The Squadron which ultimately became known as the 12^th Tactical Fighter Squadron, began it's active service flying P-39s at Selfridge Field, Michigan, in January, 1941. They promptly moved to Key Field, Mississipi, from where the new unit sailed into World War II at Christmas Island in early 1942, eventually joining 7th Air Force's 15th Fighter Group. The Squadron left Christmas Island for Guadalcanal in December 1942, where it joined the 44^th and 70th Squadrons to become part of the 18^th Fighter Group in March 1943. The 12^th fought it's way up through the islands from Guadalcanal, Palawan, Borneo, the Celebes, with their P-39s, then P-38s, and played a major role in the interception and shooting down of Japan's most famous Admiral, Yamamoto, in April 1943. At the end of the war they were based in the Philippine Islands, flying P-47s and P-51s.

Less than five years later, when Communist North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, the 12^th was flying Lockheed P-80C jets at Clark Field, PI, and were immediately ordered to Korea to counter the rapidly-advancing Red forces.

US Far East Air Forces ordered the 18^th Fighter-Bomber Wing to form the 'Dallas Provisional Squadron' for immediate deployment to Korea. A full cadre of volunteers... experienced pilots and crews, were promptly assembled from the three Squadrons and various Clark Field base units, then flown to Ashiya, Japan, from where they collected battle gear... except airplanes, and moved to the primitive, dirt K-2 airstrip near Taegu, South Korea. There they joined forces with the 'Bout One' pilots who had flown 10 derelict Mustangs belatedly donated by President Truman to the fledgling South Korean Air Force; the combined unit became the '51st Provisional Squadron' and on 10 July 1950 began flying those ten F-51s in combat against the advancing enemy from the North. Finally, with the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Boxer in late July 1950, carrying a complement of 150 F-51s collected from National Guard units in the US and accompanied by scores of qualified Mustang pilots, coupled with transfer of the 67^th Squadron from the Philippines, the '51st Provisional Squadron' soon became identified as the '12^th Fighter-Bomber Squadron', the designation carried throughout their Korean War action. Early in 1953, the 12^th converted to F-86F Sabre jets, in which they continued their ground support combat missions until the truce ended the combat operations on July 27, 1953. The F-86s were retained when they were transferred to Kadena, Okinawa on October 1954.

In July 1956, the 12 FS was equipped with F-84 aircraft and temporarily became part of the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, but promptly rejoined the 18^th Tactical Fighter Wing in March 1957 and converted to the F-100. In the summer of 1958 they were renamed 12^th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and in 1963 transitioned to the F-105 "Thunderchief", which they flew until 1972. From February 1965, the 12^th was involved in successive combat tours of duty in Southeast Asia, commencing on 1 February 1965, when they deployed as a squadron to DaNang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, and then to Korat Air Base, Thailand, remaining until 28 March 1965, while flying 279 combat sorties with no pilot or aircraft losses. Eighteen 12 TFS pilots were on the first combat sorties flown over North Vietnam on 2 March 1965. They again deployed to Korat Air Base, Thailand on 15 June 1965, remaining until 17 August. In mid-1968, the 12^th's "Wild Weasel" crew members supported the "Wild Weasel" detachment at Korat AB, with over 1500 combat hours recorded during those months.

In January 1968 the 12^th was posted temporarily to Osan, South Korea, until June 1968, in response to the threat from the North Koreans over their capture of the USS Pueblo. In early 1972, they once again returned to Southeast Asia for more than 1400 additional combat hours, until April 1972. The 12 TFS earned the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palms for its contribution in the Vietnam conflict.

During May 1972, the 12^th was temporarily deactivated, but reactivated again in 1975, when the squadron was equipped with F-4D "Phantom II" aircraft. On 1 April 1980, the 12^th officially transitioned to the F-15C "Eagle" then, during a time of increased Korean tension from August through October 1981, the 12^th stood "Pusan Guard" alert in South Korea. The 12^th TFS was honored by the award of the 1981 Hughes Trophy as the finest air superiority squadron in the United States Air Force during the previous year.

In September 1983, the 12 TFS deployed to northern Japan to assume alert duties during the aftermath of the Soviet shoot down of Korean Airline flight 007. From 1983, the 12^th continued its operations from Kadena AB, with numerous deployments throughout the Pacific and Asian theaters, including operations in New Zealand, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Guam, and the Philippines.

