IAF Valley Squadron

Point of Contact = Squadron Duty Officer (SDO). See FAQ/Research/Contact link under [SA] in the menu.

Patch

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Sources

David Weber

Gary Verver

Amos Dor (Flying-Wing Squadron)

Handle

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Heritage

JUL 1951 / JUN 1952: The "Valley Squadron" squadron is established

DEC 1956: converted to MYSTEREs

29 DEC 1967: converted to Israel's first A-4 Skyhawk squadron.

Home Ports

1951/52: Ramat-David AFB

31 DEC 1967: Ramat-David AFB

Air Wings

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Aircraft

Date Type First Received - - - - - - Type of Aircraft:

JUL 1951: Mosquito FB.6 and PR.16

AUG 1956: Mystere IVA

01 JAN 1968: Douglas A-4H Ahit

Date Unknown: Douglas A-4N Ahit

1977: Kfir C-1

1985: Kfir C-2

JUL 1991: General Dynamica F-16 Falcon

Deployments

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Commanding Officers

APR 1964: Ohad Shadmi

1973: Yoram Agmon

Awards

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Awards continued

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Events

JUL 1951<: The "Valley Squadron" squadron is established flying the Mosquito FB.6 and PR.16.

AUG 1956: The unit was dis-established.Re-established flying the Mystere IVA.

05 JUN 1967: Six-Day War starts between Israel and Egypt. Israeli Skyhawks are not yet delivered.

29 DEC 1967: First four Skyhawks shipped from the U.S.A. to Ramat David for the Valley Squadron.

31 DEC 1967: 1st A-4 unit formed at Ramat-David AFB flying the A-4H.

01 JAN 1968: First flight in Israel was on 01 JAN 1968 by Ohad Shadmi. BuNo 155244 was among the first to arrive, and was assigned tail number "03" as IDF/AF number 5303. The other three a/c were assigned 05, 07, and 09.

April 1968: the "Ayit" are first used in combat.

11 APR 1968: Second shipment of Skyhawks arrives at Haifa for transfer to Ramat-David AFB and the Valley Squadron.

02 DEC 1968: The Valley Squadron was the first to fly missions with aircraft configured with "TER" and "MER" bomb racks.

APR 1970: The Valley Squadron runs the first "OTU" (Operatonal Training Unit) course. Skyhawks replaced the training role of the "Ouragan" training aircraft in the IDF/AF.

08 JAN 1973: The Valley Squadron utilizes a "Crystal" upgraded A-4H in combat for the first time. C.O. Yoram Agmon flies tail number 32 on a motar suppression mission.

06 OCT 1973
The Valley Squadron, flying the A-4H, participated in combat actions during the Yom Kippur War. They flew 994 sorties and lost 13 aircraft. The first A-4 lost was a "Valley" aircraft, number 87 flown by Hanan Eitan who was KIA.

10 OCt 1973: As of this date, the unit had lost five aircraft.

At some point the squadron operated the A-4N.

1977: The unit migrated to the Kfir C-1.

1985: The "Valley Squadron" migrated to the Kfir C-2.

1991: The "Valley Squadron" migrated to the F-16

Unit Photos

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Off-Duty Photos

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