440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
| 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron | |
|---|---|
|
Emblem of the 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron | |
| Active | 1943–1960 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Fighter-Interceptor |
The 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, stationed at Erding Air Station, West Germany. It was inactivated on 16 February 1959.
History
Activated in 1943 as a III Fighter Command P-51 Mustang Operational, later Replacement Training Unit. Inactivated in May 1944 with the end of RTU training.
Reactivated in 1953 as an F-86D Sabre Interceptor Squadron in West Germany, assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group at Landstuhl AB. Deployed to Erding Air Base in Bavaria, operating as a forward-deployed squadron near the Czechoslovakian border until inactivated with the withdrawal of the F-86D from West Germany in 1960.
Lineage
- Constituted 440th Fighter Squadron 12 February 1943
- Activated on 24 February 1943
- Disbanded on 1 May 1944
- Reconstituted, and redesignated 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 3 February 1953
- Activated on 18 February 1953
- Inactivated on 1 January 1960
Assignments
- 337th Fighter Group, 24 February 1943 – 1 May 1944
- 530th Air Defense Group, 18 February 1953
- Twelfth Air Force
- Attached to 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 1 July 1954
- 7486th Air Defense (later Air Base) Group, 2 December 1954
- 86th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 3 January 1956
- 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 8 March 1958 – 1 January 1960.
Stations
- Sarasota Army Airfield, Florida, 24 February 1943
- Pinellas Army Airfield, Florida, 15 April 1943 – 1 May 1944
- Geiger Field, Washington, 18 February 1953
- Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany, 4 July 1954
- Erding Air Base, West Germany, 17 February 1956 – 31 December 1959.
Aircraft
- P-40 Warhawk, 1943–1944
- P-51 Mustang, 1944
- F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1953–1960
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
- A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
- Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force: World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1982.
- USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
