imported>Navalaviator84: /* U.S. Navy */ added a note to the sentence regarding VAQ squadrons explaining why the tail code "NL" is used by them

2025-06-18T18:35:00Z

U.S. Navy: added a note to the sentence regarding VAQ squadrons explaining why the tail code "NL" is used by them

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{{short description|US military aircraft markings in the vertical tail to identify the unit and/or base assignment}}
[[File:Avalon Airshow F22 Tail Plane-1 (8542392319).jpg|thumb|300x300px|FF, the tail code of the USAF [[1st Fighter Wing]], is displayed on these [[Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22 Raptors]].]]
'''Tail codes''' are markings usually on the vertical stabilizer of [[U.S. military]] [[aircraft]] that help identify the aircraft's unit and/or base assignment. This is not the same as the [[United States military aircraft serials|serial number]], bureau number, or [[aircraft registration]] which provide unique aircraft identification.

== U.S. Air Force ==
Since 1993, the [[U.S. Air Force]] (USAF), [[Air Force Reserve]], and [[Air National Guard]] (ANG), except [[Air Mobility Command]] (AMC) aircraft, utilize this format in all tail codes: two large letters, followed by two digits printed in a smaller text size, followed by three more digits printed in a larger text size.

The first two letters identify the home base, or in some organizations, a historic legacy, such as "FF" ("First Fighter") for the [[1st Fighter Wing]]{{efn|The FF code is also used by the co-located [[192d Fighter Wing]], a [[Virginia Air National Guard]] fighter unit co-located at Langley.}} or "WP" ("Wolf Pack") for the [[8th Fighter Wing]]. ANG units usually use [[List of U.S. state and territory abbreviations#Postal_codes|the two-letter state/territorial USPS mailing abbreviation]] as a tail code, though there are exceptions, such as the [[110th Airlift Wing]] using "BC" ("Battle Creek") instead of the "MI" used for other Michigan Air National Guard units. The small digits indicate the fiscal year (FY) the aircraft was ordered. The large digits are the last three digits of the aircraft's serial number.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grüschow |first1=Peter |last2=Grüschow |first2=Ulrich |title=Tail Codes |url=http://www.globemaster.de/tailcodes.html |website=Globemaster US Military Aviation |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821185143/http://www.globemaster.de/tailcodes.html |archive-date=21 August 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Scott |first1=Jeff |title=US Air Force Tail Codes |url=http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0222.shtml |website=AerospaceWeb.org |access-date=19 October 2023 |date=3 April 2005}}</ref>
[[File:U.S. Airmen with the 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron tow a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft attached to the 37th Airlift Squadron into position during Steadfast Javelin II at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept 140903-F-YC884-151.jpg|thumb|USAF fleet of C-130J with different tail-coding design, from the "RS" code indicating that the aircraft is stationed at [[Ramstein Air Base|Ramstein]], to fin flashes indicating that the planes belong to [[Kentucky Air National Guard|Kentucky ANG]].]]
All aircraft assigned to a unit, or in the case of ANG units, the entire state, use a common code. Typically, units of different commands co-located at the same base use different codes. For example, the [[509th Bomb Wing]] at [[Whiteman AFB]] uses "WM" while the [[442nd Fighter Wing]] of the Air Force Reserve at the same base uses "KC."
[[File:C-17A (828697223).jpg|left|thumb|The fin flash and stylized designation on this [[Air Mobility Command|AMC]] [[Boeing C-17 Globemaster III|C-17A]]'s [[Vertical stabilizer|tail]] indicates that the airplane is stationed at [[Travis Air Force Base|Travis AFB]] in California.]]

=== Air Mobility Command markings ===
AMC aircraft do not use two-letter identification codes.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Air Force Aircraft Tail Markings |magazine=Airman |date=January 2005 |page=64 |url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/af/tail_markings.pdf |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225012605/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/af/tail_markings.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2005}}</ref> They have the name of the base written inside the [[tail flash]] and a five-digit number in which all digits are printed in the same size. In most cases, the first digit represents the last digit of the fiscal year, and the remaining digits identify the four-digit sequence number. In cases where more than 10,000 aircraft were ordered in a single year (1964, for example), the complete 5-digit sequence number - without FY identification - is used.

