The 440th 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 the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Erding Air Station, Germany, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1960. The squadron served as a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

unit from February 1953. The squadron was originally established as a Replacement Training Unit 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 ...

in February 1943, but was disbanded when the

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 ...

reorganized its training units in 1944.

History

World War II

The squadron was first activated as the 440th Fighter Squadron at Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida in 1943 when the 337th Fighter Group expanded from three to four squadrons.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 215–216 It served as a

III Fighter Command The III Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was at MacDill Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 8 April 1946. History Background GHQ Air Force (GHQ, AF) had been established with two major comba ...

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 ...

Replacement Training Unit. The squadron was disbanded in May 1944 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 341st AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter).

European air defense

Reactivated in 1953 as a

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 ...

interceptor squadron. Moved to West Germany, attached to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing at

Landstuhl Air Base Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. It serves as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and NATO Allied ...

. The squadron moved to Erding Air Base in Bavaria, operating as a forward-deployed squadron near the Czech border until inactivated in January 1960 with the withdrawal of the F-86D from West Germany.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 440th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine 12 February 1943 : Activated on 24 February 1943 : Disbanded on 1 May 1944 * Reconstituted, and redesignated 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 3 February 1953 : Activated on 18 February 1953 : Inactivated on 1 January 1960

Assignments

* 337th Fighter Group, 24 February 1943 – 1 May 1944 * 530th Air Defense Group, 18 February 1953 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

(attached to 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing), 1 July 1954 *

7486th Air Defense Group The 7486th Air Defense Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force, being stationed at Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on 12 September 1957. History Lineage ...

(later 7486th Air Base Group), 2 December 1954 *

86th Fighter-Interceptor Group The 86th Operations Group (86 OG) is the flying operational component of the 86th Airlift Wing, United States Air Force. The group is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The mission of the 86 OG (Tail Code: RS) is to conduct airlift, aird ...

, 3 January 1956 * 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 8 March 1958 – 1 January 1960

Stations

* Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, 24 February 1943 *

Pinellas Army Air Field Pinellas Army Airfield was a United States Army Air Forces installation during World War II, located 9.8 miles northwest of St. Petersburg, Florida. History Constructed on the site of the Pinellas County Municipal Airport, construction of the ai ...

, Florida, 15 April 1943 – 1 May 1944 *

Geiger Field Spokane International Airport is a commercial airport in Spokane, Washington, United States, located approximately west-southwest of Downtown Spokane. It is the primary airport serving the Inland Northwest, which consists of 30 counties and ...

, Washington, 18 February 1953 * Landstuhl Air Base, Germany, 4 July 1954 * Erding Air Base, Germany, 17 February 1956 – 31 December 1959

Aircraft

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

, 1943–1944 * North American P-51 Mustang, 1944 * North American F-86D Sabre, 1953–1960

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed

440 Year 440 (Roman numerals, CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinian III, Valentinianus and Anatolius (consul), Anatolius (or, less frequently, year ...

Military units and formations established in 1953 Aerospace Defense Command units