Combat aircraft

A three-ship of

JDAM-toting

F-15Es from

the 4th Fighter

Wing  ies

over Roanoke

Island, near the

Outer Banks,

North Carolina,

during a mission

from Seymour

Johnson AFB.

same spirit that’s in our DNA today as we

 ght ISIS [so-called Islamic State, IS].’

Sage oversees more than half of the

USAF’s total Strike Eagle force, with an

impressive four active-duty squadrons

being located here — two training units

and two operational squadrons. ‘It’s

about preparing our two operational

squadrons to go down-range — one

squadron is deploying as we speak —

as well as being the schoolhouse for

all F-15E crews’, he says. ‘We also have

a mission partner on our base in the

916th Aerial Refueling Wing that  ies

the KC-135, and which was recently

selected to get the new Boeing KC-46

[Pegasus].’

Strike force

One of the last bastions of the Phantom

II in the active-duty force, the 4th TFW

began switching out its F-4Es in favor

of brand-new F-15Es in 1988. Strike

Eagles with ‘SJ’ tailcodes began arriving

here in December of that year, and

the 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron

‘Rocketeers’ became the  rst operational

F-15E squadron as the wing led the way

as the initial Strike Eagle wing. It was

something of a baptism of  re when

the wing was tasked to deploy two

squadrons into combat before it had

even reached full capacity. Seymour

Johnson’s new F-15Es were among

the  rst units to head eastbound in

response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on

August 2, 1990.

The ‘Rocketeers’ immediately

dispatched 12 F-15Es from Seymour

Johnson to Thumrait, Oman, before they

moved forward to Prince Sultan Air Base

(PSAB), Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia. By January

16, 1991, the 335th TFS ‘Chiefs’ were

established alongside the ‘Rocketeers’ at

PSAB and poised for action.

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