Today marks the last flight of the 301st Tactical Fighter Squadron at Hyakuri Air Base after 45+ years of service. Below are a couple of shots taken during our trips to Hyakuri in 2018 and 2019.
On August 1st, 1972, the first two operational F-4EJ’s entered service with the JASDF at Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture. These two airframes formed part of a provisional squadron. The same squadron became fully operational and known as the 301st Tactical Fighter Squadron, part of the 7th Air Wing on October 16th,1973 with-in the JASDF. In April 1991, the 301st Squadron received the first F-4EJ Kai’s, fully upgraded from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The emblem is derived from a species of a frog found in the vicinity of Hyakuri Air Base specifically on Mt.Tsukuba. “Kaeru” is a Japanese word for frog, which also means “to return”, in this case referring to return to base unharmed. The frog emblem has a yellow scarf around its neck, with seven stars embellished on it to symbolize its part of the 7th Air Wing.
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