The 480th Fighter Squadron was reactivated in ceremonies at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, on 13 August 2010. Earlier this year, twenty-one F-16s at Spangdahlem assigned to the now deactivated 22nd and 23rd fighter squadrons were transferred to the 148th Fighter Wing, the Minnesota Air National Guard unit in Duluth. The 480th FS was first activated in 1957, flying F-100 Super Sabres at England AFB, Louisiana. The squadron flew F-4s in Vietnam and moved to Spangdahlem in 1976. In 1987, the unit started flying F-16Cs. The 480th was inactivated in 1994. The squadron is now the only US F-16 squadron in Europe flying the suppression of enemy air defense, or SEAD, mission.
