcha. It was pretty interesting to watch. I sat through a lot of the training programs and it was very interesting to see the theories actually applied. Most of the gun camera video was of long range engagements, so you only saw the radar and instruments.
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