On 2 July 2025, after more than fifty years of training fighter pilots, the 50th Flying Training Squadron (World Famous) 'Strikin' Snakes', part of the 14th Flying Training Wing, based at Columbus AFB (MS), was inactivated as part of USAF's ongoing modernisation of pilot training.

 

Last conducting flight training with the Northrop T-38C Talon, the 50th Flying Training Squadron was inactivated to support a separate, yet complementary effort to a Future of Undergraduate Pilot Training (FUPT) construct. By creating larger (super) squadrons, USAF's Air Education and Training  Command (AETC) is implementing Fighter Bomber Fundamentals (FBF) to merge the assets of the previous T-38 UPT and introduction to fighter jet fundamentals training for pilots selected to fighter or bomber aircraft.

 

The 50th Flying Training Squadron's legacy began on 15 January 1941 as the 50th Pursuit (Fighter) Squadron at Hamilton Field (CA). Flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the squadron defended the US West Coast during the tense months leading to World War II. Later, it transitioned to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and deployed to Iceland, playing a critical role in the defense of the North Atlantic against German air and naval forces. After inactivation in 1944 and a short post-war reserve period, the squadron was reactivated in 1972 at Columbus during the Vietnam War. There, it began its most recent and lengthy chapter, training pilots in the supersonic Northrop T-38 Talon and becoming one of USAF's premier pilot training squadrons. It is expected that some of the heritage ceremonies will be taken over by the 49th Flying Training Squadron "Black Knights" at Columbus.