page_title: 31st Fighter Wing
section_title: Operation Fox Peter One
hierarchical_section_title: 31st Fighter Wing / History / Operation Fox Peter One
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Air Force North American F-100D Super Sabres assigned to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing on the ramp at George AFB, California (USA), in 1961.
context_page_description: The 31st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe major command and the Third Air Force. It is stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization base run by the Italian Air Force.
  The 31st Fighter Wing is the only United States fighter wing south of the Alps. This strategic location makes the wing important for operations in NATO's southern region. The 31st FW maintains two F-16 fighter squadrons, the 555th Fighter Squadron
  and the 510th Fighter Squadron, allowing the wing to conduct offense and defensive combat air operations.
  In peacetime, the 31st FW prepares for its combat role by maintaining aircraft and personnel in a high state of readiness.
  The commander of the 31st Fighter Wing is Brigadier General Daniel L. Lasica. The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Matthew S. Lusson.
context_section_description: The wing pioneered the development of in flight refueling tactics. On 6 July 1952 the wing executed Operation Fox Peter One, the mass movement of the entire wing from Turner Field to Misawa Air Base, Japan using aerial refueling to fly non-stop from Turner to Travis Air Force Base, California, and from Travis to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The unit then island-hopped across the rest of the Pacific with stops at Midway and Wake Islands, Eniwetok Atoll, Guam, Iwo Jima and Yokota Air Base, Japan.
  The sheer magnitude of this accomplishment was sufficient to name the 31st Fighter Escort Wing as the recipient of the first-ever Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The wing commander, Colonel David C. Schilling, won the Air Force Association Trophy, which was later named after him. This movement included the longest over-water flight attempted to that date and was the first trans-Pacific mass flight of jet aircraft. As an encore, on 20 August 1953, Col Schilling led a flight of eight F-84s on a 10.5-hour non-stop flight from Turner Field to Nouasseur Air Base, French Morocco. This successful flight culminated in the 40th Air Division of the Strategic Air Command receiving the Mackay Trophy in 1953.
  During 1953, the wing, then known as the 31st Strategic Fighter Wing, deployed to Japan and Alaska to provide air defense in the northern Pacific.
  On 15 March 1959, the wing moved without people or equipment to George Air Force Base, California During the wing's time in California, it deployed units for four-month alert rotations to Moron Air Base, Spain and Aviano Air Base, Italy.
caption: F-100s assigned to the 31 TFW on the ramp at George AFB, CA, 1961.
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