History of the 36th TFW as told by......

(This text was taken from http://members.aol.com/thudeur2/bitburg.htm)

The red, blue, and yellow colors in the wing's emblem stand for the 22nd, 23rd, and 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadrons, respectively. These three colors were also used, top to bottom with white cheat lines, in the tail stripes of the wing's F-105 Thunderchiefs.

The wing emblem was approved on June 19, 1940, for the 36th Group and on July 17, 1952, for the 36th Wing. The wing motto "Prepared to Prevail" was later approved on August 14, 1979. Under contract with the US, the French Army began construction of what would become Bitburg Air Base in Western Germany's Eifel Mountains in the Rheinland-Pfalz in early 1951. Bitburg Air Base was officially established as a United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) installation on September 1, 1952, after the arrival of the 53rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing (FBW), in July from Furstenfeldbruck AB, Germany. The remainder of the wing (the 22nd and 23rd Fighter-Bomber Squadrons) arrived with their F-84E Thunderjets in November 1952. The 36th FBW had been established as the 36th Fighter Wing (FW) on June 17, 1948, and formally activated on July 2, 1948, at Howard AFB, Canal Zone. The wing was immediated reassigned on August 13, 1948, to Furstenfeldbruck AB, Germany, to begin training with their Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. In May 1949, the 36th FW formed the "Skyblazers" aerial demonstration team to perform at European and Mediterranean area airshows. The 36th FW was redesignated as the 36th FBW on January 20, 1950, and began flying the Republic F-84E Thunderjet that fall. Some of the 36th FBW F-84s carried non-standard markings, such as Wing Commander Col. Bob Scott's 59-2299 with his personal "Flying Tiger" markings -- he had once commanded the 23rd Fighter Wing, whose emblems were on the Thunderjet he regularly flew. In 1953, several of the experienced Skyblazer aircrews formed the initial nucleus of the now world-famous Air Force Thunderbirds, flying Republic F-84G Thunderjets at Luke AFB, AZ. The 36th was designated as a Fighter Day Wing on August 8, 1954, after transitioning to the North American F-86F Sabre and adding two new squadrons, the 32nd Fighter Day Squadron from Soesterberg, NL, and the 461st Fighter Day Squadron from Hahn AB, GE (the 461 FDS was disbanded in 1959 and the 32nd FDS transferred to the 86th FIWing, Ramstein AB, GE, in 1960). At first the 36th's F-86 markings consisted of Korean Theater-styled yellow and black-bordered bands, but squadron-specific colored bands were eventually applied to all the 36th FDW Sabres. By June 1956, the F-100C Super Sabre was being flown by two 36th FDW squadrons and all five of the squadrons were operating "Huns" by the end of the summer. Squadron-specific colored bands were applied to the tail fins of the F-100s, with five tail stripes for the wing commander's aircraft. On May 15, 1958, the 36th FDW was redesignated as the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), with its squadrons redesignated as Tactical Fighter Squadrons, because its missions had now grown to include delivery of tactical nuclear weapons (continual hot standby "Victor Alert" duty) under NCA and SACEUR direction. In 1957, the 525th Fighter Interceptor Squadron became a tenant unit at Bitburg, flying the F-102 Delta Dagger (in 1968, the 525th was officially assigned to the 36th TFW and continued to fly the "deuce" until converting to F-4s a year later). The Skyblazers continued demonstrations with the F-100C until January 1962, when the Thunderbirds got their own "long legs" with the air-refuelable F-100D.

The three squadrons of the 36th TFW began receiving their F-105D Thunderchief fighter-bombers in mid-May 1961. Formal USAFE acceptance of the Mach 2 fighter-bombers was held at the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1961. Deliveries of the F-105D model were completed in 1963, and the 36th carried on its Cold War mission of tactical nuclear weapons delivery. The first of the wing's 2-place F-105Fs arrived in March 1964, and all were on base by the end of the year -- they performed the same roles and missions as the single-seat D models. The F-105s were specifically designed for the nuclear strike role, with the primary armament being a "special store" (a euphemism for a nuclear weapon) housed in the Thud's bomb bay. This weapon was usually a Mk 28 or a Mk 43 nuclear weapon. However, a Mk 61 store could be carried underneath the left or right inboard underwing pylon and a Mk 57 or a Mk 61 store could be carried underneath the centerline pylon. However, as nuclear conflict became less and less likely in the European theater, the nuclear weapon carried in the bomb bay was usually replaced by a 390-gallon internal fuel tank, the offensive load being carried on four underwing pylons and/or on a pylon mounted underneath the fuselage on the centerline (attached to the bomb bay doors).

The Wing's operation of the Thunderchief dwindled in 1966 as new F4D Phantom IIs in European camoflage were delivered from St. Louis to carry on the nuclear delivery mission. By December 1966, all the 36th TFW Thuds had been ferried Stateside for combat crew training duties at McConnell AFB, Kansas, or on to warfighting glory in SEA after stateside refurbishment. In 1969, the 23rd TFS left the 36th TFW and moved to the new 52nd TFW at neighboring Spangdahlem Air Base. The 36th transitioned to the F-15 Eagle in 1977. The 22nd, 53rd, and 525th TFS flew the F-15A until transitioning to C-models in 1981, and then to MSIPed F15Cs during the last half of the decade. In 1992, the 525th "Bulldogs" retired their colors, while the 22nd "Stingers" and 53rd "Tigers" remained at Bitburg Air Base. In July 1993, USAFE announced another in a series of post-Cold War force drawdowns in Europe which directly affected the 36th, now a Fighter Wing (FW) and Bitburg Air Base itself. With the closure of Bitburg planned under the USAFE drawdown, the 22nd and 53rd Fighter Squadrons joined the 23rd FS at Spangdahlem's 52nd Fighter Wing, along with their F-15 aircraft. The 52nd FW also gained Bitburg's 1,200 housing units, its base high school and hospital, and several exchange service and Defense Commissary Agency facilities. In 1994, the 36th Fighter Wing was officially deactivated and the final 36th Wing Commander, Brigadier General Roger E. Carleton, returned Bitburg Air Base to the German nation.

The 36th TFW is honored as the first USAFE wing to introduce the first allied jet fighters in Europe (the F-80 Shooting Star) and the first to convert to the F-84 (1950), F-86 (1953), F-100 (1956), F-102 (1959), F-105 (1961), F4 (1966), and F15 (1977) aircraft in the European theater. Periods of aircraft employment by the 36th TFW in Europe: F-51D 1944-1948; F-80 1948-1950; F-84E 1950-1953; F-86F 1953-1956; F-100D/F 1956-1960; F-102D (525th FIS as an air base tenant) 1959- 1968; F-105D/F 1961-1966; F4D/E 1966-1977; and F15 1977-1994.