The 4676th Air Defense Group is a discontinued

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 ...

(USAF) organization. Its last assignment was with the 33d Air Division of

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 ...

(ADC) at

Grandview Air Force Base Richards-Gebaur Memorial Airport is a former airport that operated alongside Richards-Gebaur Air Reserve Station (also Richards-Gebaur Air Force Station) until the base's closure in 1994, and until it was closed in 1999. Formerly, it was oper ...

, Missouri, where it was discontinued in 1955. The

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

was activated at

Fairfax Field Fairfax Field was a wartime (WWII) facility of the United States Army Air Forces and later, the United States Air Force. The installation was north of Kansas City, Kansas. Used as a pre-war Naval Air Station, the United States Army Air Forces ...

in 1953 as USAF host for both Fairfax and Grandview. It moved to Grandview when that base was completed and added an operational

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, ...

mission in 1954. It was discontinued in 1955 when ADC replaced air defense groups commanding fighter squadrons with fighter groups that had distinguished records in the two World Wars.

History

The

was organized by

(ADC) in October 1953 when it replaced the 4610th Air Base Squadron, which had been organized on 23 February 1951, as the USAF host organization at

, Kansas.Cornett & Johnson, p. 88 the 4676th was also the USAF host unit for

, Missouri.Mueller, pp. 499–500 The 4676th was assigned two

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, ...

s and a medical unit to carry out its host responsibilities. The group was assigned the 326th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was activated at Fairfax Field in December, flying

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed North American F-86D Sabre

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

as its operational component.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 402 The 326th's operational mission was air defense of the

Kansas City Metropolitan Area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

and the central Midwest. The group moved to Grandview Air Force Base on 16 February 1954. At this time military use of Fairfax Field ended. The group was discontinued and replaced by the

328th 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 or cultural significance in many societie ...

(Air Defense), which assumed its mission, personnel and equipment at Grandview (later Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base) as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.

Lineage

* Organized as 4676th Air Defense Group on 8 October 1953 : Discontinued on 18 August 1955

Assignments

Central Air Defense Force The Central Air Defense Force (CADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Missouri. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960. History ...

, 8 October 1953 – 1 March 1954 * 33d Air Division, 1 March 1954 – 18 August 1955

Components

* 326th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 18 December 1953 – 18 August 1955 * 4676th Air Base Squadron, 8 October 1953 – 18 August 1955 * 4676th Materiel Squadron, 8 October 1953 – 18 August 1955 * 4676th USAF Infirmary, 8 October 1953 – 19 April 1954 * 613th USAF Infirmary, 19 April 1954 – 18 August 1955

Stations

* Fairfax Field, Kansas, 8 October 1953 – 16 February 1954 * Grandview Air Force Base, Missouri, 16 February 1954 – 18 August 1955

Aircraft

* North American F-86D Sabre, 1953–1955

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) * * * *