34th Fighter Squadron

34th Fighter Squadron
An F-35A of the 34th FS in February 2016
Active	1944–1946; 1954–1959; 1966–2010, 2015-present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter
Part of	Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force 388th Fighter Wing 388th Operations Group
Nickname(s)	Rude Rams
Decorations	Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat V Device Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Col George R. Watkinsas of 17 July 2015[update]
Notable commanders	Brig Gen Robinson Risner
Insignia
34th Fighter Squadron emblem (Approved 9 November 1945)

The 34th Fighter Squadron is part of the United States Air Force′s 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. On 2 August 2016, the Air Force announced that the 34th had become the first squadron to achieve initial operating capability with the F-35A, the Air Force′s variant of the F-35 Lightning II. With an operational history extending back to World War II, and including the Cold War, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Desert Fox, Operation Noble Eagle, and the Afghanistan War, it had most recently operated F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft on air superiority missions prior to its reactivation as a F-35A squadron.

Conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground operations for daylight and nighttime missions.

The 34th Fighter Squadron (34th FS) was activated at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, on 15 October 1944, flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The squadron served in the final stages of World War II, seeing combat operations in the Western Pacific from May 1945 to August 1946 while it was stationed in the Ryukyu Islands, first on Ie Shima and later on Okinawa.