In October 1998, the 12^th sent approximately half of its squadron to Incrilick , Turkey as part of Operation Northern Watch, protecting the skies from Sadam Hussein over Northern Iraq, and on 3 October 1999 they sent a 12 ship "Down Under" to Williamtown, Australia for exercise Crocodile 99.

Twelve days after their return to Okinawa, the squadron was again inactivated. It has reportedly been re-activated once again, far from the tropics ... late in the year 2000 the unit designation was re-opened in the State of Alaska.

HISTORY OF THE VARIOUS 12^th FIGHTER SQUADRON INSIGNIAS

During the lengthy time frame described above, the squadron insignias of the 44^th (Vampire) and the 67^th (Fighting Cock) were and still remain, essentially the same as they had been officially approved during World War II.

However, the insignias of the 12^th were unofficially changed several times over those years. Figures 1 and 2 above, show two versions of the 12^th Fighter Squadron insignia used through most of World War II, and until the start of the Korean war. Many different variations of the 'bloody dagger' patch were worn, depending upon where they had been made. As late as 1949, few of the 12^th Sq. crews at Clark Field wore the insignia… "too bloody", they claimed.

Following the move to Korea in July 1950, the 12^th Fighter-Bomber Sqdn became an amalgamation of personnel from the 12^th, 44^th, 67^th, and several members were recruited from Clark Base and other units. It was a 'new war', and its members wanted to replace the 'dirty dozen' with a fresh insignia.

'Knowing that it was almost impossible to secure timely official approval from USAF Hq., a few of the pilots sketched an early version of the "Foxy Few" logo, similar to that shown above in Figure 3, and as embroidered patches were ordered from different vendors in Japan and Korea, the shape of the Fox varied, but the basic shape... with bottle and scarf ... remained essentially the same.

During that time - late August 1950 - the 12^th was forced to evacuate Taegu (K-2) and moved it's base of operations temporarily to Ashiya, Japan. When the former base at Pusan (K-9) was refurbished, the 12^th and 67^th moved their operations to Pusan. It was there, at Pusan, that the airfield designator 'K-9' became phonetic 'Canine' and the physical resemblance to the Al Capp cartoon village of 'Dogpatch' logically led the Pusan K-9 to be changed - unofficially - to "Dogpatch". Someone contacted artist Al Capp and he soon generously provided several sketches of Lil Abner and Daisy Mae which became part of the 12^th Sqdn legacy. When the 18^th moved it's operation first to Pyongyang (K-21), in late 1950, then promptly retreated to Chinhae (K-10) in early 1951, they carried the 'Dogpatch' characters with them, even though it was no longer geographically connected to its original "K-9, Canine" location.

Some time later, when FEAF Hq. officials in Tokyo, reportedly "must have become bored with the war and needed something to occupy their minds…" someone came up with the notion that historic 'Dogpatch' should have a more dignified, politically-correct nickname … and declared that it should henceforth be called "U n i t y v i l l e" .

[NOTE: This reporter cannot speak with authority on just when that event took place because, thankfully, he had long since departed the Land of Morning Calm in July 1951, and returned to the United States. Bud B.]

At the same time that they were sanitizing the base's nickname for political correctness, some one … probably currying favor with the Tokyo Generals, decided that the Fox's liquor bottle was really not the shining-warrior image they sought to portray, so a skilled staff artist changed the fox image to one more closely resembling a Teddy Bear, turned the bottle into the cartoon icon of Popeye's bomb, exclaimed "Now chums, isn't that better …" and ordered the new logo, Figure 4, put henceforth onto all 12^th Squadron patches and mugs.

As the 18^th became the 18^th Tactical Fighter Wing' at Kadena, Okinawa in October, 1954, the traditional wings were removed from atop the shield of the 18^th Fighter Group's historic 'fighting cock' insignia. [The wings have been replaced for 18FWA logo use.] The 12^th was renamed 12^th Tactical Fighter Squadron in the summer of 1958, and at that time reclaimed the former 'Dirty Dozen' identifier of WW-II, and adopted the 'teutonic style' eagle motif shown in Figure 5, for their new squadron insignia; this was later modified to the 'folded wing' version depicted in Figure 6.

When the 18^th Fighter Wing was resurrected as a Veteran's Association in 1994, founders worked with the insignias they were most familiar with ... the images they had brought back from Korea … when the Fox was still a Fox, and it's weapon of choice was a bottle, rather than a bomb icon.