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548th Combat Training Squadron
The 548th Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. It is geographically separated from the 57th, whose headquarters are at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. At Fort Johnson, the squadron controls multi-service close air support and forward air control aircraft and tactical air control assets in combat exercises with the US Army Joint Readiness Training Center. The unit is slated to close sometime in the spring of 2026. They are currently downsizing and sending equipment to DRMO in Texas.
The unit was originally formed as the 548th Night Fighter Squadron in 1944. After training, it was deployed to Seventh Air Force and ordered to the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific. Its mission was the air defense of Twentieth Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress airfields on Saipan and also on Iwo Jima. It also provided night escort for the B-29s in case of Japanese interceptor attacks. It later served on Okinawa where it was inactivated in December 1945.
The squadron was reactivated in 1969 during the Vietnam War as part of the 1st Air Commando Wing. Its mission was to train Republic of Vietnam Air Force aircrews in the operation of C-47 Skytrain "Puff The Magic Dragon" gunship operations to interdict North Vietnamese supply convoys and personnel movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.[dubious – discuss] The squadron was inactivated in 1973 as part of the withdrawal of United States forces from the Vietnam War.
The 548th Combat Training Squadron provides Air Combat Command-directed support to the U.S. Army's Joint Readiness Training Center located at Fort Johnson, Louisiana.
The 548th accomplishes air liaison duties for the training center commander, exercises operational control of deployed fighter units to Barksdale Air Force Base, provides deployed unit maintenance and munitions support, schedules and controls exercise airspace, controls close air support missions, builds exercise scenarios, provides observers and controllers to evaluate tactical air control operations and replicates Air Force command and control from division through joint task force level.
The 548th serves as host to active Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Marine and Navy units in combined arms training for both Army and Air Force contingency forces under conditions of low- to mid-intensity conflicts. Squadron members assist in the planning of Air Force operational support and participation in each exercise.
The Air Force supports deployments of personnel and equipment with strategic airlift and sustainment of forces in their operational area by theater airlift. Tactical aircraft provide the close air support to the Army contingent on the ground. Important to maintaining the ability to fight and win is tough, demanding force-on-force training. The events occurring in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan is representative of the kind of realistic training experience our combat units receive.
The squadron was established on 23 March 1944 as the 548th Night Fighter Squadron at Salinas Army Air Base, California. It was part of the final group of dedicated night fighter interceptor squadrons formed by the Army Air Forces, being programmed to deploy to the Central Pacific. It was at Salinas that the squadron adopted its emblem, "Skopie" as in "radar-scope", that it still carries today. The squadron trained at various airfields in the San Joaquin Valley and was ready to deploy into combat by early September.
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548th Combat Training Squadron
The 548th Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. It is geographically separated from the 57th, whose headquarters are at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. At Fort Johnson, the squadron controls multi-service close air support and forward air control aircraft and tactical air control assets in combat exercises with the US Army Joint Readiness Training Center. The unit is slated to close sometime in the spring of 2026. They are currently downsizing and sending equipment to DRMO in Texas.
The unit was originally formed as the 548th Night Fighter Squadron in 1944. After training, it was deployed to Seventh Air Force and ordered to the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific. Its mission was the air defense of Twentieth Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress airfields on Saipan and also on Iwo Jima. It also provided night escort for the B-29s in case of Japanese interceptor attacks. It later served on Okinawa where it was inactivated in December 1945.
The squadron was reactivated in 1969 during the Vietnam War as part of the 1st Air Commando Wing. Its mission was to train Republic of Vietnam Air Force aircrews in the operation of C-47 Skytrain "Puff The Magic Dragon" gunship operations to interdict North Vietnamese supply convoys and personnel movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.[dubious – discuss] The squadron was inactivated in 1973 as part of the withdrawal of United States forces from the Vietnam War.
The 548th Combat Training Squadron provides Air Combat Command-directed support to the U.S. Army's Joint Readiness Training Center located at Fort Johnson, Louisiana.
The 548th accomplishes air liaison duties for the training center commander, exercises operational control of deployed fighter units to Barksdale Air Force Base, provides deployed unit maintenance and munitions support, schedules and controls exercise airspace, controls close air support missions, builds exercise scenarios, provides observers and controllers to evaluate tactical air control operations and replicates Air Force command and control from division through joint task force level.
The 548th serves as host to active Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Marine and Navy units in combined arms training for both Army and Air Force contingency forces under conditions of low- to mid-intensity conflicts. Squadron members assist in the planning of Air Force operational support and participation in each exercise.
The Air Force supports deployments of personnel and equipment with strategic airlift and sustainment of forces in their operational area by theater airlift. Tactical aircraft provide the close air support to the Army contingent on the ground. Important to maintaining the ability to fight and win is tough, demanding force-on-force training. The events occurring in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan is representative of the kind of realistic training experience our combat units receive.
The squadron was established on 23 March 1944 as the 548th Night Fighter Squadron at Salinas Army Air Base, California. It was part of the final group of dedicated night fighter interceptor squadrons formed by the Army Air Forces, being programmed to deploy to the Central Pacific. It was at Salinas that the squadron adopted its emblem, "Skopie" as in "radar-scope", that it still carries today. The squadron trained at various airfields in the San Joaquin Valley and was ready to deploy into combat by early September.