With no direct lineage to previous units, the 17th Fighter Squadron was Established in 1957 flying the F-105 Thunderchief. Seeing Action during the Clavis intervention in the 60s, the Squadron would primarily be tasked with Tactical Bombardment, taking heavy losses during their first two deployments to the war zone. During their final deployment in 1970, the Panthers would be upgraded to the F-4D, and would spend most of the final days of the war on CAP missions against MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters that had been attacking OADF B-52 sorties.
In 1977, the squadron would transition to the F-4E and maintain their Phantom presence until 1993, when they transitioned to the F-15E. The Squadron would reach IOC weeks after the outbreak of the Belkan War, but would not rotate into the region until mid 1995, primarily providing precision strikes against entrenched Belkan positions near FATO.
In 2010, the unit would be deployed on Defensive CAP around nearby major population centers to their ...
