Previously it was assigned to 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, USAFE, stationed at RAF Woodbridge, England, flying A-10A Thunderbolt II, until inactivated on 14 August 1992.

Moved overseas, October 1942 – February 1943, the ground echelon arriving in French Morocco with the force that invaded North Africa on 8 November, and the air echelon, which had trained for a time in England, arriving in North Africa between late December 1942 and early February 1943.

Continued training and on occasion flew patrol and escort missions before returning to full-time combat duty in January 1945.

Attacked enemy airfields and installations, flew escort missions, and aided the operations of Chinese ground forces by attacking troop concentrations, ammunition dumps, lines of communications, and other targets to hinder Japanese efforts to move men and materiel to the front.

The squadron was one of the first Sabre Jet unit to be based in Europe, and the first to form an integral part of the peacetime air defense of Great Britain.

In October 1954 the mission of the squadron changed from fighter-interceptor to fighter-bomber operations, carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons.

The squadron was charged with tactical operations in support of USAFE and NATO, with air defense as a secondary mission.

The F-101 was configured as a fighter bomber, intended to carry a single nuclear weapon for use against battlefield targets such as airfields.

With the end of the Cold War in 1991, the USAF presence at Woodbridge and its sister base Bentwaters was gradually phased down.