Gamecocks Come Home

Oct. 11, 2010

The 19th Fighter Squadron has returned to its World War II home, standing up at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to help fly F-22s there as part of the 15th Wing. The squadron had been operating F-15s at JB Elmendorf, Alaska, since 1994,. “The 19th FS was stationed here after World War I all the way up through [the Pearl Harbor attack] up until 1944. In my opinion, the ‘Gamecocks’ have returned home,” said Lt. Col. Harvey Newton, 19th FS commander, at the Oct. 4 realignment ceremony. The unit joins the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th FS that owns the 20 new F-22s coming to the Hawaiian base. The 19th FS is the first and only F-22 active duty associative unit. “The 19th Fighter Squadron adds the ‘punch-factor’ to our capabilities,” said Col. Jeffrey Morgan, 15th Operations Group commander. (Pearl Harbor-Hickam report by SSgt. Nathan Allen)

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