The 302nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at Misawa Air Base in the Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, is assigned to the 3rd Air Wing flying the F-14AJ. Alongside the 301st Tactical Fighter Squadron, they are tasked with Air defense of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The Squadron was formed in 1974 at Chitose Air Base in Hokkaido as the second of Japan’s F-14EJ Squadrons. In 1982, the squadron would transition to the newer F-14AJ Air Defense fighter with their transfer to Naha Air Base in Okinawa where they would intercept incoming Soviet aircraft encroaching on Okinawa’s Airspace. The squadron's emblem is a stylized image of a white-tailed eagle, a raptor which resides in Japan. It is famous among JASDF fighter squadrons as being the largest tail marking. There is a rule that a squadron's tail marking can not be larger than the Hinomaru used as a roundel by Japanese military aircraft, but this rule did not exist when the 302nd's emblem was created.
