Langley AFB 1st Fighter Wing

first f-15a arrives @ langley afb, january 1976

1st tactical fighter wing personnel spent 6 months preparing arrival of f-15. end of 1975, wing ready new air superiority weapon, , on 18 december 1975, lt col john britt, operations officer, flew wing s first f-15 (a two-seat trainer) langley. official welcoming ceremonies held on 9 january 1976, when lt col richard l. craft, 27th fighter squadron commander, landed wing s first single seat f-15. in recognition of accomplishment of introducing f-15 air force s operational inventory, 1st tactical fighter wing received first air force outstanding unit award, period 1 july 1975 – 31 october 1976.

after achieving operational ready status, wing took experience had earned , utilized on program nicknamed ready eagle. 1st helped prepare 36th tactical fighter wing @ bitburg air base, germany, reception of f-15. 1st assisted in training of maintenance personnel , pilots. 23 september 1977, wing provided bitburg 88 operational ready pilots, 522 maintenance specialists, , later trained additional 1,100 maintenance personnel @ bitburg.

on 15 april 1977, 1 tfw acquired new mission, assumed responsibility 6th airborne command , control squadron s ec-135 aircraft , crews, assigned 4500th air base wing @ langley. 6 accs flew ec-135 airborne command posts in support of commander-in-chief atlantic (uscinclant) deployments throughout atlantic region until 1992. 1st fighter wing participation in worldwide deployments , training exercises continued through 1980s. wing served in countries throughout europe, asia, middle east, africa, , central america.

the final f-15s left 1st fighter wing on 3 september 2010, after operating weapon system 35 years.