(Reproduction patch) Established as 81st Fighter Wing on 15 April 1948 and activated on 1 May at Wheeler Air Force Base, Hawaii under the Hobson Plan. The 81st Wing commanded the functions of both the support groups as well as the flying combat 81st Fighter Group and the squadrons assigned to it. The 81st Fighter Wing conducted air defense of Hawaii, December 1948 Ð May 1949 when operations at Wheeler were curtailed, the 81st being transferred to the Tactical Air Command Twelfth Air Force and being stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM. The wing was attached to the Air Defense Command (ADC) Western Air Defense Force on 19 January 1950. Shortly afterwards, on 29 April, the 81st was reassigned to Moses Lake Air Force Base, Washington and transferred to ADC’s Fourth Air Force, its mission changed from training for worldwide deployment under TAC to performing air defense of Eastern Washington, primarily the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. This is a reproduction patch created at request by AV8RSTUFF and does not come with velcro attached.
