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For the first time since WWII the 74th, 75th and 76th TFS were activated when the 4403rd TFW was renamed the 23rd TFW on July 1, 1972. The first aircraft used was the Vought A-7D. The 74th squadron markings were a blue stripe and in 1979 they added white stars and a 74. The 75th started out with a black stripe outlined with white but changed to a black and white checker. The 76th uses a red tail stripe with white stars and a 76. The tail code for the 23 aircraft belonging to the 23rd TFW was
“EL”. It wasn’t until September 23, 1980 that the 74th TFS received their A-10As with the 75th and 76th receiving theirs within the next few months. The wing won numerous awards in all the operational competitions they entered and set records for "mission capable" and "fully mission capable" rates. Four times the Wing was the recipient of the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. In August 1990 the 74th and 76th deployed to Saudi Arabia in preparation for Operation Desert Shield.
The 23rd TFW flew more than 2,700 combat sorties and had a 95% mission-capable rate. Their responsibilities were to provide close air support for the ground forces and to hunt for and destroy Scud facilities. As part of the 144 A-10s participating in Desert Shield they helped with the destruction of 987 tanks, 926 artillery pieces, 500 APC1,106 trucks, 112 military structures, 96 radars, 72 bunkers, 57 Scud launchers, 50 AAA batteries, 28 command posts, 11 Frog missiles, 9 SAM sites, 8 fuel tanks and 12 aircraft. The units from the 23rd TFW began returning to England AFB throughout 1991. In 1990 a Base Realignment and Closure commission selected England AFB as one of the facilities that would be closed no later than September 1992. On December 2, 1991 the 75th TFS was inactivated followed by the 76th on February 13, 1992 and the 76th on May 29th 1992. The A-10s were assigned to various ANG units and on June 1, 1992 the 23rd TFW was inactivated and England AFB closed. |
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