114th FS wins AETC 2014 Fighter Squadron of the Year

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Penny Snoozy
  • 173rd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KINGSLEY FIELD, Ore. --  The 114th Fighter Squadron, part of the 173rd Fighter Wing, took top honors out of all the Air Education and Training Command's F-15 and F-16 squadrons from around the United States and was named the 2014 Top Fighter Squadron for the fourth time.
Every year, AETC looks at their fighter squadrons to see who is performing at the best in each of the five top operations squadron categories. The 114th FS won the category for Top Fighter Squadron.
The 114th FS has attained this award three previous years- 2006, 2009, and 2010, making this the fourth year of recognition for their award-winning performance.
"The real credit for winning the award this year, and in years past, has been every single person in the entire operations group," says Col. Frederick French, 173rd Operations Group commander. "This award is labeled as the Top Fighter Squadron, but it really encompasses everybody in the operations group that contributes to the 114th FS's success. Without the whole team, this award would not be at Kingsley Field."
The 114th FS surpassed 65,000 Class-A free flying hours including their 4800 flying hours and 3877 sorties during fiscal year 2014. They also increased student production by 80%, graduating 59 near mission ready F-15 pilots, all while undertaking the active duty Total Force Initiative which greatly increased training and manning requirements. The squadron members also accrued over 2,500 hours of community service.
French says he is very proud of the dedication of Kingsley Airmen and "...consider[s] this award the highest honor we can receive from the Air Force."
The 173rd Fighter Wing, the only F-15 training schoolhouse in the U.S., is a training wing, which limits the awards they can win. Since the squadron is unable to compete for other air-to-air fighter squadron awards, winning this award is one of the few ways to highlight the accomplishments of these Airmen.
French boasts that "..[excellence] comes out of Kingsley day in and day out." With this work ethic, he says 2015 looks to be another promising year for the 173rd FW and the 114th FS.