492nd Fighter Squadron

The 492nd Fighter Squadron is a combat-ready McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle squadron that can execute strategic attack, interdiction, and counter air missions in support of United States Air Forces in Europe, United States European Command, and NATO operations. It can use all of the USAF's air-superiority and surface-attack munitions. The squadron can deploy to any theater of operations in the world.^[4]

The unit was activated on 15 January 1941 as the 55th Bombardment Squadron (Light), a Southeastern Air District Army Air Corps training squadron, assigned to the 48th Bombardment Group. Flying Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers out of Hunter Field, Savannah, Georgia, the squadron briefly flew antisubmarine patrols, from March to April 1942, before resuming aircrew training.^[5]

As the Replacement Training Unit (RTU) scheme came into effect, the unit switched to the Vultee A-35 dive bomber. However, in August 1943 the unit was redesignated as the 492nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, moving to William Northern Army Air Field, Tennessee, and switching to Bell P-39 Airacobra and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks.

In January 1944. the unit became an operational fighter squadron flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts; two months later, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to IX Fighter Command at RAF Ibsley, England.^[5]

The squadron flew its first combat mission on 20 April 1944, an uneventful fighter sweep of the occupied French coast. On 30 May 1944, the "bomber" designation was dropped, and the unit became the 492nd Fighter Squadron.

The 492nd took part in the Normandy invasion that began on 6 June 1944, dropping bombs on bridges and gun positions, attacking rail lines and trains, and providing visual reconnaissance reports. On 18 June 1944, the 492nd and the 493rd Fighter Squadron made the crossing to France to Deux Jumeaux Airfield, an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG). From there, they supported Allied forces moving east across northern France, primarily the United States First Army. As the Allied armies continued their advance across France and into Germany, the squadron occupied a succession of ALGs; on Victory in Europe Day, they were stationed at Illesheim Airfield, occupied Germany.^[5]

Following the German surrender, the unit returned to the United States, and on 7 November 1945 the squadron was inactivated as part of the massive postwar drawdown.^[5]

The unit was reactivated on 10 July 1952 as the 492nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron (492nd FBS), a NATO squadron assigned to Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France, and equipped initially with Republic F-84G Thunderjets. In 1953, the squadron began to switch to North American F-86F Sabres; the last of the Thunderjets left in 1954.^[3]

In late 1956, the squadron upgraded to the North American F-100D Super Sabre. It was redesignated the 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (492nd TFS) on 8 July 1958. However due to French concerns about atomic storage and custody issues within NATO, a decision was made resulting in the removal of USAF atomic-capable units from French soil. On 15 January 1960, the entire 48th TFW moved to RAF Lakenheath, UK.^[5]

Between 1960 and 1972, the squadron's F-100 fleet trained with USAFE and NATO to react to aggression from the Soviet Union. They underwent a series of NATO tactical evaluations. The squadron conducted several deployments to Turkey, Italy, Spain, and across the United Kingdom. The 492nd also frequently deployed for training at Wheelus Air Base, Libya, until 1969, when Muammar Gaddafi, who had recently taken power, asked the United States to leave the country.^[6][7]

On 1 October 1971, the 492nd TFS stood down from its NATO obligations, allowing it to convert to the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II.^[5] The first Phantom arrived on 7 January 1972 from the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters. The conversion to the F-4D took several years, with Phantoms arriving from units that had completed their deployments in Vietnam.^[5] The F-4s initially carried the tail code of "LK", but switched ot "LN" in July and August 1972.

The Phantom's service with squadron was short. Operation Ready Switch transferred the F-4Ds to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The 474th sent their General Dynamics F-111As to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and the 366th sent their F-111Fs to Lakenheath in early 1977. Unlike the switch to F-4s transition, the F-111 change took place quickly and without any significant problems. Almost immediately after changing aircraft, the squadron began a series of monthly exercises and deployments that took the Liberty Wing to Italy, Iran, Greece, and Pakistan.

On night of 14/15 April 1986, the 492nd TFS and the est of the 48th TFW participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, the air raid on Tripoli, Libya, as a response to the West Berlin discotheque bombing. The 492nd deployed with their F-111Fs to Taif Air Base, Saudi Arabia, as part of Operation Desert Shield on 2 September 1990, in response to Saddam Hussein's Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. From Taif Air Base, the unit launched strikes on Iraq as part of Operation Desert Storm between January and February 1991.^[8]

Redesignated as the 492nd Fighter Squadron (492nd FS) on 1 October 1991, the Bolars switched aircraft again, exchanging the F-111Fs for the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle in early February 1992. This continued to add to the previous 50 years of flying the air-to-ground mission with one of the most capable multi-role/air-to-ground jets in the current Air Force inventory.

