The 72d Fighter Wing was a wing of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. It was assigned to

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defende ...

, stationed at

Colorado Springs Army Air Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the N ...

, Colorado. It was inactivated on 9 April 1946.

History

The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

was initially activated as a command and control organization for heavy bomber training. In 1943 it became single-engine fighter training organization for Second Air Force. The wing had jurisdiction for fighter training Operational Training Units and Replacement Training Units in the midwest. Bases assigned to the wing included: *

Abilene Army Air Field Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and west of Fort Worth, Texas. The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Eig ...

, Texas *

Alamogordo Army Air Field Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...

, New Mexico *

Bruning Army Air Field Bruning Army Air Field was a flight training installation of the United States Army Air Forces used during World War II and located in northeast Thayer County, Nebraska, at coordinates 40°20'25" North, 97°25'42" West, approximately six miles ...

, Nebraska *

Casper Army Air Field Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

, Wyoming * Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas *

DeRidder Army Air Base Beauregard Regional Airport is a public use airport in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by Beauregard Parish and is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of DeRidder, Louisian ...

, Louisiana * Galveston Army Air Field, Texas * Harding Field, Louisiana *

Peterson Field Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the N ...

, Colorado *

Pocatello Army Air Field Pocatello Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located seven nautical miles (13 km) northwest of the central business district of Pocatello, a city in Bannock County, Idaho, United States. The airport is built on the ...

, Idaho * Scribner Army Air Field, Nebraska

Lineage

* Constituted as 72d Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Heavy) on 12 August 1943 : Activated on 20 August 1943 : Redesigned 72d Fighter Wing on 1 September 1943 : Inactivated on 9 April 1946 * Disbanded on 15 June 1983 * Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and redesigned 372d Electronic Warfare GroupDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations * Disbanded on 9 September 1992

Assignments

, 12 August 1943 – 9 April 1946

Components

* 36th Fighter Group, 17 September 1943 – 4 April 1944 *

84th Fighter Group Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoad ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 April 1944 *

357th Fighter Group The 357th Fighter Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The 357th operated P-51 Mustang aircraft as part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and its members were known unofficially as the Yoxford ...

, 7 October – 9 November 1943 * 407th Fighter Group, 9 March 1943 – 21 March 1944 * 408th Fighter Group, 1 November 1943 – 1 April 1944 * 476th Fighter Group, 26 March-1 April 1944 *

507th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

, 12 October 1944 – 24 June 1945 *

508th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

, 12 October 1944 – 6 January 1945

Stations

* Rapid City Army Air Base,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

, 20 August 1943 *

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, 7 October 1943 *

, November 1943; *

, December 1945-9 April 1946

Awards

* *

American Theater of World War II The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean. Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters o ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Military units and formations in Colorado 072 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946