352d Tactical Fighter Squadron Operation HARD SURFACE 1963

Deployed: 15 Sep-16 Dec 1963.

Operation Hard Surface, a deployment of a USAF mission to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Billed as a fifteen-week "training mission", Hard Surface soon saw US jets patrolling the skies within sight of Yemen, causing fears that there might be an Egyptian-American shoot-out. In early Oct 1964, a gradual phase out occurred, replacing it with naval aircraft in the Eastern Mediterranean and Rea Sea. Operation Hard Surface ended on 31 Jan 1964.