The 421FS is part of the 388FW at Hill Air Force Base, UT. It operates the Block 40 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions. The squadron is one of the most decorated fighter squadrons in the USAF, being awarded 3 Presidential Unit Citations and 7 Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards for Valor in Combat. The unit was originally formed as the 421st Night Fighter Squadron in 1943. After training, it was deployed to Fifth Air Force and ordered to New Guinea to provide air defense interceptor protection against Japanese night air raids on USAAF airfields. It later served on Okinawa and in Occupied Japan where it was inactivated in 1947. It was reactivated by TAC in 1962 as the 421TFS. Equipped with F-105 Thunderchiefs, it deployed to Southeast Asia and engaged in combat operations over North Vietnam. It returned to the US and was re-equipped with the F-4D Phantom II and returned to Southeast Asia for a second and later third tour of duty in the Vietnam War. It was one of the first USAF Squadrons equipped with the F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1980 and went on to serve in the 1991 Gulf War. This is the gray version of the 421FS patch with the black ‘CUT’ edge border (found in a little local Korean embroidery shop and does not come with velcro attached, but does have that “theater-made” feel to it.
