The San Francisco Fighter Wing is a disbanded

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. 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 the central Pacific coast and trained fighter units and pilots. It was stationed at

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, 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 San Francisco Air Defense Wing was organized to provide air defense for the central Pacific coast area and train fighter groups and pilots. 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 mission, equipment and personnel were transferred to the 411th AAF Base Unit (Fighter Wing) on 1 April 1944, The wing remained a paper unit until 7 June, when the 411th was simultaneously redescribed as the 411th AAF Base Unit (Air Defense Region). In 1946, the 411th became the 411th AAF Base Unit (San Francisco Control Group). It was discontinued on 1 January 1947.

Lineage

* Constituted as the San Francisco Air Defense Wing on 6 August 1942 : Activated on 11 August 1942 : Redesignated San Francisco Fighter Wing c. 2 July 1943 : Disbanded on 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 *

, 31 March 1944 – 7 June 1944

Components

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 ...

: attached c. 28 October 1942, assigned 11 April 1943 – 1 March 1944 *

354th Fighter Group The 354th Fighter Group was an element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force during World War II. The unit was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first to fly the P-51B Mustang in combat. The group served as bombe ...

: attached 15 November 1942 - 2 June 1943Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 429 (year only) *

357th Fighter Group The 357th Fighter Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The 357th operated P-51 Mustang aircraft as part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and its members were known unofficially as the Yoxfor ...

: c. April 1943 - c. 7 October 1943 *

363d Fighter Group 363rd or 363d may refer to: * 363d Expeditionary Operations Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Bombardment Squadron or 19th Antisubmarine Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Fighter Squadron or 164th Airlift Squa ...

, 12 April – 30 December 1943 *

367th Fighter Group 367th may refer to: *367th Fighter Group, later the 133d Operations Group, the flying component of the Minnesota Air National Guard's 133d Airlift Wing *367th Fighter Squadron Inactivated in 1945, then reactivated at Homestead Air Reserve Base in 20 ...

: 15 July 1943 – c. 8 March 1944 *

369th Fighter Group The 369th Fighter Group is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force, stationed at Stuttgart Army Air Field, Arkansas. It was inactivated on 10 August 1945. The 369th was initially a training group in ...

: 1 August 1943 – c. 28 March 1944 * 372d Fighter Group: 28 October 1943 - c. 7 December 1943 *

478th Fighter Group 478th may refer to: *478th Aeronautical Systems Wing The 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force which was last based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2009. The wing ...

: 1 December 1943 – c. 3 February 1944

Stations

, California, 20 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 Military in the San Francisco Bay Area History of San Francisco California in World War II