Editing Nellis Air Force Base (section)

====Tactical Air Command====
[[File:USAF F-100 Super Sabre fighter taking off from Nellis AFB Nevada circa 1959.jpg|thumb|right|An [[F-100D Super Sabre]] fighter jet (s/n 56-2910) taking off from Nellis, circa 1959|alt=Rear quarter view of a jet fighter taking off with mountainous terrain visible in the distance]]

Nellis AFB transferred to Tactical Air Command on 1 February 1958,{{r|Manning}} and the Nellis mission transitioned from initial aircraft qualification and gunnery training to advanced, graduate-level weapons training. Soon after the transfer to TAC, the F-100C, F-100D, and [[tandem|tandem cockpit]] F-100F entered the school inventory. On 21 April 1958 an F-100F on a training flight out of Nellis was involved in a mid-air collision with [[United Airlines Flight 736]]. All 47 aboard the airliner and both Air Force pilots in the fighter jet were killed.<ref name="asn">{{ASN accident|id=19580421-0|title=April 21, 1958 mid-air between United Airlines DC-7 and Air Force F-100 near Las Vegas, NV}}</ref> The 3595th wing assets were redesignated as the 4520th Combat Crew Training Group by TAC on 1 July 1958.

=====4520th Combat Crew Training Wing=====
[[File:4536th Fighter Weapons Squadron - North American F-100D-30-NA Super Sabre 55-3703.jpg|thumb|The Nellis control tower behind a 4536th F-100D ("WB" tail code). In July 1968 the first tail codes appeared on Nellis-based aircraft:<ref name="Martin">Martin, Patrick (1994). ''Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings''. Schiffer Military Aviation History. {{ISBN|0-88740-513-4}}.</ref> "WC" (4537th [[F-105]]), "WD" (4538th [[F-4C]]), & "WF" (4539th F-111). |alt=|left]]

The 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing was designated from the 4520th CCTG on 1 May 1961, and the Combat Crew training squadrons were renumbered.{{r|Mueller}} The 4537th Fighter Weapons Squadron had been assigned [[F-105D Thunderchief]]s in March 1961, and the wing taught veteran pilots in all phases of fighter weapon employment: air-to-air gunnery, rocketry, conventional and nuclear bombing, aerial refueling, and combat navigation. The [[F-4 Phantom II]] Instructor Course began in mid-1965{{r|Wilman}} and during the [[Vietnam War]], experienced combat pilots were used as Fighter Weapons instructors at Nellis. On 1 January 1966 the [[USAF Fighter Weapons School]] was activated at Nellis with F-100, F-4, and F-105 divisions and on 1 September 1966, Fighter Weapons School elements and the 4520th CCTW merged to activate the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing.{{r|Mueller}}

=====USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center=====
The [[USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center]] activated at Nellis AFB on 1 January 1966 (USAF Warfare Center after 15 November 2005) is the USAF authority for employment of tactical fighter weapons.<ref name="fs" /> The center has developed, refined, coordinated, validated and tested fighter concepts, doctrine, tactics, and procedures.  The FWC also performed operational test and evaluation and prepared or monitored Air Force publications on employment tactics, aircrew training, and aircrew weapons delivery. It has supervised courses of the US Air Force Fighter Weapons School, adversary tactics training, and [[Wild Weasel]] training, and other combat and tactical schools.<ref name="fs" />

The FWC supervised Red Flag operational training and other continuing air exercises, such as Green Flag and Silver Flag Alpha. The center also directed operations of the US Air Force [[Bomber and Tanker, Employment School]] since 1992 and the [[Air Rescue Center]] since 1993.<ref name="fs" /> The [[USAF Air Demonstration Squadron]] with the [[United States Air Force Thunderbirds]] moved [[Luke Air Force Base|from Arizona]] to Nellis AFB in June 1956.<ref name="fs" />

=====474th Tactical Fighter Wing=====
The [[474th Tactical Fighter Wing]] was reassigned [[Cannon Air Force Base|from New Mexico]] to Nellis AFB on 20 January 1968{{r|Mueller}} and was the first USAF operational wing equipped with the [[General Dynamics F-111]]<ref name="F111">Thornborough, Tony (1993), Osprey Aerospace, 1993. F-111 Aardvark—USAF's Ultimate Strike Aircraft {{ISBN|1-85532-259-5}}</ref>—6 of the F-111As departed Nellis [[Takhli RTAFB|for Vietnam]] on 15 March 1968 ([[Combat Lancer]]). Nellis provided replacements for 2 lost F-111s, and the F-111s returned to the USA{{Where|date=June 2012}} in November 1968.<ref name="F111" /> The wing's 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron reached [[initial operational capability|IOC]] in spring 1968 with F-111s, and the TFW was fully operational in July 1971.<ref name="F111" /> The [[Lake Mead Base]], a 1953–6 [[United States Navy]]'s weapons storage area of {{Convert|6999|acre|abbr=on|disp=flip}}, became Area II of the Nellis AFB complex in September 1969.{{r|USACE2010}}

