F-4G Phantom II | 561st FS Final Combat Mission

F-4G 69-7232
4404th Composite Wing
561st Fighter Squadron
57th Wing
Dhahran AB, Saudi Arabia
January 11,1996

The final combat mission for USAF F-4Gs took place on January 9, 1996, during the Southern Watch deployment. The 561st Fighter Squadron commander, a Desert Storm veteran, led the final 4-ship mission in F-4G 69-7232, which happened to be the first F-4G to cross into Kuwaiti airspace on January 17,1991, as Desert Storm kickedoff. During the war, it amassed eight radar kills, which Lt. Col. Uken ordered painted onto the intake fixed ramp. This jet had the famous weasel character painted onto the fixed ramp beneath its kills, along with the famous Wild Weasel motto 'YGBSM.'