The 18th Pursuit Group was formed in the Territory of Hawaii in January, 1927, beginning operations of the 6th and 19th Pursuit Squadrons at Wheeler Field. The "fighting cock" Group insignia with "Unguibus et Rostro", "With Talon and Beak" was chosen by 18th Pursuit Group CO Maj. Carlyle H. Walsh in February, 1931, and officially approved in 1932. Major Kenneth M. Walker (for whom Walker AFB, NM was later named) assumed command in March, 1940, having on his staff Captain Roger W. Ramey (for whom Ramey AFB was named), and Lieutenants Bruce K. Holloway, K. P. Bocquist, John G. Simpson, and William F. Savidge. The Group was flying Boeing P-26 'Peashooters', then upgraded into the radial-engined Curtiss P-36s before being re-equipped with Curtiss P-40s a few months prior to the attack by the Japanese naval aircraft which immediately drew the United States into World War II.

The surprise Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, devastated the fighting power of the 18th Pursuit Group while still on the ground. Only three P-40s of the 44th Fighter Squadron, from Bellows Field, were able to get into the air to meet the enemy, and were promptly shot down. The 18th was by then, in mid-December 1941, just a "paper Pursuit Group" and it was almost two years before the Group could be rebuilt to operational fighting strength and re-equipped with P-39s and P-38s, with individual squadrons emerging finally as a Group at Espiritu Santo Island in March 1943; then moved to Guadalcanal in Apr.’43. Shortly thereafter 18th pilots flew an extremely long-range intercept mission in P-38s, engaging a heavily escorted pair of Japanese 'Betty' bombers. Lt.. Rex Barber shot down the bomber which carried Japan's top Admiral, Yamamoto, and Capt. Tom Lamphier claimed the other; a momentous aerial coup of tremendous benefit to the Allies in the Pacific War.

The 18th Group, which ultimately included the 12th, 44th and 70th Fighter Squadrons, moved to Sansapor, New Guinea, on 23 Aug. '44, from where their P-38s escorted bombers to targets in the southern Philippines and Borneo. The Group received the first of several Distinguished Unit Citations, for aerial support at Ormac Bay on 10 Nov.’44, when they withstood intense flakand strong opposition from enemy interceptors to attack a Japanese convoy attempting to reinforce units defending against American forces on Leyte. Moving to Lingayen, Luzon, Philippines, in Jan.’45, the 18th focused their destruction from Borneo to Palawan, west to the China coast, and northward to destroy airfields and rail systems on Formosa until Aug. ‘45, when the war ended.

The 18th remained in the Philippines to the end of the war, moving from Lingayen to San Jose, Mindoro, Mar '45, then to Zamboanga, Mindanao, May '45. moving temporarily to Palawan, Nov. '45, then moved back to Luzon ... to Florida Blanca, sixty miles north of Manila, in Mar. '46 flying P-51D Mustangs.

Immediately following the war, the 70th Fighter Squadron was replaced by the 67th Fighter Squadron, which remains with the 12th and 44th Squadrons to the present. About one week later, in Aug. 1946, the 18th received Lockheed P-80A jet fighters, the first overseas deployment of the United States' first jet fighters, which arrived in the war zone too late to see action against the enemy. On 9 Sep.‘46, the first fatal P-80 accident to occur outside of the U. S., killed Major Henry H. Trollope, Commander of the 67th Ftr Sqdn.

On 24 Jan.’47 four 67th P-80As led by 18th Group CO, Col. Boushey, made the first long-range over-water flight in jet aircraft. The flight, from Laoag Field on the northern tip of Luzon, P.I, to Yontan, Okinawa, a distance of 759 miles, was flown in one hour-fifty minutes,at an average ground speed of 450 mph.

After twenty years of active service, the 18th Fighter Group (nee Pursuit Group) was de-activated on 25 March, 1947, in accordance with the US State Dept. program for decreasing the strength of U. S. forces in the Philippines. The Group's jet age ended abruptly when their new P-80As were reloaded aboard freighters in Manila Bay and returned to units on Okinawa and the United States.

But, like its brief stint in the Jet Age, the inactive period of the 18th Fighter Group was also short-lived. G.O.No. 35, 13th AF, 11 Sep. 1947, reactivated the 18th Fighter Group, SE, effective 16 September 1947, when the 12th, 44th and 67th Squadrons were re-manned, and moved 10 miles north to Clark Field, Luzon, P.I. For the third time in less than a year, in November 1947 the 18th Fighter Group was equipped with yet another type of primary aircraft: the Republic P-47.

In July, 1948, the Group again re-equipped... reverting to F-51D Mustangs. (the ‘P for Pursuit’ having been dropped in favor of ‘F for Fighter’) and a new command structure was initiated in August 1948, with the addition of 18th Fighter Wing. And, in November, 1949, the Wing received the first of their new Lockheed F-80C s, with initial deliveries going to the 67th Sqdn, commanded by Major Louis J. Sebille.

