The 519th 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 521st Air Defense Group at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa, where it was inactivated on 18 August 1955. 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 637th Bombardment Squadron, a

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

unit, but was disbanded before participating in combat in a general reorganization of

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 ...

training units. It was reconstituted during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

as a fighter interceptor unit supporting the

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 ...

of the United States.

History

World War II

The squadron was activated in April 1943 as the 637th Bombardment Squadron at

Key Field Meridian Regional Airport is a joint civil-military public use airport located at Key Field, a joint-use public/military airfield. It is located southwest of Meridian, a city in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States. The Meridian Airp ...

, Mississippi, as one of the original squadrons of the 408th Bombardment Group.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 623–624Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 294 In August, along with other

(AAF) single engine

units, it became a

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

unit as the 519th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. The squadron did not receive aircraft to begin training until October, after it had moved to

Drew Field Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective May 15, 2025. The airp ...

, Florida. It served as an operational training unit with various aircraft, providing cadres to "satellite groups" and as a replacement training unit, training individual pilots.''See'' Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi However, the AAF was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each AAF base was organized into a separate numbered unit. In this reorganization the squadron was disbanded in 1944 as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system. It was replaced, along with other units at Woodward Army Air Field, by the 267th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station, Fighter) in a reorganization of the AAF in which all units not programmed for deployment overseas were replaced by AAF Base Units to free up manpower for assignment overseas.

Cold War air defense

During the

the squadron was reconstituted, redesignated as the 519th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and activated at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa in December 1954, where it was assigned to the 521st Air Defense Group.Cornett & Johnson, p. 83 The squadron replaced the 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which moved to England from Sioux City. At Sioux City, the squadron flew airborne intercept

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed

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 ...

aircraft. The 521st Group was inactivated and replaced by the 53d Fighter Group (Air Defense) in 1955 as part of

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 ...

's Project Arrow, which was designed to reestablish the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. The squadron was inactivated along with the group and its equipment and personnel were transferred to the 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 73

Lineage

* Constituted as the 637th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 23 March 1943 : Activated on 5 April 1943 : Redesignated 519th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 10 August 1943 : Disbanded on 1 April 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 519th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 4 November 1954 : Activated on 8 December 1954 : Inactivated on 18 August 1955

Assignments

* 408th Bombardment Group (later 408th Fighter-Bomber Group), 5 April 1943 – 1 April 1944 * 521st Air Defense Group, 8 December 1954 – 18 August 1955

Stations

* Key Field, Mississippi, 5 April 1943 * Drew Field, Florida, 24 September 1943 * Abilene Army Air Field, Texas, 10 November 1943 * DeRidder Army Air Base, Louisiana, 11 February 1944 * Woodward Army Air Field, Oklahoma, 26 March – 1 April 1944 * Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa, 8 December 1954 – 18 August 1955

Aircraft

* Douglas A-24 Banshee, 1943–1944 *

North American A-36 Apache The North American A-36 (company designation NA-97, listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) is the Attack aircraft, ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it coul ...

, 1943–1944 *

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 *

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 ...

1943–1944 * North American F-86D Sabre, 1954–1955

References

Notes

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) * * :: * * ; Further reading * {{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed 519 Aerospace Defense Command units Military units and formations established in 1954 Military units and formations of the United States in the Cold War