World War II The squadron was activated on 1 May 1943, as the 421st Night Fighter Squadron, in
Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. After several months of training with
Douglas P-70 Havoc night fighters, the squadron was deployed to the Southwest Pacific, arriving at
Milne Bay,
Papua New Guinea, and assumed duty with the 5th Fighter Command,
5th Air Force, in the Southwest Pacific. The squadron and its detachments moved several times throughout New Guinea providing cover for
U.S. Army assault landings, shipping
reconnaissance while protecting the various new air bases. Fifteen years later, on 8 July 1962, the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated and named a tactical fighter squadron with the
355th Tactical Fighter Wing at
George Air Force Base, California. It was equipped with the
Republic F-105D Thunderchief, a large heavy supersonic fighter-bomber. Once training was completed with the aircraft at George, the squadron and its wing was moved to its permanent duty station,
McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. At McConnell, the wing took on a
NATO commitment, its mission being the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons in case of a war in Europe. After attaining combat readiness in the F-16, the 421 TFS was tasked to provide formal training for pilots transitioning to the F-16. In November 1981, the squadron deployed to Egypt where it trained
Egyptian pilots in
exercise Bright Star. From 1 July 1982, until 1 January 1983, the 421 TFS had trained pilots from Britain, Egypt, and Pakistan, as well as U.S. pilots. In 1983 the squadron formally became a Replacement Training Unit. Squadron deployment locations in the 1980s included Egypt, Oman, Norway, Italy, Ecuador, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. By the beginning of 1984 the 421st TFS dropped the training role completely leaving the
16th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron as the sole training unit at Hill AFB. During the 1980s the 421st was tasked with conventional air-to-ground and attack. Since the importance of the squadron for this task, newer, updated aircraft came to the squadron that were better designed for the mission than the initial group of F-16s. By 1983 the squadron was completely converted to the block 15 aircraft. On 30 August 1990, the squadron deployed to the
Persian Gulf in support of
Operations Desert Shield and
Desert Storm. On 20 March 1991, the 421st redeployed to its home at Hill Air Force Base after distinguishing itself by flying 1,300 combat sorties (1,200 at night) without any losses or battle damage. Since then, the 421st FS has deployed around the world in support of various operations, including
Operations Southern Watch,
Northern Watch, and
Noble Eagle. A USAF mishap investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was pilot error, finding that Houghton's inexperience and apparent disorientation during the strafing run caused him to fly the aircraft into the ground.
2013 Sequestration Air Combat Command officials announced a stand down and reallocation of flying hours for the rest of the fiscal year 2013 due to mandatory budget cuts. The across-the board spending cuts, called sequestration, took effect 1 March when Congress failed to agree on a deficit-reduction plan. Squadrons either stood down on a rotating basis or kept combat ready or at a reduced readiness level called "basic mission capable" for part or all of the remaining months in fiscal 2013. This affected the 421st Fighter Squadron with a reduction of its flying hours, placing it into a basic mission capable status from 5 April-30 September 2013. ==Lineage==