==U.S. Navy==
[[File:USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) 150731-N-GR120-442 (20030139610).jpg|thumb|A [[United States Navy]] [[F/A-18F]] with the code "AB" (representing [[Carrier Air Wing One|CVW-1]]) being painted vertically on its tail.]]
The [[United States Navy|U. S. Navy's]] aircraft visual identification system uses tail codes and [[modex]] to visually identify the aircraft's purpose and organization. [[Carrier air wing]] (CVW) tail codes denote which fleet the air wing belongs; A for [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] and N for [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]]. All squadrons display their CVW's tail code as follows, regardless of aircraft type:

*[[Carrier Air Wing One|CVW-1]]: AB
*[[Carrier Air Wing Two|CVW-2]]: NE
*[[Carrier Air Wing Three|CVW-3]]: AC
*[[Carrier Air Wing Five|CVW-5]]: NF
*[[Carrier Air Wing Seven|CVW-7]]: AG
*[[Carrier Air Wing Eight|CVW-8]]: AJ
*[[Carrier Air Wing Nine|CVW-9]]: NG
*[[Carrier Air Wing Eleven|CVW-11]]: NH
*[[Carrier Air Wing Seventeen|CVW-17]]: NA

Electronic Attack Squadrons (VAQ) of Electronic Attack Wing Pacific which are not assigned to a CVW but instead deploy to fixed land bases in support of joint tasking ("Expeditionary" VAQ Squadrons) use tail code NL.{{efn|When CVW-15 was disestablished in 1995 its VAQ squadron rather than being disestablished with the wing was instead re-purposed as the first expeditionary squadron. The CVW-15 tail code "NL" remained painted on the squadron's aircraft and from that point forward each new expeditionary squadron has been marked with that tail code}}

[[Fleet Replacement Squadron]]s (FRS) for fixed wing carrier based aircraft use the CVW style tail code. Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet carrier based fixed wing aircraft FRS use tail code NJ and Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet carrier based fixed wing aircraft FRSs display tail code AD. The FRS for carrier based helicopters do not follow this rule.

The US Navy Reserve's [[Tactical Support Wing]] (formerly Reserve Carrier Air Wing 20) uses tail code AF. NW was the tail code for Helicopter Wing Reserve which has been disestablished, but the two reserve helicopter squadrons which still exist continue to use that code even though the wing no longer exists.

Helicopter FRS and helicopter squadrons not assigned to CVW (except for reserve squadrons) and all land-based fixed-wing squadrons use two letter codes unique to each squadron. These codes are squadron specific and identify neither the squadron's wing nor base air station.

Training Command aircraft use a single-letter tail code which identifies the aircraft's training wing.
*TW-1 [[Naval Air Station Meridian|NAS Meridian, MS]]: A
*TW-2 [[Naval Air Station Kingsville|NAS Kingsville, TX]]: B
*TW-4 [[Naval Air Station Corpus Christi|NAS Corpus Christi, TX]]: G
*TW-5 [[Naval Air Station Whiting Field|NAS Whiting Field, FL]]: E
*TW-6 [[Naval Air Station Pensacola|NAS Pensacola, FL]]: F

Search and rescue helicopters and light transport aircraft assigned to naval air stations or naval air facilities use a code consisting of a number (seven or eight), followed by a letter unique to each air station/facility.

==U.S. Marine Corps==
{{Full article|U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft tail codes}}
[[File:168728 VK-10 2013 Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II C-N BF-30 VMFA-121 (15459879106).jpg|thumb|An USMC F-35B with the "VK" tail code indicating its squadron [[VMFA-121]].]]
The [[U.S. Marine Corps]] and U. S. Navy share the same system. USMC squadrons use two letter codes unique to each squadron. The codes are squadron specific and do not identify either the Marine Air Group (MAG) nor the Marine Air Wing (MAW) to which the squadron belongs nor the air station at which it is based. The exception is those squadrons assigned to a Navy Carrier Air Wing which use the Carrier Air Wing's tail code.

Light transport aircraft assigned to Marine Corps Air Stations use a two place tail code consisting of a number 5 followed by a letter unique to each Marine Corps Air Station.

== See also ==
* [[Buzz number]]
* [[Bort number]]
* [[United States military aircraft serials]]
* [[United States Marine Corps Aviation]]
* [[U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft tail codes]]

== References ==

===Footnotes===
{{Notelist}}

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite magazine |title=The Air Force in Facts and Figures |magazine=Air Force Magazine |date=May 2012 |page=54 |url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2012/May%202012/0512facts_figs.pdf2 |access-date=19 October 2023 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511200537/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2012/May%202012/0512facts_figs.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2012}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Patrick |title=Hook Code: United States Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Tail Code Markings, 1963-1994 |date=1994}}
* {{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Patrick |title=Tail Code USAF: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings |date=1994 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |isbn=9780887405136}}

[[Category:Aircraft markings]]
[[Category:Aircraft registration]]
[[Category:United States military aircraft]]

Tail code - Revision history

imported>Navalaviator84: /* U.S. Navy */ added a note to the sentence regarding VAQ squadrons explaining why the tail code "NL" is used by them