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History 313
Squadron
- August
1952. The first T-birds arrive at Volkel Airbase and are welcomed by
personel from the field.
October 1952. The T-birds were lent from The United States in
accordence with the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, and form the
basis for a separate squadron at Volkel Airbase. The fast growing
squadron is given de name Jachtvliegschool II (Jet Pilot School II),
beacuse the original Jachtvliegschool (JVS) resides at Twenthe
Airbase
December 1953. The new squadron gets the name 313 Squadron beacuse
of its growing number of aircraft. Forty T-33A's, one Harvard and
eight F-84 G Thunderjets are now part of 313. The T-birds carry the
letters TR, the Thunderjets theletter TA on the tail.
Febuary 1958. All fighter training is centralized at Woensdrecht
Airbase, and because of this, 313 is also transferred there. The
Thunderjet has by that time already been replaced by the F-84 F
Thunderstreaks and are left behind at 312 Squadron at Volkel. The
T-33A's are flown to Woensdrecht and joined by the Meteor T Mk 7
trainer, which was in use at Twenthe by the JVS. 313 and JVS are
combined and carry the name Jachvliegopleiding (JVO) which stands
for Jet Pilot Training.
November 1958. The Meteors are aging and the last few are given to
the Naval Air Service, while the JVO will carry the new name Nr.2
Instructie squadron, or Nr.2 Instruction Squadron.
January 1959. 313 Squadron is disbanded. Nr.2 Instructie Squadron
will continue to take care of training new pilots until 1972.
October 1972. The name 313 arises again when a new squadron at
Twenthe is named. New NF-5 fighters are used to train pilots in the
Theatre Operational Conversion Course (TOCC). This course was
designed to give new pilots arriving from the US based training
experience in operating in the West-European theatre. The largest
part of the NF-5's consisted of two-seat B models, only one A model
was available for solo flights. During a number of years, until the
end of 1980, 313 was also responsible for the Advanced Operational
Course (AOC) after which the other Royal NetherlandsAirforce
operational squadrons took this part of training upon them.
September 1986. 316 Squadron replaces 313 in the TOCC. 313 will
continue for the first time as a operational squadron, using the
NF-5.
December 1987. 313 starts the conversion training of all her pilots
from the NF-5 to the new F-16.
May 1988. The first 313 Squadron F-16's arrive at Twenthe. 313 Will
continue to fly the NF-5 for one more month after which this
aircraft is officially retired.
April 1990. De conversion to the F-16 is completed and a first
operational role, an offensive one, is accepted by 313. A year later
the defensive role of the F-16 is also carried out by 313, and with
this the squadron emblem and slogan are changed. The old emblem
consisting of a young bird flying over a runway is replaced by the
head of a tiger and the new squadron slogan is 'Scherpgetand' which
means 'sharply toothed'. 313 Is now part of the NATO tigersquadron
community.
April 1994. 313 loses its operational status and is once more
responsible for training. Now called the Theatre Qualification
Training (TQT), it's main goal is to train pilots coming from the
United States Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT), and
afterwards F-16 conversion, in coping with European airspace,
weather and procedures. Conversion training is given to experienced
pilots coming from different aircraft than the F-16 and also
refresher training to those that have not flown for a longer period.
In 2000 the last of the 313 F-16 underwent the Midlife Update (MLU),
and now belong to the completely modernized F-16 fleet of the Royal
Netherlands Airforce.
November 2001. Training is transferred to 306 Squadron of Volkel and
313 will now once again train to attain an operational status. Near
the end of 2002 313 will present itself to NATO as an Operational
Fighter Squadron.
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