54th Fighter Group
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54th Fighter Group
| 54th Fighter Group (Air Defense) | |
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 Emblem of the 54th Fighter Group Approved 8 Mar 1957 |
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| Active | 1941–1944, 1955-1958 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Fighter-Interceptor |
| Engagements | American Campaign |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation |
The 54th Fighter Group (Air Defense) is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC)'s, 30th Air Division at Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania. The group was inactivated in early 1958.
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Contents
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History
Operational history
The group was activated as the 54th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) at the beginning of 1941 at Hamilton Field, CA.[1] It trained with P-40 Warhawks and moved to Everett Army Airfield and served as a part of the defense force for the northwest Pacific coast during the first few months of World War II.[1] It was redesignated as the 54th Fighter Group in May 1942. The air echelon, equipped with P-39 Airacobras, served in Alaska against the Japanese forces that invaded the Aleutian Islands during the summer of 1942, and for these operations the group received a Distinguished Unit Citation.[1] The air echelon returned to the US in December 1942 and rejoined the group, which had been assigned to Third AF, and which became a replacement training unit for P-51 Mustang pilots.[1] In 1944, the group was disbanded as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system.[1]
In 1955, the group was redesignated as the 54th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated at Greater Pittsburgh Airport[1] to replace the 500th Air Defense Group as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[2] The group assumed host responsibilities for the USAF portion of the airport and was assigned a USAF Dispensary, Air Base Squadron and Materiel Squadron to fulfill this responsibility.[3][4] Because Project Arrow was also intended to reunite fighter squadrons with their former groups, the 42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was stationed at O'Hare Airport moved to Pittsburgh and assumed the personnel and equipment of the 500th group's 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, including its radar equipped F-86 Sabres. The squadron transitioned into data link equipped F-86Ls in the spring of 1957 and flew them until inactivation in 1958.[5]
Lineage
- Constituted as 54th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940
- Activated on 15 January 1941
- Redesignated as 54th Fighter Group (Single Engine) on 15 May 1942
- Disbanded on 1 May 1944.
- Reconstituted and redesignated 54th Fighter Group (Air Defense), on 20 June 1955
- Activated on 18 August 1955
- Inactivated on 8 January 1958[5]
Assignments
- Second Air Force, 15 January 1941
- 2d Interceptor Command (later II Fighter Command), 4 June 1941
- Third Air Force, 31 January 1942 – 1 May 1944
- Air echelon deployed to Eleventh Air Force, 1 June 1942 – 30 November 1942
- 4708th Air Defense Wing, 18 August 1955[5]
- 30th Air Division, 8 July 1956 – 8 January 1958[5]
Stations
- Hamilton Field, California, 15 January 1941
- Everett Army Airfield, Washington, 26 June 1941
- Harding Army Air Field, Louisiana, 31 January 1942
- Bartow Army Airfield, Florida, 11 May 1943 – 1 May 1944
- Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania, 18 August 1955 – 8 January 1958
Components
- 42d Fighter Squadron (later 42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron): 15 January 1941 – 1 May 1944 ; 18 August 1955 - 8 January 1958
- 56th Fighter Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 1 May 1944
- 57th Fighter Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 1 May 1944
Aircraft operated
- P-36 Hawk, 1940–1941
- P-40 Warhawk, 1941–1942
- P-39 Airacobra, 1942–1943
- P-51 Mustang, 1943–1944
- F-86D Sabre, 1955–1957
- F-86L Sabre, 1957–1958
Awards
- Distinguished Unit Citation, Aleutian Islands (June 1942) - 4 November 1942
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956.
- Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980. Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/af_combat_units_wwii.pdf.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/combat_sq_of_the_af_wwii.pdf.
- USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
External links
- Factsheet, 56th Training Squadron (56th Fighter Squadron) (accessed 5 May 2012)
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