The 355th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated on April 13, 1962 at George AFB, CA. From there the wing moved to McConnell AFB, KS in July of 1964. It is from here that the wing started deploying squadrons TDY overseas. On November 8, 1965 the wing moved to Takhli RTAFB, Thailand.
The wing earned its first of three Presidential Unit Citations for action from January 1, 1966 to October 10, 1966. During this time period the wing flew 11,892 sorties, downed 2 MiG's and damaged 8 more.
On March 10, 1967 Captain Max Brestel shot down 2 MiG-17's for the first double kill. October 8, 1967 was also a good day for the wing. Pilots from the wing shot down 2 Mi-6 and 4-Mi-4 helicopters. October 24, 1967 the wing attacked and left unserviceable the air field at Phuc Yen 18 miles north of Hanoi and the largest in North Vietnam. Prior to the raid, the air field had been untouched. December 14, 1967 the wing attacked and downed the Paul Doumer bridge.
Detachment 1, 428th TFS arrived on March 17, 1968 to conduct combat test and evaluation of the new F-111's. Their first mission was flown on March 25th. Operations were suspended on March 30th after the lost of a second aircraft. Operations resumed on April 12th with a third aircraft lost on April 22.
By April 1968 the wing had accumalated 100,000 combat hours. In May 1968, the F-105 known as "Baby Doll" had reached 3,500 hours
In January 1970, the wing receievd its second Presidential Unit Citation for action from August 11-12, 1967 and October 24-28, 1967. The third Presidential Unit Citation was awarded in July 1970 for action from April 12, 1968 to April 30, 1969. During this time frame, the wing dropped 32,000 tons of ordinance on 2,100 targets while flying 17,000 combat sorties.
The wing's last F-105 combat mission of the war was "DINO" flight led by Col. Waymond C. Nutt. The mission was an airstrike in Laos. The wing was deactivated on December 10, 1970. Since arriving in November 1965, the 355th flew 101,304 sorties logging 263,650 hours, dropped 202,596 tons of ordinance on 12,675 targets, and shot down 19 MiG's.
If you have any historical information, photo's, or personal stories related to the F-105's of the 355th TFW that you would like to share with me, please e-mail me at [email protected].
The F-105 program was a private venture by Republic as a continuation of its F-84F Thunderstreak series of aircraft. Conceived as a supersonic nuclear tactical strike fighter under the project name AP-63, the F-105 was to be powered by an Allison J71 engine, which was later updated to the Pratt & Whitney J57. In March 1952, Republic submitted its design to the Department of Defense and was awarded a contract followed in March 1953 with an order for 37 aircraft to be designated the XF-105A0. This order was later reduced to 15 with delivery to be in November 1955. With changing requirements, the Pratt & Whitney J57 engine was replaced with the Pratt & Whitney J75 and redesignated the YF-105B in August 1954. Of the original 15 aircraft, 3 were to be the RB-105B reconnaissance version. Due to further DoD changes, these 3 were completed as JF-105's to be used as instructional aircraft.
The first test flight of YF-105A (54-0098) was on October 22, 1955 and the pilot was Russell M. "Rusty" Roth. May 26, 1956 saw the first test flight of the F-105B-1RE (54-0100) production version with the delivery of the first F-105B-6RE (54-0111) to the 335TFS/4TFW on May 26, 1958. The 334TFS and the 336TFS also received the F-105B's while the 333TFS was the first to be equipped with the new "D" model. A total of 75 "B" models were built.
The "D" model variant saw the addition of the APN-131 Doppler airborne navigation system, the ASG-19 fire control system, and a Bendix toss bomb computer. The main visible change was the 15-inch nose extension on which the pitot tube was mounted. The J75-P-19W water-injected engine was also added.
A two seat trainer variant F-105C was started using the airframe of JF-105 (54-0105) but was halted due to high costs and the two seat all weather fighter-bomber variant F-105E was initiated but quickly stopped with those under construction being completed as "D" models.
The USAF accepted the F-105F two-seat trainer/tactical fighter version and 143 were ordered. The F-105F was lengthened by 2 feet to accommodate the second cockpit. The first F-105F (62-4412) flew on July 11, 1963. With poor visibility from the rear cockpit, the "F" model was not practical for conventional training purposes. However the value of the "F" model became apparent in SEA as a "Wild Weasel" in its SAM suppression role.
In all, 833 F-105's were built. Broken down by model: 2 YF-105's, 3 JF-105's, 75 "B", 610 "D" and 143 "F" models.
No other aircraft, USAF or Navy, carried more ordinance or flew more strike missions into North Vietnam than the F-105.
Information obtained from the book, "Profile #226" by Theodore W. Van Geffen.
 | 355th TFW Links Page |
| EB-66 Destroyer Era |
| A-7D Corsair II Era |
| A-10 Thunderbolt II Era |
| 355th TFW MIA/KIA Honor Roll |
| 355th TFW History |
| My Photo Gallery |
| Air Force Photo's |
| Photo's from the Troops |
| Someone is looking for you |
| 355th TFW 1998 Reunion |
| 355th TFW Reunion Page |
| 355th TFW Patch Page |
Links to Web sites related to the F-105 Thunderchief
THUD RIDGE WEB River Rats Home Page Wild Weasels Home Page Dick Williams' Takhli RTAFB Page
Mr. Theo Van Geffen has also asked me for assistance in writing the history of the F-105 Thunderchief. Mr. Van Geffen has written a book called Profile #226 about the F-105, was the first program speaker at the THUD-OUT program at Hill AFB on February 25, 1984 and the last F-105 backseater when he flew aircraft 63-8261 from Hill AFB to Little Rock, AR. He is looking for information on the F-105 in action in Southeast Asia. He is looking for MiG kills, losses, artwork, squadron markings, TDY's, Wild Weasels, photo's, etc. If you wish to help Mr Van Geffen you can contact him at
� 1998 [email protected]
This page was last updated on December 2, 2007
You are visitor #
Since April 2, 1998
Get your own Free Home Page