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The 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
unit. Its last assignment was with
414th Fighter Group The 414th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 944th Fighter Wing of Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The ...
at
Oxnard Air Force Base Oxnard Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base, in the city of Camarillo, California. History Camarillo Airport was established in 1942, when the California State Highway Department built an auxiliary landing field with a runw ...
, California, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1969. The squadron was first activated during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as the 437th Fighter Squadron, a very long range fighter escort squadron. It deployed to the
Pacific Ocean Theater The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the Pacific War, the war between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. It included the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas (command). which included most of the Pacific Ocean and its isla ...
a month before the
Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of condu ...
in August 1945, and flew several escort and fighter sweep missions over Japan before the end of the war. It moved to the Philippines after the war ended and was inactivated there in 1946. It was activated at
Otis Air Force Base Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Otis'' (film), a direct-to-DVD 2008 American comedy horror film * "Otis" (''The Jeffersons''), a television episode * "Otis" (''Prison Break''), a television episode Music * ...
, Massachusetts in 1952 as the 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. It moved to California in 1955 and served there until the spring of 1968. it was briefly activate in 1968, but was discontinued and transferred its personnel and equipment to another unit in September 1968.


History


World War II

The squadron was constituted in late 1944 at
Seymour Johnson Field Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for U.S. Navy Lt. Seymour A. Johnson, a test pilot from Goldsboro who died in an F4F Wildcat crash near Norbeck, Maryla ...
, North Carolina as the 437th Fighter Squadron, one of the three original squadrons of the
414th Fighter Group The 414th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 944th Fighter Wing of Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The ...
.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 298–299 The 414th was a very long range
Republic P-47N Thunderbolt The P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II fighter aircraft built by Republic Aviation from 1941 to 1945. Early designs XP-47 (AP-10) In response to a USAAC requirement for a new fighter aircraft, Republic Aviation engineer Alexander Kartveli p ...
fighter group that trained under
I Fighter Command I Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces intermediate command responsible for command and control of the fighter operations within the First Air Force during World War II. It was initially established in June 1941 as the 1st Inter ...
at
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 and
Bluethenthal Field Wilmington International Airport is a public airport located just north of Wilmington, North Carolina, in unincorporated Wrightsboro. ILM covers 1,800 acres (728 ha). During the calendar year of 2024, ILM served a record-high number of pass ...
, North Carolina. The squadron deployed by ship to
Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...
in the
Pacific Ocean Theater The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II was a major theater of the Pacific War, the war between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. It included the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas (command). which included most of the Pacific Ocean and its isla ...
where it became part of
Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Intercon ...
as a long-range escort squadron for
Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...
bombers engaged in strategic bombing campaign against Japan. The extreme length of these escort missions stretched the fuel capacity of the squadron's Thunderbolts. Lt. Robert Dunnavant, piloting a squadron P-47N, spent the astonishing period of 8 hours and 45 minutes in the air. His aircraft's fuel tanks were so depleted when he eventually reached
Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...
, that he dared not try to reach his base at North Field, landing instead at a small US Navy airstrip he located on the coast. After the
Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of condu ...
the squadron moved to
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 ...
where it was assigned to
Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...
, with its P-47Ns replaced by
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 ...
s. It was inactivated in 1946.


