The 944th Fighter Wing is one of more than 50 flying units in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. It reports to Headquarters 10th Air Force, NAS Ft. Worth Joint Reserve Bureau, Texas. The mission of the 944th is to train F-16 pilots and all assigned reservists to provide combat- ready warriors in support of any Department of Defense mission requirement. This training is accomplished by conducting one drill weekend per month and each reservist also performs a minimum of 15 days of duty once a year. The 944th Fighter Wing is made up of approximately 850 reservists. The majority of these reservists reside fun time in the greater Phoenix area.

The unit stands ready for rapid mobilization and has shown their flying skills as the first reserve fighter unit to fly operational missions with the coalition task force over Northern Iraq in support of Provide Comfort II shortly after Desert Storm and more recently Operations Northern and Southern Watch in Southwest Asia. The unit deployed more than 400 personnel and six F-16C aircraft to Aviano Air Base, Italy in support of Operations Deny Flight and subsequently Decisive Edge flying over Bosnia/Herzagovina enforcing UN Resolution 816.

The unit has been awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award five times since its activation in 1987. It was also awarded the Best Reserve Flying Unit Award by the Air Force Association in 1993 and 2002 and has won numerous awards and trophies for its participation in Gunsmoke, the Air Force’s worldwide gunnery meet held bi-annually at Nellis AFB, Nev. and William Tell Air-to-Air meet at Tyndall AFB, Fla.

The 944th includes two groups, seven squadrons and four flights. These include the 944th Operations Group and 944th Mission Support Group. The squadrons and flights include: the 301st Fighter Squadron (associate unit), the 944th Mission Support Squadron, the 944th Civil Engineer Squadron, the 944th Security Forces Squadron, the 944th Logistics Readiness Squadron, the 944th Medical Squadron, the 944th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, the 944th Operations Support Flight, the 944th Military Personnel Flight, the 944th Services Flight and the 944th Communications Flight.