The 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is a discontinued unit of the

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 ...

. It was last assigned to the

Spokane Air Defense Sector The Spokane Air Defense Sector (SPADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 25th Air Division (25th AD) at Larson Air Force Base in Grant County, Washington History SAGE Air ...

Larson Air Force Base Larson Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located five miles (8 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Moses Lake, in Grant County, Washington. After its closure in 1966, the airport facility became G ...

, Washington, in mid-1960. 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, de ...

was first activated 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 ...

as the 538th Fighter Squadron. It briefly served as a

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 ...

replacement unit before being disbanded in a major 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 in the spring of 1944. The squadron was again activated in 1955 as an

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

unit 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 ...

, defending the northwestern United States. It was inactivated in 1960, when the Air Force transferred its

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

s to the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

History

World War II

The squadron was first activated by

I Fighter Command I Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces intermediate command responsible for command and control of the fighter operations within the First Air Force during World War II. It was initially established in June 1941 as the 1st Inte ...

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, ...

, Massachusetts as one of the three original squadrons 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 the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 286-287Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 645-646Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 646 Less than two weeks later, the squadron moved with its group headquarters 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 airplane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, ...

, North Carolina. At Seymour Johnson, the 538th and 539th Fighter Squadrons of the 402d Group were reassigned 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 or cultural significance in many societie ...

, which transferred two of its squadrons to the 402d.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 208 The 326th Group was a Replacement Training Unit for

pilots. Replacement Training Units were oversized units that trained 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 ...

. Like most such units, the 326th prepared to conduct a split operation and the 538th and 539th Squadrons moved to

Bluethenthal Field Wilmington International Airport is a public airport located just north of Wilmington, North Carolina, in unincorporated Wrightsboro, Cape Fear Township, New Hanover County. ILM covers 1,800 acres (728 ha). During the calendar year 2018 ILM ...

, North Carolina, while group

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

and its other two squadrons remained at Seymour Johnson. The squadron finally received its Thunderbolts in early 1944 and began operations. However, the

was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were not proving to be well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. The 538th was disbanded and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 124th AAF Base Unit (Fighter) and combined with other units at Bluethenthal.

Air Defense

In the summer of 1955

(ADC) implemented 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. Project Arrow also reunited fighter squadrons with their traditional headquarters. As a result, the

323d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 323d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1960. The squadron was first a ...

, Washington moved to Truax Field, Wisconsin to joint the

327th 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 ...

there. The 538th was reconstituted as the 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and activated at Larson to take over the mission, personnel and equipment of the departing 323d Squadron. The squadron also took over the 323d's

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 The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog",) was an American transonic jet fighter aircraft. Developed for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s, it was an interceptor ...

s. By the fall of 1957, the 538th had re-equipped with the F-86L Sabre, which was 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 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 ...

(SAGE) system. Squadron experience with the F-86L was short-lived however, as the squadron began transition into the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter about June 1958.Cornett & Johnson, p. 130 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-104s 1958

538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-104s 1958

The 538th was the fourth ADC squadron to equip with the Starfighter. The squadron also received the two-seat, dual-control, combat trainer F-104B. The performance of the F-104B was almost identical to that of the F-104A, but its smaller internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably. However, ADC did not believe the F-104A was well suited for service as an

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

. Its short range and lack of all-weather capability made it incapable of integrating into the SAGE system. All ADC F-104As, including those of the 538th, were transferred to the

and the squadron was inactivated in July 1960.McMullen, p. 22During 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 ...

, the F-104's superior fighter versus fighter capability resulted in a reversal of this judgment and Air National Guard F-104s were returned to ADC for use in Florida. McMullen, p. 17

Lineage

* Constituted as the 538th Fighter Squadron on 14 September 1943 : Activated on 1 October 1943 : Disbanded on 10 April 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 20 June 1955 : Activated on 18 August 1955 : Discontinued on 1 July 1960

Assignments

* 402d Fighter Group, 1 October 1943 * 326th Fighter Group, 25 November 1943 – 10 April 1944 * 9th Air Division, 18 August 1955 *

4721st Air Defense Group The 4721st Air Defense Group is a discontinued group of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with the 4700th Air Defense Wing at Larson Air Force Base, Washington, where it was last active in 1959. The group was formed to provide ...

, 1 December 1956 *

4700th Air Defense Wing The Spokane Air Defense Sector (SPADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 25th Air Division (25th AD) at Larson Air Force Base in Grant County, Washington History SAGE Air D ...

, 1 May 1959 *

, 15 May – 1 July 1960

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 * Larson Air Force Base, Washington, 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1960

Aircraft

* Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944 * North American F-86D Sabre, 1955–1957 * North American F-86L Sabre, 1957-1958 * Lockheed F-104A Starfighter, 1958–1960 * Lockheed F-104B Starfighter, 1958–1960

Award

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 (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000) *

External links

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