561st Weapons Squadron (original) (raw)

dbo:abstract

The 561st Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The squadron was the last United States Air Force unit to fly the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II on operational missions. The last Republic F-105 Thunderchief shot down in the Vietnam War was from the 561st. The squadron was originally activated during World War II as the 561st Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The squadron was twice awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat actions. Following V-E Day, it returned to the United States and was inactivated. The squadron was briefly active in the reserve in the late 1940s, but does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped. The squadron was redesignated the 561st Fighter-Bomber Squadron and activated in 1953. It moved to Europe, but was inactivated in 1957, when it was replaced by another unit. It was activated again as the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1962. It conducted frequent deployments, but focused on training pilots for operations in Southeast Asia. Elements of the squadron participated in combat there, although the squadron remained in the United States. From 1973, it conducted Wild Weasel training. It deployed crews and planes to Southwest Asia during Desert Storm and maintained elements there until inactivating in 1996. It was activated in its current role in 2007. (en)

dbo:activeYearsEndYear

1945-01-01 (xsd:gYear)

dbo:activeYearsStartYear

1942-01-01 (xsd:gYear)

dbo:battle

dbo:commandStructure

dbr:Air_Combat_Command

dbo:country

dbr:United_States

dbo:garrison

dbr:Nellis_Air_Force_Base

dbo:identificationSymbol

150px

dbo:role

Tactics development

dbo:thumbnail

wiki-commons:Special:FilePath/Air_Combat_Command.png?width=300

dbo:wikiPageExternalLink

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4681122 (xsd:integer)

dbo:wikiPageLength

28732 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger)

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1071205015 (xsd:integer)

dbo:wikiPageWikiLink

dbp:awardDate

0001-02-02 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-03-01 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-04-01 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-04-06 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-05-22 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-06-01 (xsd:gMonthDay)
0001-07-26 (xsd:gMonthDay)
1943-08-17 (xsd:date)

dbp:awardImage

AF MUA (en)
AF OUA (en)
AF OUA w/ v (en)
AF PUC (en)
VGC (en)

dbp:awardName

dbr:Gallantry_Cross_(Vietnam)
dbr:Air_Force_Meritorious_Unit_Award
dbr:Distinguished_Unit_Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (en)
Distinguished Unit Citation (en)
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award w/Combat "V" Device (en)

dbp:awardNotes

561 (xsd:integer)
Hannover, Brux, England to Soviet Union, 561st Bombardment Squadron (en)
Germany, 561st Bombardment Squadron (en)

dbp:battles

dbp:caption

561 (xsd:integer)

dbp:commandStructure

dbr:Air_Combat_Command

dbp:dates

1942 (xsd:integer)

dbp:decorations

dbr:Distinguished_Unit_Citation
dbr:Republic_of_Vietnam_Gallantry_Cross
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device (en)
Air Force Outstanding Unit AwardAir Force Meritorious Unit Award (en)

dbp:garrison

dbr:Nellis_Air_Force_Base

dbp:identificationSymbol

150 (xsd:integer)

dbp:identificationSymbol2Label

561 (xsd:integer)

dbp:identificationSymbol3Label

561 (xsd:integer)

dbp:identificationSymbol4Label

Patch with 561st Bombardment Squadron emblem (en)

dbp:identificationSymbolLabel

561 (xsd:integer)

dbp:imageSize

300 (xsd:integer)

dbp:nickname

Smug Tigers Black Knights (en)

dbp:role

Tactics development (en)

dbp:unitName

561 (xsd:integer)

dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate

dct:subject

rdf:type

rdfs:comment

The 561st Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The squadron was the last United States Air Force unit to fly the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II on operational missions. The last Republic F-105 Thunderchief shot down in the Vietnam War was from the 561st. (en)

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