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The
Devils are dead!
Vincent
Pirard/AviaScribe reports on the disbandment of 23 Squadron,
Belgian Air Force at Kleine-Brogel.
On 8 March 2002, 23 Squadron, part of 10 Wing of the Belgian Armed Forces’
Air Component was disbanded at its home base of Kleine-Brogel, all part
of the plan 'Falcon 2000'. Following the participation of the BAF in the
operations over the Balkans, a restructuring plan was set up aiming at
rationalising plane and pilot assets, with a reduction of the number of
operational squadrons from 6 to 4. It is within the framework of this
plan that 2 Squadron 'Comet' from the 2nd Wing at Florennes had already
been disbanded on 20 April 2001.
Born during the Cold war
23 "Devil" Squadron was established as a day fighter unit at Beauvechain, on 1 September 1951*. This new squadron was intended to form the embryo of the future 10 Wing, along with two other similar units, 27 "Black Panther" Squadron and 31 "Tiger" Squadron. Barely one month after setting up 23 Squadron moved to Chièvres where it was equipped with the Spitfire Mk.14. Begun in January 1952, the association of the 'Devils' and the Spitfire was rather short-lived as these already old fighters were withdrawn from use six months later and replaced by the F-84G Thunderjet from December 1952. These jets were delivered by the Americans to the Belgian Air Force, in accordance with the MDAP (Mutual Defence Aid Programme). This change of aircraft type meant the transformation of 23 Squadron into a tactical unit as well. On 23 January 1953, the 'Devils' finally moved to the new airbase of Kleine-Brogel. To celebrate this event, the noses of all their aircraft were adorned with a distinctive red stripe, which was later decorated with white edges, and by the addition of an aircraft identification code (Z6-A to Z6-Z).
Three
years later, in May 1956, after a brief period which saw its strength
completed with E model Thunderjets, 23 Squadron received its first F-84F
Thunderstreaks. It exchanged these for F-104G Starfighters from April
1964, the Lockheed "rocket with a man in it" remaining on strength
for 18 years until the Spring of 1982 and the delivery of its successor
and new Belgian standard fighter, the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
23 Squadron was declared operational on its new aircraft at the end of
1982 and had, in 1984, the honour to be one of the first Belgian units
to participate in the famous "Red Flag" exercise. At the end
of the 1987 firing campaign at Solenzara in Corsica, it became the first
Belgian Air Force squadron to qualify for a triple role: fighter-bomber,
strike and air defence. A small sociological revolution occurred in 1994
when 23 Squadron welcomed a "she-devil" of charm, the first
female combat pilot of the BAF, the officer airwoman Annemie Jansen.
The
Devils go to war
With the
end of the Cold war, new commitments appeared. In October 1996, flying
from Villafranca air base in Italy, the 'Devils' of 23 Squadron flew their
first operational missions during the NATO operation 'Joint Falcon'. These
sky-control missions over Bosnia and Slavonia were followed in 1999, by
participation - this time from Amendola air base - in the war operations
led by NATO over Serbia and Kosovo within the framework of operation 'Allied
Force'.
The next steps took place in September 1999, with the beginning of 23
Squadron's conversion to the F-16AM (or MLU) and, in early 2001, with
the delivery of the first NVGs quickly followed by that of the AN/AAQ-14
LANTIRN pods.
Besides an expected fiftieth anniversary, the year 2001 coincided with
the decision of disbandment as well. The answer was immediate: the painting
of a commemorative F-16 with a large devil head
and the most appropriate title 'I’ll be back'. If the transfer of the
identity and the devilish traditions of 23 Squadron to the F-16 OCU was
seriously envisaged, the idea was finally abandoned, relegating the furious
devil to the ever growing pantheon (paradise or hell?) of disappearing
squadron badges.
The
Devils become Tigers
Like in Florennes,
where 2 'Comet' Squadron was incorporated into 350 'Ambiorix' Squadron,
23 Squadron was simply integrated into its sister and ever rival unit,
the famous 31 'Tiger' Squadron. This unit saw, at the beginning of this
year, the number of its pilots increase with numerous 'Devils', whereas
its aircraft strength grew from 12 to 18 ships. The professional integration
of these two units ended on 8 March, with a mass formation flypast over
the main Belgian airbases. At the end of this flight and after the usual
official speeches, the last 'Devils' were called one by one by the CO
of 31 Squadron, Lt-Col Rudy Theys, and knighted as a 'Tiger'.
Today,
10 Wing of Kleine-Brogel is composed of three flying units: a tactical
one, 31 (FB) Squadron, an air defence unit, 349 (F) Squadron, and the
F-16 OCU. But as cried out by the last 23 Squadron CO, Major Ronny Vaerten,
at the end of his prayer of circumstance: "Devils forever!".
*On 17 March 1948, Belgium signed, together with the United Kingdom, Netherlands,
Luxembourg and France, the Pact of Brussels, which established the Western
Union. In the frame of this embryo of integrated defence system, Belgium
had to align 12 day fighter squadrons, 3 night fighter squadrons as well
as two transport squadrons by 1951.
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