The 72d Fighter Wing was a wing of the

United States 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 ...

. It was assigned to

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

, stationed at

Colorado Springs Army Air Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to ...

, Colorado. It was inactivated on 9 April 1946.

History

The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

was initially activated as a command and control organization for heavy bomber training. In 1943 it became single-engine fighter training organization for Second Air Force. The wing had jurisdiction for fighter training Operational Training Units and Replacement Training Units in the midwest. Bases assigned to the wing included: *

Abilene Army Air Field Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and west of Fort Worth, Texas. The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Eig ...

, Texas *

Alamogordo Army Air Field Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Ba ...

, New Mexico *

Bruning Army Air Field Bruning Army Air Field was a flight training installation of the United States Army Air Forces used during World War II and located in northeast Thayer County, Nebraska, at coordinates 40°20'25" North, 97°25'42" West, approximately six miles ...

, Nebraska *

Casper Army Air Field Casper (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, earlier CASPer or "CMSENS") is an admissions test developed by Harold Reiter and Kelly Dore. It was made for the McMaster University's Program for Educational Research and De ...

, Wyoming *

Dalhart Army Air Field Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945. The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...

, Texas *

DeRidder Army Air Base Beauregard Regional Airport is a public use airport in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by Beauregard Parish and is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of DeRidder, Louisian ...

, Louisiana *

Galveston Army Air Field Scholes International Airport at Galveston is three miles southwest of Galveston, in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''reliever airport''. The airpor ...

, Texas * Harding Field, Louisiana *

Peterson Field Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home t ...

, Colorado *

Pocatello Army Air Field Pocatello Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport in the western United States, located in Power County, Idaho, seven nautical miles (13 km) northwest of central Pocatello. The airport is built on the site of the Pocatel ...

, Idaho * Scribner Army Air Field, Nebraska

Lineage

* Constituted as 72d Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Heavy) on 12 August 1943 : Activated on 20 August 1943 : Redesigned 72d Fighter Wing on 1 September 1943 : Inactivated on 9 April 1946 * Disbanded on 15 June 1983 * Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and redesigned 372d Electronic Warfare GroupDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations * Disbanded on 9 September 1992

Assignments

, 12 August 1943 – 9 April 1946

Components

* 36th Fighter Group, 17 September 1943 – 4 April 1944 *

84th Fighter Group Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoad ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 April 1944 *

357th Fighter Group The 357th Fighter Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The 357th operated P-51 Mustang aircraft as part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and its members were known unofficially as the Yoxford ...

, 7 October – 9 November 1943 *

407th 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 ...

, 9 March 1943 – 21 March 1944 *

408th 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 ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 April 1944 *

476th Fighter Group The 476th Fighter Group (476 FG) is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. It is part of the Tenth Air Force (10 AF) of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. If mobilized to a ...

, 26 March – 1 April 1944 *

507th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

, 12 October 1944 – 24 June 1945 *

508th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

, 12 October 1944 – 6 January 1945

Stations

Rapid City Army Air Base Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, 20 August 1943 *

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, 7 October 1943 *

, November 1943; *

, December 1945 – 9 April 1946

Awards

* * American Theater of World War II

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II Military units and formations in Colorado 072 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946