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550th Fighter Squadron
The 550th Fighter Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with 56th Operations Group, at Kingsley Field, Oregon.
The unit was originally formed as the 550th Night Fighter Squadron in 1944. After training, it was deployed to Thirteenth Air Force and ordered to the Netherlands East Indies to provide air defense interceptor protection against Japanese night air raids on American airfields. It later served in the Philippines Campaign where in addition to night interceptor missions it also flew day and night air interdiction missions against enemy troop movements, bridges and other targets of opportunity. It was inactivated in 1946.
The squadron was later activated in the Cold War as a McDonnell F-4 Phantom II Replacement Training Unit (RTU) at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It later transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle in the late 1970s continuing the RTU mission at Luke. It also performed interceptor training for Air Defense, Tactical Air Command pilots who flew the F-15 as an interceptor for NORAD committed units. It became a RTU for the F-15E Strike Eagle before being inactivated in 1995 when the F-15 was phased out from Luke after 21 years. In 2017, it was reactivated as a training squadron flying the F-15C based with the Oregon Air National Guard in Oregon.
The squadron was established on 1 June 1944 as the 550th Night Fighter Squadron at Hammer Field, California. It was the last night fighter squadron organized by the Army Air Forces. All later night fighter training was for replacement pilots of existing units. It trained at various airfields in the San Joaquin Valley and was ready to deploy into combat by August.
Assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, arriving at Hollandia Airfield in the Netherlands East Indies part of New Guinea in December 1944. The squadron deployed to forward bases at Middleburg Airfield and Wama Airfield, but during 1945 aerial targets became increasingly rare, and the squadron turned to long range night-time intruding, carrying out the same mission as the aircraft they had originally been stalking, the P-61's long range enabled attacks on Japanese targets as far as the Philippines.
The unit moved to newly established bases in the Philippines in March, and the 550th began flying a number of direct infantry support missions, helping with the battle on Negros. Aircraft were modified in the field to accommodate 5-inch High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR). Rockets were used in the squadron's night intruder missions. It performed joint operations with the 418th Night Fighter Squadron during the invasion of Balikpapan on the east coast of Borneo in late June 1945; staging out of Sanga Sanga in the Sulu Archipelago. Performed pre-invasion intruder strikes, expending large numbers of 5-inch HVARS, and performing night air defense over the invasion Naval task force.
Combat ended by the end of July. Squadron personnel were largely released from service after the end of the war. In September, the squadron's aircraft were sent to Okinawa for reassignment. The squadron was inactivated in California in early 1946.
The squadron was redesignated the 550th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and reactivated in 1970 at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona as a McDonnell F-4C Phantom II Replacement Training Unit (RTU), taking over the assets of the 4517th Combat Crew Training Squadron. Squadron aircraft carried tail code "LA" with a red fin cap. The task of the 550th was to take experienced pilots and weapon systems officers and train them to fly the F-4 as one of the main providers of fighter pilots for Tactical Air Command and fighter forces worldwide.
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550th Fighter Squadron
The 550th Fighter Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with 56th Operations Group, at Kingsley Field, Oregon.
The unit was originally formed as the 550th Night Fighter Squadron in 1944. After training, it was deployed to Thirteenth Air Force and ordered to the Netherlands East Indies to provide air defense interceptor protection against Japanese night air raids on American airfields. It later served in the Philippines Campaign where in addition to night interceptor missions it also flew day and night air interdiction missions against enemy troop movements, bridges and other targets of opportunity. It was inactivated in 1946.
The squadron was later activated in the Cold War as a McDonnell F-4 Phantom II Replacement Training Unit (RTU) at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It later transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle in the late 1970s continuing the RTU mission at Luke. It also performed interceptor training for Air Defense, Tactical Air Command pilots who flew the F-15 as an interceptor for NORAD committed units. It became a RTU for the F-15E Strike Eagle before being inactivated in 1995 when the F-15 was phased out from Luke after 21 years. In 2017, it was reactivated as a training squadron flying the F-15C based with the Oregon Air National Guard in Oregon.
The squadron was established on 1 June 1944 as the 550th Night Fighter Squadron at Hammer Field, California. It was the last night fighter squadron organized by the Army Air Forces. All later night fighter training was for replacement pilots of existing units. It trained at various airfields in the San Joaquin Valley and was ready to deploy into combat by August.
Assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, arriving at Hollandia Airfield in the Netherlands East Indies part of New Guinea in December 1944. The squadron deployed to forward bases at Middleburg Airfield and Wama Airfield, but during 1945 aerial targets became increasingly rare, and the squadron turned to long range night-time intruding, carrying out the same mission as the aircraft they had originally been stalking, the P-61's long range enabled attacks on Japanese targets as far as the Philippines.
The unit moved to newly established bases in the Philippines in March, and the 550th began flying a number of direct infantry support missions, helping with the battle on Negros. Aircraft were modified in the field to accommodate 5-inch High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR). Rockets were used in the squadron's night intruder missions. It performed joint operations with the 418th Night Fighter Squadron during the invasion of Balikpapan on the east coast of Borneo in late June 1945; staging out of Sanga Sanga in the Sulu Archipelago. Performed pre-invasion intruder strikes, expending large numbers of 5-inch HVARS, and performing night air defense over the invasion Naval task force.
Combat ended by the end of July. Squadron personnel were largely released from service after the end of the war. In September, the squadron's aircraft were sent to Okinawa for reassignment. The squadron was inactivated in California in early 1946.
The squadron was redesignated the 550th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and reactivated in 1970 at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona as a McDonnell F-4C Phantom II Replacement Training Unit (RTU), taking over the assets of the 4517th Combat Crew Training Squadron. Squadron aircraft carried tail code "LA" with a red fin cap. The task of the 550th was to take experienced pilots and weapon systems officers and train them to fly the F-4 as one of the main providers of fighter pilots for Tactical Air Command and fighter forces worldwide.