This month, December 2011, 31 Squadron will be celebrating its 60th anniversary!
As some people might have noticed, the squadron was founded on October 1st 1951. This means we’ll be a bit late with our celebration, but there’s a good reason for it. Due to the ongoing operations, 31 was active in Libya as well as Afghanistan this year and was initially scheduled to leave for Araxos (Greece) to continue the Operation Freedom Falcon in October. Although our people were packed and ready to go, the mission was called off at the last moment after the fall of Kaddafi’s regime. This is why, in order to celebrate the greatest squadron’s birthday in goodfashion, we had planned for December.
31 Squadron’s 60th birthday coincides with the NATO Tiger Association’s 50th birthday and for the occasion this year’s Tiger Paint was dedicated to both celebrations. The FA-87 was painted in a mix of color schemes bringing back a bit of each of the previous special paints. In addition, 31′s numerous Silver Tiger trophies are displayed on the intake and the 60/50 years marked on either sides of the tail. More pictures can be found here.
To go with the new tiger scheme, an anniversary badge was designed as well, adorning the mighty tiger just like on the F-16 tail. The lucky enthusiasts were able to buy one from our stand at this year’s air shows.
Just looking back at the last 10 years, our squadron has faced some difficult and challenging times with operations in the Balkans, the Baltic States, Afghanistan and Libya combined with great results in different international exercises. During this period, 31 faced a lot of challenges keeping up with the newest technology in modern warfare. Starting the last decennium with a merge, 31 absorbed the pilots of 23 squadron and transitioned to the F-16 MLU. With a completely new weapon platform installed in the original shell, the transition went so well that the squadron brought home the next Silver Tiger award. Along with the MLU came other technologies that had to be adopted including Night Vision Goggles, Targeting Pods, Link 16, Precision Guided Ammunition, AMRAAM and the Helmet Mounted Cueing System. The job will never be the same again, not for the pilots, nor the technicians and the mission planners.
Only time will tell what the different challenges will be for 31 in the next decade. New operations and exercises are never far away. Maybe the dream for a successor for our F-16′s will become true. Just thinking of how cool it would look with tiger stripes. We’ll most probably tell you in 2021!
In Sanguine Vinum!