Between 23 March and 10 April 2008, the squadron was assigned to the 404th Air Expeditionary Group of the 323d Air Expeditionary Wing and deployed F-15 fighters to the Câmpia Turzii Air Base, Romania in support of Operation Noble Endeavor. The squadron flew on air policing missions with the Romanian Air Force for the 2008 Bucharest summit. During the three-day summit, the 492nd flew three air patrols over Bucharest in addition to the alerts, and further protected President George W. Bush during his trip to Croatia.^[9]

The squadron participated in Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya in March 2011, along with numerous deployments to Southwest Asia supporting Air Expeditionary units as part of the ongoing Global War on Terrorism as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).^[3]

The Bolars participated in a short deployment to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey in November 2015 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). Accompanied by 493d Fighter Squadron, the F-15s were sent to enforce the sovereign air space of Turkey.

The Bolars deployed once again in support of OIR in April 2017 for six months as the 492nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS), relieving the 389th EFS. On 8 June, 97-0219 shot down a pro-Syrian Regime Shahed 129 UAV after it had fired upon friendly forces. Another Shahed 129 was shot down on 20 June by 98-0135 after it began advancing on coalition forces. The 492nd EFS were replaced by the Seymour Johnson AFB based 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in October 2017.^[2] Over the course of the deployment, the 492nd flew over 2,000 missions, delivered over 4,000 precision munitions across 11,000 combat flying hours and achieved two air-to-air kills against enemy aircraft.^[10] Because of the squadron's extreme combat effectiveness and achievement of total air dominance in the AO, they were awarded the Raytheon Trophy, a first for any Strike Eagle squadron and multi-role aircraft.^[2]

In May 2019, the 492nd provided dissimilar air combat training for the General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcons of the 93rd Fighter Squadron, who had deployed from Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, to RAF Lakenheath.^[11]

Between July and August 2019, the Bolars deployed to the U.S. with 14 F-15Es, initially to participate in Red Flag 19–3 at Nellis AFB, before spending two weeks at Mountain Home AFB alongside the 366th Fighter Wing for Weapon System Evaluation Program (WSEP) exercises 'Combat Hammer' and 'Combat Archer'.^[12]

While stationed at Chaumont Air Base, France, the Madhatters were seen wearing berets. When they moved to England, the squadron adopted the bowler hat, a traditional English hat with a rounded crown. The tradition of wearing the bowler hat has continued to present day despite the lack of official uniform regulations authorizing such wear. Due to the limit of five characters for a flight callsign, the squadron uses "Bolar" instead of bowler when conducting local flying.

The 48th Fighter Wing official website (www.lakenheath.af.mil) has used the 'Madhatters' nickname in articles dated 2006, 2010, and occasionally since. However, in more recent years (e.g. articles dated 2017, 2020, and 2022), the use of 'Bolars' now appears more common.^[13][14]

The practice of adopting headgear of the various geographic regions the 492nd Fighter Squadron is sent to continues. In Turkey, each deployed Madhatter wears a blue fez hat.

• Constituted as the 55th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 20 November 1940

Activated on 15 January 1941

Redesignated 55th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 28 August 1942

Redesignated 492nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 10 August 1943

Redesignated 492nd Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 30 May 1944

Inactivated on 7 November 1945

• Redesignated 492nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 25 June 1952

Activated on 10 July 1952

Redesignated 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron on 8 July 1958

Redesignated 492nd Fighter Squadron on 1 October 1991^[3]

• 48th Bombardment Group (later 48th Fighter-Bomber Group, 48th Fighter Group), 15 January 1941 – 7 November 1945
• 48th Fighter-Bomber Group, 10 July 1952
• 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing (later 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, 48 Fighter Wing), 8 December 1957 (attached to 48th Fighter Wing [Provisional] 2 September 1990 – 15 March 1991, 7440th Composite Wing, September–December 1991)
• 48th Operations Group, 31 March 1992 – present^[3]

• World War II
• Operation El Dorado Canyon
• Operation Desert Shield
• Operation Desert Storm
• Operation Allied Force
• Operation Enduring Freedom
• Operation Provide Comfort
• Operation Northern Watch
• Operation Inherent Resolve^[3]

Notes

Citations

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Endicott, Judy G. (1998). Active Air Force Wings as of 1 October 1995 and USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B000113MB2. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.