Mission:
The mission of the 706th Fighter Squadron, located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is to seamlessly integrate Reserve Airmen into the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center high-end test and training mission.
Background:
The squadron was first activated as the 706th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on April 1, 1943, at Davis Monthan Field, Ariz., and equipped with the B-24.
The squadron was relocated to Flixton Field, England, later that year. It participated in 1,817 missions in the European Theater of Operations during World War II including initial bombing raids supporting the Normandy landings on D-Day. The squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated in August 1945.
The squadron was reactivated under the Air Force Reserve on March 26, 1948, and redesignated the 706th Troop Carrier Squadron, equipped with C-45, C-46, C-119 and C-130 aircraft.
The 706 TCS relocated to New Orleans Naval Air Station, New Orleans, La., in 1961. The unit was redesignated the 706th Tactical Fighter Squadron on April 1, 1978, and transitioned to the A-37.
The squadron upgraded to the A-10 Warthog in 1981, and was activated for Operation DESERT STORM where it had the first A-10 air-to-air victory, downing an Iraqi helicopter.
On February 1, 1992 the unit was redesignated the 706th Fighter Squadron and transitioned to F-16s and deployed three years later to Italy in support of Operation DELIBERATE FORCE. Upon returning to Louisiana in 1996, the squadron transitioned to the A-10 and then the OA-10. The squadron remained in New Orleans Naval Air Station, New Orleans, La. until 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the Base Realignment and Closure Commission relocated the squadron to Nellis Air Force Base in 2007.
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(Current as of May 2021)