The 64th Aggressor Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 57th Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 64th AGRS is assigned 24 F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft, painted in camouflage schemes identical to those observed on Russian-manufactured aircraft providing Air Combat Maneuvering training to USAF and other aviation forces in conjunction with Red Flag exercises. The unit operates in conjunction with the 65th Aggressor Squadron, using F-15C Eagles which had been disbanded on September 26, 2014 due to budget constraints but reactivated on 9 May 2019.
The squadron was first formed as a P-40 Warhawk pursuit squadron in January 1941 as part of the Army Air Corps Northeast Defense Sector (later I Fighter Command) at Mitchel Field, New York. It trained in New England and provided air defense of the northeast after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was reassigned to the U.S. Army Middle East Force in Egypt, July 1942, becoming part of IX Fighter Command. It took part in the British Western Desert Campaign, as part of Ninth Air Force, supported the Commonwealth Eighth Army’s drive across Egypt and Libya. The 64th flew its last combat mission on 2 May 1945. It remained in northern Italy after the end of the European War, demobilizing throughout the summer of 1945.
When it was reactivated in 1972 under the 57th Fighter Wing, its mission was to execute the so-called aggressor task. Initially equipped with T-38A Talons, upgraded in April 1976 with Northrop F-5E Tiger II export fighters having been originally destined for delivery to South Vietnam and became available when the South collapsed. This meant they had to deploy throughout the United States and overseas to teach adversarial tactics and provide dissimilar air combat training to USAF flying units. The unit was also a tenant unit during the Red Flag exercises in which it prepared aircrews for combat by replicating tactics used by the enemy forces during combat situations.
In 2003 a reorganization of the aggressor squadrons took place and the 64th was activated again in favour of the 414th CTS. It regained its block 32 airframes that it left in 1990. Giving the squadron up to 24 F-16s at its disposal, painted in camouflage schemes identical to those observed on Russian-manufactured aircraft providing air combat maneuvering training to USAF and other aviation forces with Red Flag exercises. Participates in USAF Red Flag and Canadian Forces Maple Flag exercises, provides USAF Weapons School syllabus support, priority test mission support and road shows that visit various units throughout the CONUS to ACC units for training.