The 430th TFS returned to the 474th TFW Nellis on 22 March 1973 assuming a replacement training unit mission, while the 428th and 429th were transferred to [[Mountain Home AFB]] on 30 July 1973. Post-war the 474th's mission was to train combat-ready force of aircrews and maintained a rapid-reaction capability to execute fighter attacks against enemy forces and facilities in time of crisis.<ref name="F111" /> In 1975, the 428th and 429th Tactical Fighter Squadrons were reassigned to the wing with F-111As (transferred to [[Mountain Home AFB]], Idaho, in August 1977)<ref name="F111" /> and the 474th Wing absorbed the [[F-4D Phantom II]] aircraft, crews, and resources of the inactivating provisional 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis in April 1977.{{r|Mueller}} The wing was inactivated in September 1989, and its F-16As transferred to [[Air National Guard]] and [[Air Force Reserve]] squadrons.{{r|Mueller}}

=====57th Fighter Weapons Wing=====
[[File:US Air Force Thunderbirds.jpg|thumb|The United States Air Force [[United States Air Force Thunderbirds|Thunderbirds]]]]

The [[57th Fighter Weapons Wing]] was activated at Nellis on 15 October 1969 to replace the 4525th FWW (its [[Fighter Weapons Squadron]]s transferred to the 57th).{{r|Mueller}} The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron (the "[[U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds|Thunderbirds]]") was assigned to the 57th in February 1974, and the wing incorporated [[military intelligence|intelligence]] training after March 1980.{{r|Mueller}} Redesignated the 57th Tactical Training Wing in 1977, the wing trained [[military tactics|tactical]] [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] aircrews, conducted operational tests and evaluations, demonstrated tactical fighter weapon systems, and developed fighter tactics. The 57th's [[4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag)]] assumed operational control of Red Flag exercises in October 1979; and the 57th developing realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and [[electronic warfare]].{{r|Mueller}}

Nellis' [[4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight]] ("Red Eagles") operated [[MiG-17]]s, [[MiG-21]]s and [[MiG-23]]s at the [[Tonopah Test Range Airport]] (late 1960s-{{circa|lk=no|1990}}) to simulate combat against U.S. combat aircraft.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Steve |year=2008 |title=Red Eagles. America's Secret MiGs |publisher=Osprey Publishing}}</ref> Named [[Constant Peg]] in 1980, the operation assessed the Soviet technology and developed adversary tactics for dissimilar air combat training.  After completion of training, the Aggressor pilots were assigned to the [[DACT squadrons]], one of which was assigned to Nellis.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Constant Peg |journal=Air Force Magazine |date=April 2007 |volume=90 |issue=4}}</ref> During the 1970s, [[Las Vegas Air Force Station|a site northwest of Nellis]] evaluated a Soviet "Barlock" search radar to develop techniques for countering Soviet air defense systems.<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Winkler |first1=David F |last2=Webster |first2=Julie L |date=June 1997 |title=Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201202922/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 2012 |location=Champaign, IL |lccn=97020912 |publisher=U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories |access-date=23 April 2013 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=A search of "Barlock" indicates it does not appear in the source.|date=June 2013}}

[[File:66th Fighter Weapons Squadron - McDonnell Douglas F-4E-38-MC Phantom 68-0400.jpg|thumb|The Las Vegas Range of mountains is visible beyond a 66th FWS F-4E on the Nellis tarmac.|alt=|left]]

The [[USAF Fighter Weapons School]] reactivated 30 December 1981 in the 57th wing{{r|AFHRA15354}} and the 66th, 414th and 433d Fighter Weapons Squadrons became its "A-10", "F-4E" and "F-15A" divisions (the 414th was the "Red Flag Training Squadron" in 1996).{{r|Manning}}{{rp|205}} The 422d FWS aircraft and personnel became the "F-16 Division" and the squadron heraldry transferred to the [[422d Test and Evaluation Squadron]].{{r|Mueller}} The FWS mission expanded on 15 June 1993 to include all [[Air Combat Command]] weapons ([[B-52]] & [[B-1 Lancer|B-1]] Divisions) and in 1995, rescue helicopters ([[HH-60]] Division). RC-135 Rivet Joint and EC-130 Compass Call courses were also added to the CCO Division in 1995, as well as a Space Division in 1996 (UAVs in 2008).<ref name="AFHRA15354">{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Patsy |quote=Posted 8/19/2009 |title=USAF Weapons School (ACC) |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15354 |format=AFHRA fact sheet |access-date=10 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220113845/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15354 |archive-date=20 February 2013 }}</ref>

In 1981, the [[Gunsmoke (aerial gunnery competition)|Gunsmoke]] gunnery meet was first held{{r|Rininger}} and the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing was reorganized as part of the establishment of the Fighter Weapons School, e.g., the [[422d Test and Evaluation Squadron]] for aircraft modifications was established on 30 December 1981 from the 422d Fighter Weapons Squadron. In 1990, the [[64th Aggressor Squadron|64th]] and [[65th Aggressor Squadron|65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron]]s and the 4440th TFTG were inactivated in 1990 at the end of the Cold War.{{r|Martin}} In November 1991, the 57th implemented the USAF Objective Wing organization which was the most comprehensive USAF reorganization plan since 1947,<ref name="Rogers">Rogers, Brian (2005). ''United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978''. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. {{ISBN|1-85780-197-0}}.</ref> activating the [[57th Operations Group]] for Nellis airfield operations and establishing the [[57th Test Group]].<ref name="fs" />