squadron assigned to Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam, with an advance party arriving on 28 October. During its time in Southeast Asia, the squadron flew 1,207 combat missions and earned the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its service. In January 1966, the 43rd TFS returned to MacDill AFB, to serve as an F-4 replacement-training unit until March 1970. Alaskan Service In June 1970, the 43 TFS was moved to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, under the 21st Composite Wing, and from 1991 the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing. The squadron was one of two units assigned to Alaskan Air Command. Flying the F-4E Phantom II, the 43d inherited a dual mission of Alaskan air defense and close air support for U.S. Army forces. In addition to flying out of Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, the squadron also sat air defense alert at King Salmon and Galena Air Force Stations. The squadron assumed North American Aerospace Defense Command air defense alert in October 1970 and between 1970 and 1982, the squadron's pilots intercepted more than 100 Soviet aircraft in Alaskan air space. In 1976 the 43rd TFS won the Hughes Trophy for the best air-to-air squadron in the United States Air Force. In 1982, the 43 TFS began converting to the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle. Without help from a combat ready unit, the squadron developed its own F-15 training program and completed the first ever F-15 low runway condition reading tests. The squadron continued to provide air defense for North America until 1 January 1994, when it was inactivated. Return to fighter training On 25 October 2002, The 43d Fighter Squadron was reactivated with a new mission and a new aircraft. Assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing, Air Education and Training Command, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, the 43 FS is the first squadron to provide training for Air Force pilots in the F-22 Raptor. The squadron transitioned to Air Combat Command when the 325th Fighter Wing assumed an operational mission, however the 43 FS continued to train Raptor pilots. Lineage 43d Aero Squadron Organized as the 43d Provisional Squadron on 13 June 1917 Redesignated 43d Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917 Demobilized on 17 April 1919 Reconstituted and consolidated with the 43d School Squadron on 8 April 1924 43d Pursuit Squadron Authorized as the 43d School Squadron on 10 June 1922 Organized as the 43d Squadron (School) on 7 July