The Los Angeles Fighter Wing was a unit 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 ...

. The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

provided

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, ...

of southern California and trained fighter units and pilots. It was stationed at

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, where it was disbanded on 7 June 1944.

History

Along the Pacific coast,

Western Defense Command Western Defense Command (WDC) was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the United States Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States during World War II. A second major respo ...

established a "vital air defense zone", extending from the coast approximately inland and to sea. To carry out this mission,

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reser ...

organized regional air defense wings in August 1942. The Los Angeles Air Defense Wing was organized to provide air defense for the

area and train fighter groups and pilots.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 426-427 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 ...

later found that standard military units like the

, whose manning was 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, even more so to the replacement mission. Accordingly, the

adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, with similar flexible units established for headquarters. In this reorganization, the wing's headquarters squadron was replaced by the 410th AAF Base Unit (Fighter Wing) on 1 April 1944. The wing itself was disbanded on 7 July 1944, and the 410th was redescribed as the 410th AAF Base Unit (Air Defense Region). In 1946, it became the 410th AAF Base Unit (Los Angeles Control Group), and was discontinued on 1 January 1947.

Lineage

* Constituted as the Los Angeles Air Defense Wing on 6 August 1942 : Activated on 11 August 1942 : Redesignated Los Angeles Fighter Wing c. 2 July 1943 : Disbanded 7 June 1944

Assignments

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 ...

, 11 August 1942 * Fourth Air Force, 31 March – 7 June 1944

Components

* 20th Fighter Group: 1 January – 11 August 1943Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 426-427(year only) * 329th Fighter Group, 12 April 1943 – 1 March 1944 * 360th Fighter Group: 15 January 1943 – 31 March 1944 * 364th Fighter Group: 11 October 1943 – 11 January 1944 *

412th Fighter Group 41 may refer to: * 41 (number) * one of the years 41 BC, AD 41, 1941, 2041 Art and entertainment * ''41'' (film), a 2007 documentary about Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest victim of the Station nightclub fire * ''41'', a 2012 film by Glenn Triggs * ...

: 30 November 1943 – 11 October 1944However, Robertson indicates the group was assigned directly to IV Fighter Command until March 1944, then directly to Fourth Air Force. *

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 * 474th Fighter Group: 11 October 1943 – 6 February 1944 * 479th Fighter Group, 1 November 1943 – 15 May 1944

Station

* Los Angeles, California, 11 August 1942 – 7 June 1944

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{USAAF 4th Air Force World War II Fighter wings of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 California in World War II History of Los Angeles