The 4700th Air Defense Group is a discontinued

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

(USAF) organization. Its last assignment was with the

4709th Air Defense Wing The 4709th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was ...

at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was activated in 1950 as a support unit for USAF units at Stewart. In 1954, it assumed an operational mission and was assigned two

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

squadrons. The group was discontinued on 18 August 1955 and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the

329th Fighter Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

(Air Defense) as part of Project Arrow, an Air Defense Command project to air defense groups with fighter units with distinguished histories from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

The

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

was organized 1 December 1950 as the 4700th Air Base Group to replace the 4400th Air Base Group as the USAF host unit at Stewart Air Force Base, New York in preparation for the transfer of Stewart to Air Defense Command (ADC) from

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary augm ...

(CONAC).Cornett & Johnson, p. 88 It was assigned three

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

s to perform its duties as host. The 4700th was assigned to

Eastern Air Defense Force The Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960. History EADF was ...

. It transferred with Eastern Air Defense Force from

to Air Defense Command (ADC) upon ADC's reactivation in January 1951. The 4700th was redesignated as an air defense group in 1954 and reassigned to the

with responsibility for air defense of the New York City area. The group was assigned the 330th and the

539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where it was inactivated on 31 August 1967. During World War II, the ...

s (FIS), which were already stationed at Stewart, flying

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

fighter aircraftMaurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 407Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'' pp. 645–646Cornett & Johnson, pp. 126, 130 as its operational components. The 330th and 539th FIS had been assigned directly to the 4709th Air Defense Wing. In January 1955, the 330th FIS and 539th FIS converted to more capable

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed

North American F-86D The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog",) was an American transonic jet fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air- ...

s. The group was replaced by the

in 1955 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.Buss, Sturm, Volan, & McMullen, p.6

Lineage

* Designated and organized as the 4700th Air Base Group on 1 December 1950 * Redesignated 4700th Air Defense Group on 20 September 1954 * Discontinued on 18 August 1955

Assignments

* Eastern Air Defense Force, 1 December 1950 – 20 September 1954 * 4709th Air Defense Wing, 20 September 1954 – 18 August 1955

Station

* Stewart Air Force Base, New York, 1 December 1950 – 18 August 1955

Components

* 330th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 20 September 1954 – 18 August 1955 * 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 20 September 1954 – 18 August 1955 * 612th USAF Infirmary, ''ca''. 1 January 1954 – 18 August 1955 * 4700th Installations Squadron 1 December 1950 – 18 August 1955 * 4700th Maintenance & Supply Squadron (later 4700th Materiel Squadron), 1 December 1950 – 18 August 1955

Aircraft

* F-86D, 1955 * F-86F, 1954–1955

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Buss, (ed), Sturm, Volan, & McMullen, History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955 * * *