41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-86D 52-9989

41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-80s - Johnson Air Base - Jan 1951

The 41st Flying Training Squadron is part of the

14th Flying Training Wing The 14th Flying Training Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. The 14th Operations Group and its six squadrons are responsible for the 52-week Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) missio ...

based at

Columbus Air Force Base Columbus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Columbus, Mississippi. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing (14 FTW), which is a part of Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The resident ...

, Mississippi. It operates

Beechcraft T-6 Texan II The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation. It is a license-built Pilatus PC-9, a trainer aircraft. The T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Nav ...

aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron's mission is to train future Air Force military

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

s in Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Phase 2 in the T-6A. Additionally, the 41st trains several foreign military pilots each year in the T-6, through both

Foreign Military Sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is a security assistance program of the United States government to facilitate the purchase of U.S. arms, defense equipment, design and construction services, and military training to foreign governments. FMS is a gove ...

program and the international Aviation Leadership Program. To accomplish its mission, the squadron annually flies over 17,200 sorties and 22,000 flight hours. The squadron also qualifies and sustains 80–90 mission-ready T-6 instructor pilots. The "Flying Buzzsaws" are currently commanded by Lt Col Timothy "Bogey" Thoren.

History

The squadron flew

antisubmarine Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations a ...

patrols off the coast of Washington from 14 December 1941 – 21 January 1942. Transferred to the

Southwest Pacific theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guin ...

in early 1942, the 41st converted to the

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. Scrambled in response to an

attack on Sydney Harbour From 31 May to 8 June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki class ...

by Japanese submarines, 1/Lt George Cantello died when his P-39 crashed, soon after takeoff. On 23 July 1942, the squadron commenced frontline combat sorties in New Guinea, including air patrols, bomber escort, and

close air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

. It later converted to the

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

. Combat sorties continued until 14 August 1945. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, the squadron flew air defense sorties over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It had been re-designated the 41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. It conducted academic training for pilots and managed the accelerated copilot enrichment training program from, 1990–1991 and has conducted student flight training since 1998.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 41st Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 22 December 1939 : Activated on 1 February 1940 : Redesignated 41st Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 : Redesignated 41st Fighter Squadron, Single-Engine on 14 February 1944 : Redesignated 41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 20 January 1950 : Discontinued and inactivated on 8 March 1960 * Redesignated 41st Flying Training Squadron on 1 January 1990 : Activated on 10 January 1990 : Inactivated on 15 May 1991 * Activated on 1 October 1998

Assignments

31st Pursuit Group 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. Mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits res ...

, 1 February 1940 *

35th Pursuit Group Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

(later 35th Fighter Group, 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group), 15 January 1942 (attached to 6162d Air Base Wing, 1 December 1950 – 25 June 1951) * 327th Air Division, 1 October 1957 – 8 March 1960 *

64th Flying Training Wing The 64th Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, where it conducted pilot training for twenty-five years before it was inactivated in September 1997. The wing was firs ...

, 10 January 1990 – 15 May 1991 *

14th Operations Group The 14th Operations Group is the flying component of the 14th Flying Training Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force's Air Education and Training Command. The group (military aviation unit), group is stationed at Columbus Air Force Base, ...

, 1 October 1998 – present

Stations

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English language, English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German ...

, District of Columbia, 1 February 1940 *

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Un ...

, Michigan, 21 October 1940 *

Baer Field Baer (or Bär, from ) or Van Baer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Baer * Alan Baer, American tuba player * Arthur "Bugs" Baer (1886–1969), American journalist and humorist * Buddy Baer (1915–1986), American boxer * ...

, Indiana, 6 December 1941 *

Paine Field Seattle Paine Field International Airport — also known as Paine Field and Snohomish County Airport — is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in uni ...

