HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Hill Air Force Base turns 80 this year and the beginning of one of the installation’s most important missions can be traced back eight decades as well.

Today, Hill’s active-duty 388th and reserve 419th fighter wings tandem to operate the Air Force’s premier F-35 combat unit. The two wings own and fly 78 Lightning IIs between them and have already deployed on numerous combat missions since the military’s “next-generation” fighter began arriving on base in late 2015.

But the well-known reputation of the 388th Fighter Wing didn’t begin with the assignment of the F-35A. Far from it.

According to information from the 388th FW’s Public Affairs office, the wing’s beginnings can be marked with the 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which was activated at Gowen Field, Idaho on Dec. 24, 1942. The group was temporarily relocated to the Royal Air Force Base in England from June 1943 to the end of World War II. Equipped with B-17 bombers, the group flew more than 300 B-17 bomber missions over Europe, including supporting the Allied landings at Normandy.

The wing was deactivated and reactivated several times throughout the 1950s, but began flying the F-4 Phantom II in 1966 during the Vietnam conflict and ultimately flew more than 60,000 hours over Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam through 1973. The wing was then restationed at Hill, where it continued to fly the F-4. In April 1977, the Air Force announced Hill would be home to the military’s first F-16 Fighting Falcon wing. The first F-16 arrived at Hill in 1979 and the 388th deployed to several North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries during the 1980s.

From summer of 1990 through March 1991, the wing deployed the F-16s in support of U.S. Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The wing flew 4,000 sorties during Desert Storm, with no losses, according to information from the PA office. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the wing participated in Operation Noble Eagle, defending U.S. airspace, including providing security during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002. The group also served extensively during the more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I’m a little bit biased, but I think the 388th is one of the finest organizations out there,” said wing commander Col. Steven Behmer. “I’m proud to be a part of that great heritage that dates all the way back to World War II.”

The 388th’s reserve counterpart has a rich history as well.

According to the 419th FW Public Affairs office, the Air Force Reserve has maintained a flying mission at Hill for more than 70 years. In it’s early years, the wing logged missions in the T-33, F-80, F-84, C-119, C-124, and C-46 aircraft. In the 1970s, the group flew the F-105 Thunderchief. In late 1982, the unit was upgraded from a group to a wing, being re-designated the 419th Tactical Fighter Wing.

In 1983, the 419th became the first reserve unit to fly the F-16. In 2001, the wing was the the first F-16 unit to conduct air strikes in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and in 2003, the first to fly combat missions into Iraq. Since 9/11, 419th airmen have filled thousands combat deployments. According information from the PA office, reservists from the wing have served in every major U.S. conflict — from the Vietnam War to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the follow-up to the initial combat operations in Afghanistan.

Members of the wing also have participated in humanitarian relief efforts in the Caribbean, Africa, Central America and stateside. Earlier this month, members of the wing were called to New York City to help with the COVID-19 response there. In many ways, the New York deployment sums up the overall nature of the wing. The 419th is made up of nearly 1,300 “Citizen Airmen” who serve part time in the military but are full-time members of the local community.

Before he left, Maj. Jimmy Jones, chief nurse in the 419th Medical Squadron, said he was ready to help wherever he could. When not working for the reserve wing, Jones works as a nurse practitioner in Pocatello, Idaho, in a surgical center for patients who need extra levels of care.

“I’m excited to help, but there’s always a little bit of trepidation when you go into the unknown, and there are a lot of unknowns in his situation,” he said in a 419th press release. “But I expect to be dealing with patients in a similar manner that I always have.”