The 57th Wing is stationed at Nellis AFB, Nevada. On 15 October 1969, the Air Force activated
the wing as the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, stationed at Nellis AFB with a
new mission: providing graduate-level fighter pilot training and
demonstration of tactical fighter weapons systems and tactics using F-4,
F-100, F-105, and F-111 aircraft. Operational squadrons assigned to the 57th
were the 65th, 66th, 414th, and 422d Fighter Weapons Squadrons and the
USAF Weapons School. In February 1970 the wing became the host unit at Nellis and assumed
control of most base functions, personnel, and equipment a position it
relinquished to the 554th Operations Support Wing on 1 March 1980. In late October 1972, the wing
received the first T-38 Talons to form an aggressor unit, the 64th Fighter
Weapons Squadron. By June 1973, the 64th became operational when 17 pilots
completed the Tactical Air Command Aerial Attack Upgrade Course. The USAF
Air Demonstration Squadron’s T-38 aircraft complemented the 57th’s mission
when the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center reassigned the Thunderbirds to the wing on 15 February 1974. In 1976, the 57th received
the Air Force’s latest air superiority fighter, the F-15. The A-10 arrived
in 1977, followed in 1981 with the F-16.
On 1 April 1977, the
Air Force re-designated the wing as the 57th Tactical Training Wing and on
1 March 1980, the wing again became the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing. In late
1990 and early 1991, the 57th supported Operation DESERT STORM with
deployed personnel, weapons testing, DESERT FLAG exercises, and USAF Weapons School combat studies. In October 1991, the Tactical Air Command re-designated
the wing as the 57th Fighter Wing and added the F-15E to its aircraft
inventory. With the addition of bomber divisions at the Weapons School, and the arrival of HH-60G helicopters, the 57th Fighter Wing
re-designated as the 57th Wing on 1
April 1993.
