62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

62d Fighter Squadron
F-16 Fighting Falcon of the 62d Fighter Squadron ready for takeoff at Luke AFB
Active	1941–1945; 1946–1971; 1974–1993; 1994–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Fighter Training
Part of	Air Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQ	Luke Air Force Base, Arizona
Nickname(s)	Spike War Dawgs
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
62d Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 18 June 1943) disc added later.

The 62d Fighter Squadron is part of the United States Air Force 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-35A aircraft conducting advanced fighter training.

The 62d Fighter Squadron ("Spikes", Tailband: White & Blue) operates the F-35A Lightning II, conducting pilot training for active duty USAF pilots.

The 62d Fighter Squadron was constituted as the 62d Pursuit Squadron as part of the 56th Pursuit Group at Savannah, Georgia, on 15 January 1941. The squadron immediately began training for its wartime missions under III Fighter Command, rapidly transitioning through the P-35, P-36, P-39, and P-40 aircraft. On 7 December 1941, the 62d stepped up to defend the Northeastern United States from anticipated enemy air attack while it converted to the P-47 aircraft and prepared to deploy overseas, operating under the I Fighter Command, New York Fighter Wing in the early months of 1942.

It was redesignated 62d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942, and deployed to RAF Kings Cliffe (AAF-367), England on 9 January 1943. It was declared operationally ready two months later and flew its first combat missions 13 April. The squadron was given fuselage code "LM" and operated from several RAF stations during the war, flying the P-47C Thunderbolt as an VIII Fighter Command bomber-escort unit for B-17 Flying Fortresses and beginning in 1944 for B-24 Liberators attacking enemy targets in Occupied Europe. After the end of the war in Europe, the squadron demobilized in England, and was inactivated as an administrative unit on 18 October 1945. given