What was the greatest FIS in the USAF? (Read 6,938 times)

Come on "Dude" your taking the fun out of this thread.




I fully agree.

It is almost like shooting fish in a barrel when you have to state the obvious, the 49th at the Griff was the greatest FIS in the U.S.
It has recently been disclosed by the Military Channel that an SR-71 was temporarily housed in the RADC Hanger (Rome Air Development) during the 1973 Middle East War. The plane made the long flight from the Griff to the war zone several times.
Although the 106 boys were not brought into the loop, it did not keep me from being curious. I finally asked a question in a round about way "if the plane were to be going to the Middle East, wouldn't it be smarter fly out of a closer base"? I was told the 49th FIS crews were highly professional and could keep a secret. There was an apparent concern for security if the plane had been parked anywhere else.
As things progressed, some of us were placed on primary deployment, our bags were packed and we were ready to go. Obviously, this is not what the bad guys in Egypt and Syria wanted to hear......the 49 FIS is loading up to win the war. Although it is still taught in schools that Israel and the Arabs come to a peace accord, the truth can now be revealed. The threat of F-106's bearing down on them was just too much to bear, and they wanted no part of it. No doubt, the Military Channel will be covering this part of the story sooner, rather than later. We were also the most humble.
Burt McKee USAF :

I'd have to say the 71st FIS...Good showing against the F4Es at Nellis in ACT in '67 or '68 (beginning of Red Flag?), Naha/Osan in '68/'69 (1st on the scene of the C-118 shot down by the N.Koreans) and the winner of the Hughes Trophy in '69 (6 years ahead of the 318th, I might add), see the (VERY poor quality) video of the flyby of 16-106s on this site. (I shot the 8mm, wish we had video back then)

I would have to say 84 FIS at Hamilton AFB, It was a great time and a great place to be!

The only FIS I was assigned to with the Six was the 539th FIS McGuire AFB NJ. We had Lt Col Guy Hurst Jr, who then made Col as our Sq Commander. He was 6'4" and was told by All egress folks that if he tried to eject his legs would be cut off above the knee's. He still flew them. When 539th closed in Aug 1967 I was transferred to ADC Weapons Center Tyndall AFB. Most of the 539th folks went to 95th FIS Dover along with a fair share of our birds. Both 539/95 were "round Eyes" squadrons and they were a lot different from Vertical Instrument Birds. So when I got to Tyndall I became the Round Eye, B Model specialist. I had been MA-1 Chief on 2532 at McGuire and it went to Tyndall as well.
After I returned to Tyndall from supporting 318th FIS at Osan I was assigned to debriefing for 6 months to allow my hearing to improve. I met a couple great Pilots through debriefing.
Brig Gen Guy "Hondo" Hurst came back through after serving 24 months in SEA to refresh back into six. He was IG at HQ ADC then. He remembered me from 539th and took MSgt Jim Neece (my MA-1 Chief from 539th) and I out for a couple drinks one night before he left.
Another pilot of destinction coming back through on six was Major Bernie Fisher. The same Major Fisher who was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing his downed wingman in A1E.
So I can call 539th the best permanent Sq and 318th as best supported Sq in F-106 for me.

the 539th, JUST BECAUSE

but they misspelled 1 wrong??

Gary, they got the "i" upside down...

And the 49th is still the best...

I can't say which FIS was the best, but I can say which of the two I was in was the better. I was in the 87th at Duluth and the 5th at Minot between 1969-73. While I was in Duluth, the 87th failed two ORIs in a row. LTC-type heads rolled and we finally passed the third ORI. Barely. I get sent to Minot when the 87th went to KI Sawyer, and damned if the 5th wasn't getting ready for an ORI! We passed that one with flying colors! Life was good after that.

Poor lil' ole me! A first-termer who went through four ORIs in four years! That experience affected my attitude toward ORIs for the rest of my career in the VA Air Guard. I never got caught up in "ORI fever" again after Minot, much to my bosses' constarnation. But that's another story!

In my day, the 5th was the best FIS there was. We sure had it better than the SAC folks at MIB did!