Vol. III No. 49                        Mountain Home, Idaho                        December 13, 1968 

417^th TFS to deploy for NATO exercise 

          The 417^th will return to its German-based NATO home for the first of a series of annual exercises, according to Pentagon officials.  The announcement, made Friday morning, indicated that the 417^th, which is dual-based here, as well as three fighter squadrons from Holloman AFB N.M., and 12,000 Army troops would return in early 1969, probably in January or February. According to Clark M. Clifford, Secretary of Defense, the Air Force units totaling 3,500 men will combine with the Army units to participate in an exercise that will test the responsiveness of the NATO units dual-based in the United states and Germany.  Col. Joseph Schreiber, 67^th TRW Commander at the base, said that the 417^th personnel were preparing the move.  “We recently successfully deployed the 22^nd TRS, a NATO dual-based unit to Germany.  We now look forward to sending the 417^th NATO dual-based squadron to Europe.  All the men in the squadron are eager to complete this mission.  Pentagon spokesman stated that after completion of the exercise, the Air Force units will stay in Germany for an additional short training session.

            In addition to the 417^th TFS, the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th TFS’s from Holloman AFB, two brigades of the 24^th Infantry, the 2^nd Squadron of the 3^rd Calvary Corps and various signal, medical and support units will be involved in the exercise.

The 417^th TFS celebrated its 25^th anniversary in Ramstein, Germany in February.   The decorated and celebrated 417^th, which became part of the 67^th TRW this summer, was originally designated as the 417^th Night Fighter Squadron on February 17, 1943.  One of the first night fighter squadrons to be formed by the Army Air corps, the 417^th was given British Beaufighters while stationed at Scorton, England.  Later in 1943 the squadron was assigned the mission of keeping the skies of southern Spain clear of German aircraft.  A year later the 417^th began defensive operations around northern Italy and southern France, and gained the additional responsibility of offensive maneuvers against the enemy.

            For 18 months after the war, pilots of the 417^th were assigned to test captured aircraft at bases throughout Europe.  Then, on Nov. 9^th 1946, the squadron was deactivated at Fritzlar, near Kassel, Germany.   The unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for night fighter defensive operations over Marseilles during the invasion of southern France.

            In keeping with its defensive roles, the 417^th choose a squadron patch depicting a pilot and radar observer, mounted on a broom, sweeping the night skies clear of the enemy.  This crest, adopted in 1945, was replaced in 1953 by a patch showing a ghost riding on an air-to-ground rocket, representing surprise.              This second, and current crest is descriptive of the mission assigned to the 417^th in 1954, when it was re-activated as a fighter-bomber squadron to aid tactical air forces during the Korean war.  After the war, the squadron moved to Hahn AB, Germany, as part of the 50^th Fighter Bomber Group.  The pilots flew Sabres for more than four years, then were given F-100 Super sabers.

            The move to its Ramstein location came in December of 1959.  While there, the 417^th TFS distinguished itself by maintaining a 91% in-commission rate over a 6 month period.  This was an Air Force record for century-series aircraft at that time.  In November of 1966, the squadron was given the F-4D Phantom II, which they now fly.

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