The 438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

unit. Its last assignment was with the

35th Air Division The 35th Air Division (35th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Hancock Field, New York. It was inac ...

Griffiss Air Force Base Griffiss Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force installation in the northeastern United States, located in Central New York state at Rome, about northwest of Utica. Missions included fighter interceptors, electronic research, i ...

, New York, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1968. The

squadron Squadron may refer to: * 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 aircraft, ...

was first activated as the 438th Fighter Squadron during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It served as an Replacement Training Unit until the spring of 1944, when it was disbanded 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 reactivated in 1953 as an

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

unit and served in that role until inactivated.

History

World War II

The

was first organized in February 1943 at

Page Field Page Field is a public airport three miles (4.8 km) south of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers, in Lee County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the Lee County Port Authority; the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 ...

, Florida as the fourth squadron of the 53d Fighter Group. It was initially equipped with

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

s, but before the year was over, switched to training pilots with the

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 ...

. The squadron was an Replacement Training Unit, an oversized unit 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 a ...

.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 115-116 However, the

found that standard military units like the 438th, 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 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 as the un ...

were not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, manned according to the base's mission. The 53d Group and its two squadrons at Page Field, along with supporting units there were disbanded and replaced by the 338th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) in May 1944.

Air Defense Command

438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A-80-CO Delta Dagger 56-1499

The squadron was reactivated under

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

as the 438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, and stationed at

Kinross Air Force Base Kincheloe Air Force Base was a United States Air Force (USAF) base during the Cold War. Built in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1943 during World War II, the base was in service The base was known by various names, including Kinross Munic ...

, Michigan in April 1953. At its new base, the 438th was assigned to the

534th Air Defense Group The 534th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 4706th Air Defense Wing at Kinross Air Force Base, Michigan where it was inactivated in 1955. The group was originally activated a ...

and equipped with cannon-armed

Lockheed F-94B Starfire The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet powered all-weather, day/night interceptor of the United States Air Force. A twin-seat craft, it was developed from the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer in the late 1940s. It reached ope ...

s.Cornett & Johnson, p.128 During the next seven years, it repeatedly upgraded its equipment. In December 1953 it transitioned into

Northrop F-89D Scorpion The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an American all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft built during the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft designed for that role from the outset to enter service. Though its straight wings limited its pe ...

s, armed with FFAR rockets, and in the May 1957 into

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpo ...

s, equipped with

data link A data link is the means of 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 transmitter and a recei ...

for

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 ...

operations and armed with

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 ...

s. In June 1960 it received the

Convair F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor i ...

s that would equip it for the remainder of the time it was on active duty. In August 1955, as part of Project Arrow, the 534th Group was inactivated and the squadron became part of the

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. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

. On 22 October 1962, before President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to

Phelps Collins Air National Guard Base Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center is a Michigan Air National Guard training facility. It is located west-northwest of Alpena, Michigan. Overview The Alpena CRTC is a year-round training facility. It provides premier support, facilit ...

at the start of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

. These planes returned to Kinchloe after the crisis. Air defense fighter operations at Kinchloe ended on 30 September 1968 with the inactivation of the 507th Fighter Wing. The squadron moved to

, New York, where it transferred its F-106s to the

49th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 49th Fighter Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates T-38 Talon aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron was first activated as the 49th Pursuit Squadro ...

, which had been flying

missions with

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...

s from Griffiss since 1959, and the 438th was inactivated the same day.Cornett & Johnson, p. 116

Lineage

* Constituted as the 438th Fighter Squadron on 12 February 1943 : Activated on 20 February 1943 : Disbanded on 5 May 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 11 February 1953 : Activated on 27 April 1953Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft through 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 543 : Inactivated on 30 September 1968

Assignments

* 53d Fighter Group, 20 February 1943 – 1 May 1944 * 534th Air Defense Group, 27 April 1953 * 507th Fighter Group, 18 August 1955 * 507th Fighter Wing, 1 February 1961 *

, 30 September 1968

Stations

* Fort Myers Army Air Field (later Page Field), Florida, 20 February 1943 – 1 May 1944 * Kinross Air Force Base (later Kincheloe Air Force Base), Michigan, 27 April 1953 * Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, 30 September 1968

Aircraft

* Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1943 * Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944 * Lockheed F-94B Starfire, 1953 * Northrop F-89D Scorpion, 1953–1957 * Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, 1957–1960 * Convair F-106 Delta Dart, 1960–1968

Notes

References

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 March 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 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)