Editing Williams Air Force Base (section)

=====Skoshi Tiger Program=====
[[File:F-5B 602TFS BienHoa 1966.jpg|thumb|Skoshi Tiger F-5B of the 602th Fighter Squadron, Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, 1966]]

Although all F-5A/B production was intended for MAP, the USAF actually requested at least 200 F-5s for use in the [[Vietnam War]]. This sudden request on the part of the USAF which had previously perceived no need for a lightweight fighter, was a result of heavier than expected attrition in [[Southeast Asia]] and because the F-5 promised to be available with a relatively short lead time. The USAF request for combat evaluation in Southeast Asia was approved by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD) in July 1965, and the evaluation was initiated on 26 July 1965.

The program was given the code name "Skoshi Tiger", which was a corruption of "Sukoshi Tiger" (Japanese for "Little Tiger"). In October 1965, the USAF "borrowed" 12 combat-ready F-5As from MAP supplies (5 F-5A-15s and seven F-5A-20s) and activated the '''4503rd Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional)''' at Williams for operational service trials. The 4503rd TFS (Provisional) was formed on 29 July 1965 to conduct the evaluation, and their pilots underwent training at Williams AFB while [[Northrop Corporation|Northrop]] modified the aircraft for duty in Southeast Asia.

The aircraft left Williams AFB on 20 October 1965 for Southeast Asia, arriving at [[Bien Hoa Air Base]] on 23 October. They flew their first combat mission the same afternoon.

Although the Freedom Fighter was judged to be a technical success in Vietnam, the Skoshi Tiger program was essentially a political project, designed to appease those few USAF officers who believed in the aircraft. The Freedom Fighter was destined to have a relatively brief operational career with the USAF, and the DoD turned down a second request for F-5s, deciding instead to look at other types such as the [[U.S. Navy]] [[A-7 Corsair II]]. The surviving F-5s were turned over to the South Vietnamese in March 1966.

After the Skoshi Tiger program, substantial numbers of Freedom Fighters were supplied to the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]]. The USAF directed ATC to initiate immediately a training program for South Vietnamese F-5 pilot replacements. The 4441st CCTS at Williams began this training on 15 April, although the base's training facilities were already saturated by the school's undergraduate program. The first Vietnamese crews left for Williams AFB for training in August 1966.

The 4441st CCTS was transferred to [[Tactical Air Command]] and re-designated as the [[425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron]] on 15 October 1969.  It was placed under the [[58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing]] at [[Luke AFB]], Arizona, although the squadron physically remained at Williams AFB as a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU).

Training of South Vietnamese pilots on the F-5 continued until the collapse of the South Vietnamese government in April 1975, with some pilots being at Williams at the time of the [[fall of Saigon]].