10th Wing

“FORTUNA FAVET FORTIBUS”
fortune favours the strongest

At the end of the Second World War, from 1944, the allied countries founded the B90 tactical airfield in Kleine Brogel to support the operations over the Rhine.

In 1951 the Belgian Air Force expanded the base to become the home base of the 10th Fighter Wing which was founded in Chièvres on 20 December 1951.

The three squadrons of this unit, the 23rd, the 27th and 31st initially flew with Spitfire and from 1952 with F-84G Thunderjet.

From 1956 these were replaced with the F-84F Thunderstreak and the squadrons specialised in different bombardment missions within the framework of the NATO strategy and to that end an American support detachment was stationed on the base from 1962. The name of the unit changed into 10th Fighter-Bomber Wing and the official wing insignia changed into the crowned red lion of the coat of arms of the Province of Limburg where Kleine-Brogel is situated.

In 1963 the 27th Squadron was disbanded.

The 23rd and 31st switched to the F-104G Starfighter in 1964.

From 1981 this fighter was replaced by the F-16A Fighting Falcon.

After the disbandment of the 1st Fighter Wing in Beauvechain in 1996, the 10th Wing got new units and new missions: the 349th Fighter Squadron, specialised in air defence and the Operational Conversion Unit, responsible for the training of all F-16 pilots.

During a reorganisation in 2002, the 23rd Squadron was disbanded.

The 10th wing patch originally was a green eagle over a light blue tank, symbolizing the fighter-bomber task of the unit.

On September 1st 1987 the name 10th Fighter-Bomber Wing (10JBW) was changed into 10th Tactical Wing  (10 W TAC).   

The 10 WTAC is the only Belgian participant of the X-Servicing Excersice / Steadfast Noon, together with the USAFE Munitions Support Sqn.

TOXIC TRIP is an annual NATO Air Operations Exercise focused on CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Defense interoperability.

JOINT JEWEL is a joint BAF-USAF Force Protection exercise held in Kleine-Brogel in 2019.

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