The 482d 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

Montgomery Air Defense Sector The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005, ...

Homestead Air Force Base Homestead Air Reserve Base (Homestead ARB), previously known as Homestead Air Force Base (Homestead AFB) is located in Miami–Dade County, Florida to the northeast of the city of Homestead. It is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing (482 FW) of th ...

, Florida in 1969. 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 ...

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 a replacement training unit until disbanded in 1944 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 ...

converted training units to Army Air Force Base Units. It was reconstituted in 1955 and served as a fighter interceptor squadron until 1969.

History

World War II

Activated in 1943 as a

IV Fighter Command The IV Fighter Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was activated under Fourth Air Force at March Field, California in June 1941, when it replaced a provisional organization. It was responsible for training fighter units and ...

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

Replacement Training Unit (RTU). The squadron trained P-38 pilots until March 1944 when it was disbanded as part of the switchover of numbered training units in the Zone of the Interior (ZI) (Continental United States) were replaced by "Army Air Force Base Units". At Grand Central Air Terminal, its parent 473d Fighter Group was replaced by the 402d Army Air Force Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter), the personnel and equipment of the 482d Fighter Squadron being designated as "Squadron A".

Cold War

The squadron was redesignated 482d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in 1955 and reactivated as an

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) interceptor squadron. It performed the

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 over the Mid-Atlantic states with

F-102 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 purpos ...

s. In April 1961, ADC initiated Operation Southern Tip, deploying six

Convair F-102 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 purpos ...

aircraft from its test and training unit at

Tyndall AFB Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...

Florida to

Homestead AFB Homestead Air Reserve Base (Homestead ARB), previously known as Homestead Air Force Base (Homestead AFB) is located in Miami–Dade County, Florida to the northeast of the city of Homestead. It is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing (482 FW) of the ...

, Florida in a two-week test of a contingency plan to augment air defense forces in Southern Florida in face of the potential threat from an unfriendly Cuba. Two of the F-102s were maintained on armed five-minute alert status. However, on 17 April the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...

occurred, and the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

directed that Southern Tip continue indefinitely. However, the impact of the extended deployment on the training and testing mission led to the 482d FIS assuming the mission in July with four of its aircraft. Due to repairs of the Homestead runway, these aircraft were based at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

until January 1962. This commitment was expanded to 18 aircraft on 20 October 1962 during the 1962

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 ...

. As the crisis abated in November, the Homestead defense mission was assumed by the

325th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 325th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to Air Defense Command at Truax Field, Wisconsin, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1966. The squadron was first active as a training unit duri ...

. The 482d resumed its Florida defense mission on 15 June 1963, when it deployed six of its F-102s to

Naval Air Station Key West Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an air ...

to replace

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

F-4B fighters that had deployed there in 1962. The 482d was also tasked to maintain the capability to expand its Key West presence to 20 fighters in the event of another Cuban crisis. This capability was tested in 1964 in Exercise Arawak Spear.McMullen, pp. 20, 24

Lineage

* Constituted as the 482d Fighter Squadron on 12 October 1943 : Activated on 1 November 1943 : Disbanded on 31 March 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 482d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in November 1955 : Activated on 8 April 1956 : Inactivated on 1 October 1965

Assignments

473d Fighter Group The 473d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) unit. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division at K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1959. During World War II, the unit ...

, 1 November 1943 – 31 March 1944 *

85th Air Division The 85th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Eastern Air Defense Force of Air Defense Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. It was inactivated on 1 September 1958. History During World W ...

, 8 April 1956 *

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 ...

, 1 September 1958 * 32nd Air Division, 15 November 1959 *

Washington Air Defense Sector The Washington Air Defense Sector (WaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station (AFS), Virginia. It wa ...

, 1 July 1961 *

, 1 July 1965 – 30 June 1969

Stations

Grand Central Air Terminal Grand Central Airport is a former airport in Glendale, California. Also known as Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT), the airport was an important facility for the growing Los Angeles suburb of Glendale in the 1920s and a key element in the deve ...

, California, 1 November 1943 * Moses Lake Army Air Field, Washington, 31 March 1944 *

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base 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 airplane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, ...

, North Carolina, 8 April 1956 : Detachment at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida 1 July 1961 - November 1962 (operated from Miami International Airport, Florida, 1 July – 31 December 1961) * Homestead AFB, Florida, 1 July 1965 – 30 June 1969

Aircraft

* P-38 Lightning, 1944 *

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 ...

, 1944 * F-102 Delta Dagger, 1957–1965

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * McMullen, Richard F. (1964) ''The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964'', ADC Historical Study No. 27, pp. 5–8 (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)