Cold War Air Defense

The squadron was activated in November 1952 as an
Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...
(ADC)
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...
squadron at
Otis Air Force Base Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Otis'' (film), a direct-to-DVD 2008 American comedy horror film * "Otis" (''The Jeffersons''), a television episode * "Otis" (''Prison Break''), a television episode Music * ...
, Massachusetts with
Lockheed F-94C Starfire The Lockheed F-94 Starfire is a first-generation jet powered all-weather day/night interceptor aircraft designed and produced by Lockheed Corporation. It was the first operational United States Air Force (USAF) fighter equipped with an afterbu ...
s. The F-94C was the first model of the Starfire to be entirely armed with FFAR rockets, eliminating the cannon armament of earlier models. It was the first operational F-94C unit. By June 1955, The squadron had replaced its Starfires with
Northrop F-89D Scorpion The Northrop F-89 Scorpion is an all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the first jet-powered aircraft to be designed for the interceptor role f ...
s.Cornett & Johnson, p. 128 In August 1955 ADC implemented 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. As a result, the squadron was transferred on paper to
Oxnard Air Force Base Oxnard Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base, in the city of Camarillo, California. History Camarillo Airport was established in 1942, when the California State Highway Department built an auxiliary landing field with a runw ...
, California, where it assumed the personnel and F-94C aircraft of the 354th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and rejoined its World War II headquarters, the 414th Fighter Group. By the start of April 1956 it again transitioned into F-89Ds, adding F-89Hs in July. The H model was armed with
GAR-1 Falcon The Hughes AIM-4 Falcon was the first operational guided air-to-air missile of the United States Air Force. Development began in 1946; the weapon was first tested in 1949. The missile entered service with the USAF in 1956. Produced in both heat- ...
s in addition to the unguided FFAR rockets. In spring 1958, it replaced its F-89Hs with F-89Js, which were equipped with the MB-1 Genie with a nuclear warhead. Nuclear armed Scorpions were only placed on thirty-minute “standby alert” in addition to the unit’s requirement to maintain aircraft on five minute alert armed with conventional weapons. In January 1960 the squadron was equipped with new
McDonnell F-101B Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration fighter) ...
supersonic interceptor, and the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. In February 1962, ADC increased the alert requirement for its units. In addition to the two aircraft each squadron had been maintaining on five minute alert, one third of the unit’s aircraft were placed on fifteen minute alert. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
, when
President Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
announced the presence of Soviet
intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ball ...
s in Cuba.
Continental Air Defense Command Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, tasked with air defense for the continental United States. It comprised Army, Air Force, and Navy components. The primary purpo ...
increased its weapons readiness status. This required the squadron to place all its planes on five minute alert. Later that day,
North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...
directed that one third of the squadron's Voodoos "in a quiet, low-key fashion" be flown to their interim dispersal bases. This dispersal included squadron aircraft flying with their weapons to the dispersal base, including those armed with Genies. On 17 November, after it had been confirmed that missiles and bombers had been removed from Cuba, the dispersed aircraft began to return to Oxnard. On 27 November, the squadron returned to normal alert status. Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, attrition (and the fact that production lines closed in 1961) caused a gradual drop in the number of planes assigned to a squadron, from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. The force reduction continued, finally resulting in a reduction in the number of interceptor units.Cornett & Johnson, p. 79McMullen, pp. 41, 43-45 As a result of this reduction, the squadron was inactivated in April 1968, and its aircraft were passed along to the
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...
. Meanwhile, the
456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command San Francisco Air Defense Sector stationed at Oxnard Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 18 Ju ...
at
Castle Air Force Base Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in unincorpor ...
, California transferred its
Convair F-106A Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart is an all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. The F-106 was designed in response to the 1954 interceptor program. Envisioned as an imagined "Ultimate Int ...
s and supporting personnel and equipment to Oxnard. Once the transfer was complete, the 437th was again activated, using the personnel and equipment of the 456th. However, on 30 September 1968 the squadron was inactivated and its personnel, mission and equipment were transferred to the
460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 460th Test and Evaluation Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. It was previously assigned to Tactical Air Command's 325th Fighter Weapons Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 15 October 1982. ...
, which was activated at Oxnard the same day. The 437th operated the F-106 for only 3 months, making it the shortest-lived F-106 unit.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 437th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 5 October 1944 : Activated on 15 October 1944 : Inactivated on 30 September 1946 * Redesignated 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 14 November 1952 : Activated on 27 November 1952Lineage information through May 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 541-543 : Inactivated 29 April 1968 * Activated on 1 July 1968 : Inactivated on 30 September 1968


Assignments

* 414th Fighter Group, 15 October 1944 – 30 September 1946 * 4707th Air Defense Wing, 27 November 1952 *
564th Air Defense Group The 564th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 4707th Air Defense Wing, at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where it was inactivated in 1955. The group was originally acti ...
, 16 February 1953 * 414th Fighter Group, 18 August 1955 – 29 April 1968 * 414th Fighter Group, 1 June 1968 – 30 September 1968


Stations

* Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 15 October 1944 * Selfridge Field, Michigan, 21 November 1944 * Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina, 19 March – 5 June 1945 * North Field (Iwo Jima), 7 July 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 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, 23 December 1945 *
Floridablanca Airfield Cesar Basa Air Base, or simply Basa Air Base (formerly known as Floridablanca Airfield) , is an airbase currently operated by the Philippine Air Force. It is located at Floridablanca, Pampanga about northwest of Metro Manila in the Philippines. ...
, Luzon, Philippines, unknown-30 September 1946 * Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 27 November 1952 * Oxnard Air Force Base, California, 18 August 1955 – 29 April 1968 * Oxnard Air Force Base, California, 1 June 1968 – 30 September 1968


Aircraft

* Republic P-47N Thunderbolt, 1944–1946 * Lockheed F-94C Starfire, 1952–1955, 1955–1956 * Northrop F-89D Scorpion, 1955, 1956–1958 * Northrop F-89H Scorpion, 1956–1958 * Northrop F-89J Scorpion, 1958–1960 * McDonnell F-101B Voodoo, 1960–1968 * McDonnell F-101F Voodoo, 1960–1968 * Convair F-106A Delta Dart, 1968


References


Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations


Bibliography

* Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, (1956) * * * * McMullen, Richard F. (1964) ''The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964'', ADC Historical Study No. 27 (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000) * Ray, Thomas W. “Nuclear Armament: Its Acquisition, Control and Application to Manned Interceptors 1951-1963” ADC Historical Study No. 20, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO (Secret- Restricted Data, redacted version declassified 20 June 1996) * * ''NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis'', Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996) * ; Further reading * Grant, C.L., (1961
The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * {{USAAF 20th Air Force World War II Fighter squadrons of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command units