Deliveries of the RF-84F Thunderflash began in March of 1954, with the 363rd Tactical Reconnaisance Wing at Shaw AFB in North Carolina being the first receipient. By June of 1956, four USAF reconnaissance wings were equipped with RF-84Fs. The last of 715 RF-84Fs rolled off the production lines at Farmingdale in January of 1958. At one time or another, the RF-84F was flown by the 17th, 25th, 32nd, 38th, and 155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadrons, the 13th, 15th, 82nd, and 1561st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons and the 20th and 91st Reconnaissance Squadrons.
The service life of the RF-84F with the USAF was relatively short, and most were replaced by McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo aircraft in the late 1950s and early 1960s. After that, they served with seven Air National Guard squadrons until well into the 1960s.
Sources:
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Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and David Donald,
Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.
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The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
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American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner,
Doubleday, 1982.
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United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, Ray Wagner, Profile Publications, 1966.
