539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
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The 539th 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
26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactiv ...
at
McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is unde ...
, New Jersey, where it was inactivated on 31 August 1967. 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 ...
, the squadron was activated in 1943 as a Replacement Training Unit, and served until 1944 when it 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 and support units in the United States. It was reactivated as a fighter interceptor unit in 1954, and served in that role, first with various models of the
North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...
, then with the
Convair F-106 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 I ...
until inactivating.


History


World War II

The 539th Fighter Squadron was activated in October 1943 at
Westover Field Westover may refer to: People *Al Westover (born 1954), American professional basketball player in Australia * Arthur Westover (1864–1935), Canadian sport shooter and 1908 Olympian *Charles Westover (1934–1990), better known as Del Shannon, Ame ...
, Massachusetts as one of the original
squadrons Squadron(s) may refer to: Military * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 ...
of the
402d Fighter Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...
. Shortly after activation, the squadron moved to
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 where it operated as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for
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 ...
pilots. RTUs were oversized units whose mission was to train individual
pilots 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 are ...
or
aircrew Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviatio ...
s. In December 1943, the squadron again moved, this time to
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, and was assigned to the
326th Fighter Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
. However, 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 ...
was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible
tables of organization A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of military units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as well ...
were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. In this reorganization the 539th was disbanded and, along with the other operational and support units at Bluethenthal, replaced by the 124th AAF Base Unit (Fighter).


Air Defense Command

The squadron was redesignated the 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and reactivated at
Stewart Air Force Base Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name *Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan *Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (histo ...
, New York and assigned to the 4709th Defense Wing 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 ...
.The squadron was the highest numbered fighter squadron activated in Air Defense Command. Cornett & Johnson, pp.130–131. It was originally equipped with North American F-86F Sabres, but in January 1955 it received
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 ...
s, equipped with a more powerful air intercept radar and armed with
Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket The Mk 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR), also known as "Mighty Mouse", is an unguided rocket (weapon), rocket used by United States military aircraft. It was 2.75 inches (70 mm) in diameter. Designed as an Air-to-air rocket, air-to-air w ...
s.Cornett & Johnson, pp.130–131 In August 1955, in connection with the unit realignments of Project Arrow,ADC's Project Arrow was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. Buss, ''et al.'', p. 6 the unit transferred its personnel and equipment to the
331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Webb Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated on 1 March 1967. During World War II the squadron (avia ...
and moved on paper to
McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is unde ...
, where it took over the personnel of the
5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 5th Flying Training Squadron is part of the United States Air Force's Air Force Reserve Command serving as a reserve associate squadron operating with the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates the Rayth ...
. At McGuire, the squadron received F-86L's, with
data link A data link is a means of telecommunications link, connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a t ...
for interception control through the
Semi-Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...
system. In May 1959 the squadron was one of the earliest to transition into
Convair F-106 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 I ...
s, armed with the
AIM-4 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- ...
missile. On 22 October 1962, before President
John F. 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 ...
informed Americans that missiles were in place in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles, to
Olmsted Air Force Base Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard facility is sit ...
at the start 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 ...
. These planes returned to McGuire and resumed their normal alert posture after the crisis. 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 around 18 by 1964. The force reduction continued, finally resulting in a reduction in the number of interceptor units,McMullen, pp. 41, 43–45 and the 539th was inactivated on 31 August 1967.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 539th Fighter Squadron on 24 September 1943 : Activated on 1 October 1943 * Disbanded on 10 April 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 23 March 1953 * Activated on 18 April 1954Lineage information, including assignments, stations and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 645–646 * Inactivated on 31 August 1967


Assignments

* 402d Fighter Group, 1 October 1943 * 326th Fighter Group, 25 November 1943 – 10 April 1944 * 4709th Defense Wing (later 4709th Air Defense Wing), 18 April 1954 * 4700th Air Defense Group, 20 September 1954 * 4709th Air Defense Wing, 18 August 1955 * 4621st Air Defense Wing (later New York Air Defense Sector), 1 October 1956 * 4730th Air Defense Group, 8 February 1957 * New York Air Defense Sector, 1 August 1959 *
26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactiv ...
, 1 April 1966 – 23 August 1967


Stations

* Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 October 1943 * Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 13 October 1943 * Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina, 8 December 1943 – 10 April 1944 * Stewart Air Force Base, New York, 18 April 1954 * McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 18 August 1955 – 31 August 1967


Aircraft

* Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944 * North American F-86F Sabre, 1954 * North American F-86D Sabre, 1954–1955 * North American F-86L Sabre, 1955–1959 * Convair F-106 Delta Dart, 1959–1967


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, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, CO (Confidential, declassified 22 Mar 2000) * ''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 *


External links

{{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II Fighter squadrons of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command units