The 510th will fall under the 31st Operations Group, which along with the 555th FS and the 603rd Air Control Squadron, was activated during the wing redesignation ceremony April 11.

"The 510th will walk before we run," West, who will serve as the .squadron's commander, said. He noted that the squadron will fly a limited number of sorties as it brings people and aircraft on board, but once the unit has all its aircraft, the 510th will be on a fast track to achieve combat-ready status.

"History - shows that we would become involved in the Deny Flight game as soon as possible," the colonel said. "All wings within USAFE are currently supporting contingency operations, so it's critical that we pick up our fair share as soon as possible."

West (pictured right with SSgt Steve Green during acceptance inspections) noted that the 510th is benefiting from the experience of the 555th when they stood up in April. "They laid the initial groundwork for us to follow." In addition, "many of our people were working with the 555th so we're benefiting from their experience," he said.

The colonel noted that he and Lt. Col. Steve Hoog, 555th FS commander, have "committed to each other to work as a team. We're going to come up with creative ways to handle Deny Flight "taskings.' West said that there will always be the squadron rivalry, but they realize that the wing's mission is their number one priority.

West pointed out that his top concern is the "care and feeding of my troops. Housing is my most pressing issue, followed by financial situations." The colonel said he realizes that his people could have difficulty keeping their attention on the job at hand if they're distracted by problems at home.

The 510th will have troops inbound through early fall, according to West. "We should definitely start seeing a normal inbound flow of people by December."

Originally activated March 1, 1943, at Drew Field, Fla., the 510th patrolled the English Channel during the Normandy invasion of World War II. The squadron flew more than 27,000 combat sorties from November 1965 to November 1969 while stationed at Bein Hoa AB, Vietnam, before being inactivated. Nine years later, the 510th reactivated at RAF Bentwaters, United Kingdom, to provide support for U.S. and NATO ground forces. The men and women of the 510th earned seven World War II campaign streamers and I I more in Vietnam.

More recently, the 510th, an A-10 squadron from Spangdahlem AB, Germany, flew more than 1,700 sorties from Aviano in support of Operation Deny Flight before being redesignated the 81st FS.