This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

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Military history: Aviation / North America / United States / World War II / Cold War / Post-Cold War B‑class This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history B This article has been rated as B-class on the project's quality scale. This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status: Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met Associated task forces: /  Military aviation task force North American military history task force United States military history task force World War II task force Cold War task force (c. 1945 – c. 1989) Post-Cold War task force

The article has been substantially rewritten as a step toward Featured Article candidacy. Summary of changes:

• Citations: All paragraphs now carry inline citations. Sources used: Maurer 1983 (pp. 275–276), Ravenstein 1984 (pp. 206–207), McAuliffe 2005 (ch. 11 and online text at candemuseum.org), AFHRA factsheet (dafhistory.af.mil/Article/434003), af.mil and afcent.af.mil press releases, Wayback Machine archive of 388bg.info for the 331-mission count. McAuliffe ch. 11 is cited at chapter level only — the book is not digitized and page numbers are unavailable.
• DUC count corrected: The previous article stated "four Distinguished Unit Citations." Maurer 1983 pp. 275–276 lists exactly two DUCs in the DECORATIONS section. The article now reflects this.
• Coverage: Three active periods fully covered — WWII (1942–45), Cold War France (1953–57), and 1991–present. A one-paragraph transition note for the Korat/Vietnam era (covered under 388th Fighter Wing) replaces the previous gap.
• MOS compliance: {{Use dmy dates}}, {{Use American English}}, {{short description}} present; dmy dates on all access-date/archive-date fields; full aircraft names on first prose use (MOS:AVIATION); rank abbreviations spelled out in prose (MOS:MILITARY).
• Images: Images now present in all four history sections.
• Authority control and {{Commons category}} added.

Assessed as C-class pending independent review; McAuliffe page numbers would be needed to fully satisfy B1. — Sparks19923 (talk) 23:02, 18 May 2026 (UTC)Reply