Hahn Air Base - 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing

50th Fighter-Bomber Wing

These two "Deuces" are from the 526th FIS out of Ramstein AB Germany(which is what the original caption states!)as witness the

knight on horseback insignia on their fins. With most of the construction completed by mid-1953, the primary mission of the Hahn Air Base was the reception of the 50th Fighter Bomber Wing. The aircraft was deployed to Hahn from Clovis AFB New Mexico during Operation Fox Able 20 on 10 August 1953. This marked the first mass flight of an entire tactical wing from the U.S. to continental Europe.

The operational squadrons of the 50th FBW were:

• 10th Fighter-Bomber (dark blue stripes)
• 81st Fighter-Bomber (yellow/black stripes)
• 417th Fighter-Bomber (red stripes)

The 417th FBS was commanded for a time by Chuck Yeager.

The 81st flew the North American F-86F Sabre, with squadron markings of dark blue for the 10th, yellow for the 81st and red for the 417th. The wing conducted tactical operations in support of USAF, NATO, and U.S. Army forces. In the autumn of 1955, the wing was upgraded to the F-86H.

The primary mission of the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons against Warsaw Pact forces in the event of an invasion of Western Europe. Its secondary missions were tactical air defense and support for NATO ground forces.

Due to the vulnerability of West Germany to Soviet attack, USAF planners did not want their tactical nuclear weapons in locations that could be quickly overrun by Warsaw Pact forces. When construction was completed at Toul-Rosières Air Base France, the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was moved there on 17 July 1956.