, Washington, c. 15 December 1941 – 21 January 1941 * Lampang Airport, Lampang province, Thailand, 22 December 1941 - 27 December 1941 *

Archerfield Airport Archerfield Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, Queensland, Archerfield, to the south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time, it was the primary airport in Brisbane, but it is now the secondary airport. During ...

, Australia, 25 February 1942 * Ballarat Airport, Ballarat, Australia, 8 March 1942 * Mount Gambier Airport, Australia, 17 March 1942 * Bankstown Airfield, Australia, 7 April 1942 * Rogers Airfield (30 Mile Drome),

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, New Guinea, c. 20 July 1942 *

Tsili Tsili Airfield Tsili Tsili (Tsile-Tsile) Airfield is a former World War II airfield in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The airfield was constructed in secret, behind Japanese lines and played an important role in the allies establishing aerial supremacy over ...

, New Guinea, 16 August 1943 *

Nadzab Airfield Complex Officially named Nadzab Tomodachi International Airport, Nadzab Airport is a regional airport located at Nadzab outside Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea along the Highlands Highway. It is served by both private and regional aircraft with do ...

, New Guinea, 22 October 1943 *

Gusap Airfield Gusap Airport is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. located at the base of the Finisterre Range. It has no scheduled commercial airline service. It is currently in use, and maintained by Ramu Agri Industries Ltd. ( ...

, New Guinea, 15 February 1944 * Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 9 June 1944 * Kornasoren Airfield Noemfoor,

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

, New Guinea, 16 August 1944 * Owi Airfield, Schouten Islands, Netherlands East Indies, 17 September 1944 *

Wama Airfield Leo Wattimena Airport, formerly known as Pitu Airport is a public airport located on the southern coast of Morotai Island, North Maluku, Indonesia. History World War II Morotai island was the final island invasion in Netherlands New Guinea b ...

, Morotai, Netherlands East Indies, 17 October 1944 * Mangaldan Airfield,

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, Philippines, 21 January 1945 * Lingayen Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, 16 April 1945 *

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 20 April 1945 *

Yontan Airfield Yontan Airfield (also known as Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield) is a former military airfield located near Yomitan Village on the west coast of Okinawa. It was closed in July 1996 and turned over to the Japanese government in December 2006. Today it i ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, 30 June 1945 *

Irumagawa Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan. It was the airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy until 1945, when it became Johnson Air Force b ...

, Japan, 10 October 1945 *

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 pers ...

, Japan, c. 25 March 1950 *

Johnson Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama, Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan. It was the airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy until 1945, when it became Joh ...

, Japan, 14 August 1950 :: Detachments operated from

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), List of United States Air Force installations, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, in the northern p ...

, Japan 6 September 1950 – August 1951 and Niigata Air Base, Japan c. 25 May 1951 – 31 October 1954 * Yokota Air Base, Japan, 13 August 1954 *

Andersen Air Force Base Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacif ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, c. 5 August 1956 – 8 March 1960 *

Reese Air Force Base Reese Air Force Base was a former U.S. Army Air Base located near Lubbock, Texas. It was closed in 1997 and converted into a research center. History Reese Air Force Base began as the Lubbock Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School in 1942. It ...

, Texas, 10 January 1990 – 15 May 1991 *

, Mississippi, 1 October 1998 – present

Aircraft operated

* Seversky P-35 Guardsman (1940–1941) *

(1941–1943) * Bell P-400 (1942–1944) *

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

(1943) *

(1944–1945) *

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

(1945–1950) *

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...

(1950–1953) *

North American F-86D Sabre The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog") is an American transonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor. Developed for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s, it was ...

(1953–1960) *

Northrop T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet Supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the world's first supersonic trainer as well as the most produced. ...

(1990–1991) *

Cessna T-37 Tweet The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engine jet trainer aircraft. It was flown for decades as a primary trainer of the United States Air Force (USAF) as well as in the air forces of several other nati ...

(1998–2008) * Beechcraft T-6 Texan II (2006–present)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Mississippi 0041