32nd Soesterberg Wolfhounds Phantoms over Dutch skies

On 1 November 1968 the USAF transferred the 32nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron to the command of the 17th Air Force stationed at Sembach Air Base in Germany. In January of 1969 the squadron began sending its pilots to Homestead Air Force Base to receive transition training to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. While the Wolfhounds pilots were at Homestead the Air National Guard sent pilots on temporary duty to Soesterberg to assist the squadron with carrying out its QRA tasks.

On 1 July 1969 the USAF redesignated the unit as the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron. On 6th of August 1969 the first two, brand new, Phantoms arrived. Among those people awaiting the arrival of the planes at Soesterberg was Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager. During the following two months the F-4's came trickling in to Soesterberg.

Flying the F-4 Phantom meant some drastic changes for the squadron and the base. Personnel had to be increased and the squadrons task was extended to include lending air support to ground troops. Partly due the fact that the plane was a two-seater. With the arrival of these more complicated planes the base got trough a major transformation, the fighters were housed into the new built shelters in the so-called TAB-VEE area. Also a new type barrier was taken into service (at each end of the runway). The new men had to be housed too and new accommodation was built within Camp New Amsterdam. Whilst some men were housed in the towns in the surrounding the American also started to use buildings at WS Camp as dormitories. Also USAFE wanted to upgrade the headquarters element of the 32d to group status and establish itself as a separate organization from the 36th TFW at Bitburg. However, the Dutch and American governments had agreed that the U. S. Air Force would only station a "squadron" at Soesterberg, and this fact hindered the American attempt to upgrade the squadron's status.

In March 1970 the Tow Target Shop was opened at CNA to service and attach tow targets. The 32nd was the first USAFE squadron to have a Tow Target Shop what meant that they executed tow-target mission for several USAFE squadrons. The same year the first Phantom silencer was taken into service. The noise produced during engine tests runs was thereby reduced to acceptable proportions. From that moment drinking coffee with dancing cups was for the population of Huis ter Duin and Den Dolder history. That same year the USAF decided to assign the 32nd with the "CR" tailcode. During the Vietnam War the Americans found out that a camouflaged aircraft was hard to identify. That was why in 1966 the tailcode was introduced. The tails of the Wolfhounds birds were also provided with a green and orange band (green being the squadrons' color and orange of the Royal House of Orange).

On 23 February 1971, His Royal Highness Prince Bernard visited the squadron and went on an prientation flight in one of the Phantoms. During the flight the aircraft was refuelled by a KC-135A Stratotanker. In June 1972, when cunstruction crews made repairs too the Soesterberg runway, the squadron deployed two Phantoms to Erding Air Base (West) Germany to carry out alert dutties.Further construction on the base its runway caused the squadron to deploy its aircraft to Leeuwaren AFB, Netherlands from June to November 1973.

Colonel de Jong of the RNLAF talks with Sra. Williams about the fanion

In November 1974 the squadron celebrated a 20-year long presence in the Netherlands. In honor of this occasion H.R.H. Prince Bernard presented a special fanion at a formal military ceremony for "distinguished service and outstanding mission accomplishment". Colonel K.D. Cobb, then commander of the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron accepted the Royal fanion.

In 1976 sabotage attempted, a crew chief during routine inspection discovered wires tied to a wing flap to impede its movement. Upon further inspection the rocks were found. Supposedly there were also messages scribbles on the OPS building hallway. The base commander did require the entire base to assemble in one of the hangers and addressed the situation and stating that the birds WOULD fly the next day and he would personally fly the first mission. Subsequently the OSI launched a base wide investigation. Rumour goes that a female crew chief was caught as the culprit, but this is not substantiated. In 1978 the Phantoms were flown to Ramstein AB in Germany were they were assigned to the 86th TFW. That time the 32nd pilots were in the USA for training with the new fighter, the McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle. During the training the squadron was augmented by F-15's from the 1st TFW, Langley AB. The temporary deployment was given the name "Coronet Sandpiper".

A total of four Phantoms were lost during the service-period. Four lives were lost during the crashes. On June 21, 1971 the Captains Ted G. Sweeting and David B. Rice and on August 29, 1977 first lieutenants Mickey Johnson and Patrick H. Pondrom. Continue to Era of the Eagle.