On 25 June, 1950, the tenuous peace in the Far East was shattered once again, when the North Korean Communists invaded South Korea.

The 18th Group was again immediately involved, when they dispatched a Provisional Sqdn of volunteers to the primitive airstrip at Taegu, from where they reclaimed war weary F-51 Mustangs from storage in Japan, and promptly commenced low-level ground attacks against the North Korean troops. This first 18th unit into Korea was soon redesignated the 12th Sqdn, and continued the war until the eventual truce in mid-1953.
South Korean President Syngman Rhee, commenting upon the gallantry of those early volunteer crews of the newly-redesignated 12th Fighter-Bomber Sqdn., comparing their actions with those of the AVG (American Volunteer Group) in China early in World War II, referred to them as the "Flying Tigers of South Korea". Within days the 12th Squadron Mustangs were repainted with the ferocious Sharktooth nose design, ‘proudly retained throughout the War.

Major Louis J. Sebille’s 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron moved from Clark Field, P.I., to Ashiya, Japan, and commenced flying combat on 1 August, 1950. They too, remained in combat until the truce in 1953. Within the week Major Sebille would be killed in action, later to be awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor, the first of only two awarded to Air Force personnel during the Korean War.

The imminent potential loss of Taegu’s K-2 airbase to advancing North Korean ground forces during the dark days of the "Pusan Perimeter", led to a hasty evacuation of the 12th Sqdn. to Ashiya, Japan, on 6 Aug.’50, where they joined the 67th Sq. and 18th Group Headquarters. But allied ground forces held their ground despite enemy forces within artillery range on three sides, and the base at Taegu did not fall, but continued to be used as a staging base. Another airfield, K-9, near the port city of Pusan, it's paving badly deteriorated by heavily-laden transports early in the war, was quickly refurbished to minimal operation, so that the 18th's two Squadrons (12th and 67th) could move back across the Sea of Japan from Ashiya on 8 Sep.’50. The move to Pusan allowed the 18th to resume it's heavy pounding around the Pusan Perimeter without having to resort to long-range auxiliary wing tanks as had been required for the flights from Ashiya.

The invasion of Inchon on 15 Sep 1950, produced an immediate change to the face of the Korean war, and within days the enemy in South Korea was running north in headlong retreat. The months of October and early November 1950, provided almost-continuous advances to the north by United Nations forces until, following the fall of Pyongyang, the North Korean capitol, in mid-November, 1950, the 18th Group, on 21 Nov.'50, was able to leap-frog all the way North to the former capitol city's heavily damaged ‘Pyongyang East’ airfield for a very brief stay... until they were forced out by the massive intrusion of Chinese forces into the war, whereupon they moved south to Suwon in early Dec.’50, and ultimately, in mid-December '50, to Chinhae, K-10, on the southern coast. A very busy forward staging base was operated from a former lightplane landing strip on a small sand island in the middle of the Han River near Seoul, K-16; actions which resulted in two additional U.S. Distinguished Unit Citations for the Group.

At approximately the same time, the "Flying Cheetahs" of the South African Air Force (SAAF) No. 2 Squadron, also flying F-51 Mustangs, was attached to the 18th Group for operational support and control, where they fought alongside USAF’s 18th Fihter Bomber Wing fighters for the remainder of the war.

The battle lines continued to see-saw north and south in the general vicinity of the 38th Parallel and on 7 May '51, the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred from the 35th Fighter-Bomber Group to the 18th Group in order to consolidate all F-51 Mustang units into a single Group. The 18th Group continued with their F-51 Mustangs... the last in the Korean Theater and the last Mustangs in USAF combat, until the 18th finally upgraded to F-86Fs in early 1953.

The 18th, by then based at Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan, converted to F-100s in 1957, and the 15th Tac Recon Sqdn., with their RF-101s, was attached to the 18th Wing in Mar.’60, and Assigned in April ‘70. F-105s were received in 1963, and the 18th detached the 44th, 67th and 15TR Sqdns to support Vietnam operations under the 2nd Air Div. in Korat, Thailand from late l964, while the 12th Sqdn. remained assigned to Kadena. The 12th Sq. later deployed to Osan, South Korea from Jan.’68 to Jun. ‘68 following seizure of the USS Pueblo. The 18th received F-4Cs in 1971 and F-4Ds in 1975, then converted to F-15 Eagles in 1979.

The unit was re-designated the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, and continues to guard America's far Pacific interests, currently flying F-15Cs and Ds from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

Compiled  and written by:
Duane E. 'Bud' Biteman, Lt Col, USAF, Ret.
President 18th Fighter Wing Association