Lt Col Harry E. McAfee, c. Aug 1946; Maj Walter J. Overend, Sep 1946; Lt Col William P. McBride, c. Jan 1947; Maj Walter J. Overend, Jul 1948; Maj Walter G. Benz, Oct 1948-unkn; Lt Col William P. McBride, unkn-c. 1 May 1950; Capt Richard F. Jones, 1 May 1950-unkn; Maj Delynn E. Anderson, unkn; Maj George N. Lunsford, by Jun 1951; Maj Harry H. Moreland, 1 Nov 1951; Lt Col Cleo M. Bishop, 18 Feb 1952; Lt Col James E. Hill, 1 Mar 1955; Maj Allan S. Harte, 30 Apr 1956; Lt Col William H. Holt, c. Jul 1958; Lt Col Edwin J. Rackham, by 30 Jun 1960; Lt Col William F. Georgi, 6 Jul 1961; Lt Col John C. Bartholf, 5 Jul 1963; Lt Col John E. Madison, 5 Jun 1965; Lt Col John C. Galgan Jr., by 30 Jun 1966; Lt Col Robert L. Jones, 9 May 1967; Lt Col Robert E. Darlington, 29 Jul 1968; Lt Col Fred W. Gray, 24 Jan 1970; Lt Col David B. Hubbard, 10 Dec 1971; Lt Col John S. Rumph, Sep 1972 (acting); Lt Col David B. Hubbard, c. 28 Nov 1972; Lt Col John S. Rumph, Mar 1973; Lt Col Harry Pawlik, 1 Jun 1974; Lt Col George F. Houck Jr., 16 Jun 1975; Lt Col John D. Phillips, 22 Jun 1976; Lt Col Howard W. Nixon, 26 Sep 1977; Lt Col Grady H. Reed III, c. 28 Aug 1979; Lt Col Frank B. Pyne, 28 Jan 1980; Lt Col John G. Lorber, 9 May 1980; Lt Col Joseph N. Narsavage Jr., c. 17 Jun 1982; Lt Col Peter A. Granger, 1 Jun 1984; Lt Col Steven R. Emory, 29 May 1987; Lt Col Larry G. Carter, 19 Feb 1988; Lt Col Steven A. Mires, 12 Jan 1990; Lt Col Mark A. Hyatt, 14 Sep 1991-30 Jun 1993. On D-Day, the 79th mass-launched 180 sorties for five consecutive days, protecting Allied ships involved with the invasion at Normandy, France. Evidently included JN-4, JN-6, and perhaps S-4 during 1918. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. Reviewed byDaniel Haulman, An official website of the United States government, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. The squadron was reactivated in November, The squadron was organized Feb. 20 1918, as the 77th Aero Squadron at Waco Field, Texas. Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, and Chief Master Sgt. Avionics technicians are responsible for testing and troubleshooting avionic components of aircraft systems at all levels of maintenance. It conducts helicopter air refueling, airdrop, and . One of the changes Shaw spearheaded is reorganizing the 20th Maintenance Groups aircraft maintenance units into fighter generation squadrons that correspond with their respective fighter squadron brethren. The squadron saw combat during World War II, and became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) during the Cold War. The squadron is one of three F-16 units assigned to the 20th Fighter Wing, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., under the direction of Headquarters 9th Air Force/U.S. "79th Aero Squadron" redirects here. [4], Air Combat Command officials announced a stand down and reallocation of flying hours for the rest of the fiscal year 2013 due to mandatory budget cuts. The squadron then moved to Langley Air Force Base, VA, transitioning to the jet age with the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. The unit inactivated from November 1918 until April 1933, when it became the 79th Pursuit Squadron, flying the Boeing P-12 at Barksdale Field, La. Because they had no regular personnel they were still considered inactive in the regular army. Sgt. The Gallant Unit Citation is awarded to units for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy of the United States while engaged in . Biggs Field, TX, 29 Jul 1946; Shaw Field, SC, c. 25 Oct 1946; Langley AFB, VA, 19 Nov 1951-22 May 1952; Woodbridge RAF, England, 1 Jun 1952; RAF Upper Heyford, England, c. 15 Jan 1970-30 Jun 1993 (deployed at Incirlik AB, Turkey, 23 Oct 1990-28 Feb 1991).