Twenty Years at Misawa: The 35th Fighter Wing

  • Published
  • By Dr. Richard Clark
  • History Office, 35th Fighter Wing
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  October 1, 2014 is an important day in the history of Misawa Air Base, Japan.  Twenty years ago today, the 35th Fighter Wing activated and assumed base operations for Misawa and command of the 13th and 14th Fighter Squadrons.  The very same day, the Air Force created five new units -- the 35th Contracting Squadron, the 35th Medical Operations Squadron, the 35th Aerospace Medical Squadron, the 35th Dental Squadron, and the 35th Medical Support Squadron -- whose mission was to support wing operations at Misawa.

In honor of the last 20 years of honorable service at Misawa Air Base, the 35th Fighter Wing History Office presents twenty quick facts about Misawa Air Base:

(1) In 1996, the 35th Fighter Wing changed its tail flash from "MJ" for Misawa, Japan to "WW" for Wild Weasel.

(2) During the construction of the current base hospital in 1991, construction workers found an unexploded, 500-pound bomb from World War II.

(3) The Misawa Golf Course opened for business in August 1955.

(4) A midair collision over the Misawa Air Base flight line in 1949 resulted in two deaths, damage to 16 aircraft, and the destruction of seven aircraft.

(5) The F-4C aircraft on display in Risner Circle scored the first United States Air Force aerial victory of the Vietnam War.

(6) The Japanese Imperial Navy trained kamikaze pilots in a flight school located at Security Hill.

(7) The all-time, top-ace of the 35th Fighter Wing is Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J. Lynch with 20 aerial victories.

(8) Sollars Elementary School is named for Lieutenant Colonel John A. Sollars, who died in1961 after ejecting from his F-100 Super Sabre near Matsushima Air Base.

(9) Bullet holes in the superstructure of the Weasel's Den are most likely the result of U.S. attacks on Misawa Air Base in 1945.

(10) The first flight line at Misawa Air Base was a triangle.  The reason for the configuration is unclear, but it may have allowed multiple aircraft to stand alert at the same time or for safer operations under changing wind conditions.

(11) The first American troops arrived at Misawa Air Base under the command of Captain Davis K. Stark, commander of the 32nd Army Engineering Construction Group.

(12) The 9001st Aircraft Control and Warning Group was the first Japan Air Self Defense Force unit at Misawa.  The group activated on October 1, 1954 in Operation Cherry Blossom.  2014 is the 60th anniversary of the activation of the first Japan Air Self Defense Force unit at Misawa.

(13) Misawa Air Base served as the hub for the United States response to the shoot-down of Korean Airliner 007 in 1983.

(14) Before being renamed Draughon Range in 2003, the facility was know as Amagamori Range and, later, Ripsaw Range.

(15) Louis Armstrong performed three shows in the Misawa Air Base Gymnasium in December 1953.

(16) The F-86 on display in Risner Circle has Japanese markings on one-side and United States markings on the other.  The dual markings represent the bilateral friendship of Japanese and Americans at Misawa Air Base.

(17) The Emperor of Japan visited Misawa Air Base on May 22, 1963.

(18) A small kitchen fire close to the front gate turned into an inferno and destroyed 17 acres of buildings adjacent to Misawa Air Base in 1966.

(19) From 1972 to 1984, PACAF ceased operations of flying units from the Misawa flight line.

(20) The Unites States Army Corp of Engineers completed construction of the landmark AN/FLR-9 antenna, known as the Elephant Cage, in 1965.  The Elephant Cage will be torn down in 2015, and base residents have been warned to look out for escaped elephants.