The 202nd Tactical Fighter Squadron () was a squadron of the

5th Air Wing Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

of the

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfa ...

from 1964 to 2000. It was based at Nyutabaru Air Base in

Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Kuma ...

, Japan. When the squadron disbanded it was equipped with Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ and Kawasaki T-4 aircraft.Thompson, Pau
JASDF – Squadron Histories
''J-HangarSpace'' Retrieved September 27, 2017 The squadron was based at Nyutabaru Air Base for almost all of its existence. Its successor squadron, the 23rd Flying Training Squadron is currently based there.

History

The squadron was formed flying the Lockheed F-104J Starfighter on March 31, 1964, as part of the 5th Air Wing. From October 1, 1964 it was responsible for

quick reaction alert Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of readiness and ''modus operandi'' of air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Airspace Control Alert'. Some non-NATO ...

scrambles. For a brief period (August 20, 1980 to January 31, 1981) the squadron relocated to Tsuiki Air Base in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamo ...

. It participated in exercises including

Cope North Cope North is an annual multinational military exercise taking place in and around Guam. The first exercise took place in 1978. In 2016 in addition to US, Japanese and Australian forces South Korea, the Philippines and New Zealand New ...

1980. In the early 1980s the JASDF was introducing the

Mitsubishi F-15J The Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ...

to begin replacing the older F-104 and F-4 aircraft. On December 17, 1981 the squadron became the first in the JASDF to operate the F-15, as the "Provisional F-15J Squadron". From December 21, 1982 it was known once again as 202nd squadron. As the squadron was responsible for F-15 pilot conversion training, it had more of the double-seater F-15DJ models than other squadrons. On July 16, 1984 it again took up a quick response alert role, scrambling for the first time three days later. From 1984 to 2000 it continued to combine both the training and interceptor roles. During the F-15 era it participated in exercises including

1985-4.A pilot makes final preflight checks August 26th, 1985
''National Archives Catalog'' Retrieved September 27, 2017 It was replaced by the 23rd Flying Training Squadron, which formed immediately after the 202nd Squadron was disbanded.

Tail markings

During the F-104 period the squadron's aircraft bore the Roman numeral "V", relating to the 5th Air Wing. At first these were on the engine intake and from 1968 were on the tail. During the F-15 period the squadron's aircraft had a

Haniwa The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' techniqu ...

(warrior statue) similar to those discovered at the

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

close to the Nyutabaru base.

Aircraft operated

Fighter aircraft

* Lockheed F-104J/DJ (1964–1981) * Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ (1981–2000)

Liaison aircraft

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then ...

A (1964–1992) * Kawasaki T-4 (1992–2000)

References