301st Fighter Squadron

301st Fighter Squadron
301st F-22 Raptor over the Nevada Test and Training Range during Red Flag 11-3, March 2011
Active	1942–1945; 1947–1949; 1958–1969; 2000 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter
Role	Training
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command Tenth Air Force 301st Fighter Wing 44th Fighter Group
Garrison/HQ	Tyndall AFB, Florida
Motto(s)	First - Tops (1958–1969)
Engagements	Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Col Andrew Lyons
Insignia
301st Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 29 June 1945)

The 301st Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 325th Operations Group, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It is an associate unit of the active duty 325th Fighter Wing.

The squadron was first activated as the 301st Fighter Squadron during World War II as part of the famous Tuskegee Airmen. It saw combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions. The squadron was inactivated in 1945, but activated again at Lockbourne Army Air Base, Ohio in 1947. It was inactivated in 1949 after President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 ending segregation in the Armed Forces, and its personnel reassigned to other units.

In 1958 USAF activated the 901st Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It performed air refueling and deployed to the Pacific to support operations in Southeast Asia until it was inactivated eleven years later. In 1985 the 301st was consolidated with this unit.

In 1999, the consolidated unit was again designated the 301st Fighter Squadron and activated as a fighter pilot training squadron with General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons at Luke Air Force Base. In 2007 it moved from Luke to Holloman and assumed a combat mission, flying the F-22 Raptor. In 2014, the Squadron moved, along with the rest of Holloman's F-22 fleet, to Tyndall Air Force Base.