World War II The 20th was one of the original
squadrons of the
35th Pursuit Group and trained in California with the
group, flying
Curtiss P-36 Hawks. At the end of 1940, the squadron departed for the Philippines and assignment to the
Philippine Department's flying element there, the
4th Composite Group and was equipped with obsolescent
Boeing P-26 Peashooters. The squadron re-equipped with
Curtiss P-40B Warhawks. In 1971, the West German government chose the
F-4 Phantom II as a replacement for its Lockheed
F-104G Starfighter interceptors. The version purchased (F-4F) was a stripped-down version of the USAF F-4E, which was significantly cheaper and incorporated major components that were manufactured in West Germany. As part of the purchase, an agreement was made between the West German government and the United States for the USAF to conduct basic F-4 transition and instructor training. Initially equipped with USAF F-4E aircraft, training began for the German pilots in the spring of 1973. Later, as the F-4F was put into production by McDonnell, the F-4Es were replaced with twelve West German F-4Fs were that were given the unofficial designation of TF-4F while they were being used to train Luftwaffe crews in the United States. The Luftwaffe F-4Fs were operated with US national markings and given USAF tailcodes. These planes were replaced in 1978 by ten F-4Es purchased by the West German government specifically for training in the United States, and the Luftwaffe F-4Fs were then returned to West Germany. Training at George ended on 5 June 1992 as part of the drawdown of the 35th Fighter Wing. George AFB was designated to be closed under BRAC '91, and the base was officially decommissioned in December 1992. The 20th was inactivated, and the training was reassigned to the
9th Fighter Squadron,
49th Operations Group at
Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. At the time of the transfer, the Luftwaffe owned seven of the F-4Fs, and the 20th owned 17 F-4Es. On 1 July 1993, the 20th was reactivated with the 9th and was reassigned to fly the
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter when it arrived at Holloman. By this time the 20th was flying German F-4E/ICF and F-4F/ICE (Improved Combat Efficiency) Phantom IIs with upgraded radar and other avionics. In the 1990s, the 20th Fighter Squadron also hosted the German Air Force Weapons School, and the leadership consisted of both a US and German Lieutenant Colonel. The Luftwaffe began to operate former East German
MiG-29s, and several of these aircraft from JG 73 were flown to New Mexico to train with the F-4Fs of the 20th. and its aircraft were transferred to the
Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center. The first arrival, 72-1118, was delivered by Col. Kevin Zeeck on 18 November. The second, 72-1218, arrived at the base two days later. The remaining 14 F-4s arrived at AMARC by the second week of January 2005 in 4 further waves. The 20th Fighter Squadron was the last operational United States Air Force squadron to fly the F-4 Phantom II. The last of the Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom IIs in Germany were retired on 30 June 2013 by JG 71, although four aircraft remain in service for aerial demonstrations. ==Lineage==