Editor's note: This feature is part of a Hill Air Force Base 80th anniversary series. These articles will feature the base’s historical innovations and achievements, and will highlight mission platforms that have been operated and supported throughout the decades.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Few fighter jets have reached the same level of acclaim as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. Pilots generally loved the airframe despite its flaws.
Originally, McDonnell Aircraft developed the tandem two-seat, twin engine, long-range supersonic jet for the U.S. Navy. It entered service in 1960 and the Marine Corps quickly adopted it as well.
As a result of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s push to create a fighter used across all branches of the military, the U.S. Air Force borrowed two Naval F-4Bs and temporarily designated them as the F-110A Spectre in January 1962.
The Air Force used these F-110As to development its own requirements, which focused on the addition of an air-to-ground fighter-bomber capability on top of the air-to-air interception capability required by the Navy.
At the same time, as the Air Force worked towards the development of a Phantom platform that would meet its requirements, the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) designated the Ogden Air Materiel Area (OOAMA) at Hill AFB as the system support manager for the F-110A.
In September 1962, the Air Force re-designated the F-110 the F-4 in order remain aligned with the other service branches.
The following February, the OOAMA became the Department of Defense test bed for joint supply support for both the Air Force and Navy variants of the F-4. This constituted the first attempt to merge the logistical support of the two services on a major weapon system.
As a result, the OOAMA also became the specialized repair activity for the airframe.
The first two F-4C Phantom aircraft arrived at Hill AFB for preliminary maintenance work in April 1965, which started “Project Speedline.” During this project, the OOAMA repaired approximately 250 F-4C aircraft per year throughout the remainder of the 1960s and into the 1970s.
The next month AFLC shifted responsibility for RF-4C instrument systems from the Middleton Air Materiel Area to the OOAMA due to an Air Materiel Area (AMA) phase-down that consisted of closing three of the eight Air Force depots open at the time.
A year-and-a-half later (Sept. 1966), the OOAMA dispatched a maintenance field team from Hill AFB to Nellis AFB, Nevada, as part of Project “Wild Weasel” to provide additional support for operations in Southeast Asia.
The team modified F-4C Phantoms to accommodate Shrike missiles.
In April 1972, with the conflict in Vietnam continuing, the OOAMA’s Directorate of Procurement and Production awarded a $93 million contract to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation for material and data to modify the F-4E fleet with leading edge slats to make the aircraft more maneuverable.
This modification involved placing two slats, one retractable and one semi-fixed, on the leading edge of each wing, to make the aircraft equal to or better in turning ability than the Soviet MIG-23 in air-to-air combat.
The first F-4E Phantom scheduled for the leading edge slat modification arrived at Hill AFB on April 30, 1972, and the first flight of the improved version took place on Sept. 28 the same year.
The first F-4E with the completed slat modification departed Hill AFB on April 3, 1973. The last of the 304 aircraft to receive the upgrade departed the installation three years later.
In Jan. 1976, the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) began receiving the first of its 54 assigned F-4D aircraft at Hill AFB after the unit’s transfer the month prior from Korat Royal Thai AB, Thailand. The 388th TFW flew the F-4D until the unit became the Air Force’s first operational F-16 wing three years later.
During the 1970s, the OOAMA performed depot-level maintenance on 3,058 F-4s.
While supporting the F-4, the OOAMA completed 50 modifications on the airframe, which cost more than $4 billion and involved more than 40 million man-hours.
For over a decade the OOAMA generally had 80 to 90 F-4s in work status at a time, with a flow time of approximately 120 days per aircraft.
During the early 1980s, the F-4E to F-4G conversion involved 350 mechanics working three shifts. They removed the F-4E's cannon and ammunition rack, rebuilt the forward fuselage for “black boxes,” and made many other changes. The 116th F-4G left Hill on July 1, 1981.
For the F-4's 25th anniversary in 1983, the Utah Chapter of the Air Force Association and Hill AFB sponsored a banquet to commemorate the achievement.
During the event, Maj. Dwight Helton, an F-4 pilot assigned to Hill AFB, spoke,
“The F-4 is a Jack of all trades; a good solid, trustworthy fighter that's still very versatile. It's miraculous for this fighter to last 25 years, but with the technological advantages put into it, it's a very reliable aircraft,” Helton said. “The F-4 can accomplish every mission Air Force fighters are designed for.”