page_title: 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron - General Dynamics F-111F - 70-2391
context_page_description: The 495th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England, operating the General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark.
context_section_description: The 495th was reactivated on 1st April 1977 as the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron, becoming the fourth tactical fighter squadron with the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. This was 33 years to the day since the squadron’s inactivation. The 495th mission was as a replacement training unit for General Dynamics F-111F Aardvark pilots and Weapon Systems Officers (WSO) assigned to the other three fighter squadron.
  The 495th TFS participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon on 15 April 1986, the air raid against Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan government due to its involvement in the West Berlin discotheque bombing ten days prior. The mission was successful, however one of the squadron's F-111Fs (70-2389), callsign 'Karma 52', was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra, killing pilot Capt. Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci and WSO Capt. Paul F. Lorence.
  In 1990, the 495th TFS deployed to Taif Air Base, Saudi Arabia, as part of Operation Desert Shield which was in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The squadron suffered a loss on 15 October 1990, when F-111F 74-0183 crashed during a night time training mission, killing pilot Capt. Art Reid and WSO Capt. Thomas Caldwell. The 495th later participated in Operation Desert Storm.
  On 1 October 1991, the unit was redesignated as the 495th Fighter Squadron. The 495th was inactivated on 13 December 1991, shortly before retirement of the F-111F Aardvark at RAF Lakenheath.
caption: F-111F Aardvark 70-2391 of the 495th TFS. The ribbon on tail is for Operation El Dorado Canyon raid on Libya in April 1986.
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