460th Fighter-Interceptor Training Squadron

(Redirected from 1st Airdrome Squadron)

The 460th Test and Evaluation Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. It was previously assigned to Tactical Air Command's 325th Fighter Weapons Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 15 October 1982. On 11 August 2023, it was reactivated and assigned to the 926th Operations Group, 926th Wing at Nellias AFB, Nevada.

460th Test and Evaluation Squadron
460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-106 Delta Darts
Active1942–1982; 2023-presnt
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeTest
Motto(s)Cave Tigrim Latin Beware of the Tiger[1]
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation[1]
Commanders
Current
commander
Lt Col Eric Otto
Insignia
Patch with 460th Fighter-Interceptor Training Squadron emblem
Patch with 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem (approved 17 January 1955)[1]

History

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World War II

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Established in late 1942 as a ground support squadron. Deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations in 1943 to Australia where the unit functioned as a ground support unit at Sydney Airport, then at Dobodura in New Guinea. Converted to a P-47 Thunderbolt operational combat unit, engaged in fighter-bomber operations against Japanese positions in New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies and also during the Philippines Campaign (1944–1945). Moved to Okinawa, then Japan after the Japanese Capitulation as part of the Occupation Force, inactivated in 1946.

Air defense

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Convair F-102A-95-CO
Delta Dagger
57-907, 1960
 
460 FIS F-106 Delta Darts
in 1960s grey livery
 
P-47D 460th Fighter Squadron 1944

Reactivated in 1954 as part of the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Command, stationed at Knoxville, for air defense of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and TVA dams in eastern Tennessee. Moved to Portland AFB, Oregon, and flew air defense missions over the Pacific Northwest, later to southern California in 1968 at Oxnard AFB, which closed a year later; it then moved to Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, until inactivated as part of the drawdown of ADC in 1974.

Fighter training

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Reactivated briefly in early 1982 as an air defense training squadron at Tyndall AFB, Florida; inactivated late the same year.

Lineage

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  • Constituted as the 1st Airdrome Squadron on 7 November 1942
Activated on 20 November 1942
Redesignated 460th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 14 July 1944
Inactivated on 20 February 1946
  • Redesignated 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 23 March 1953
Activated on 18 March 1954[2]
Discontinued on 25 March 1966
  • Activated on 1 September 1968 (not organized)
Organized on 30 September 1968
Inactivated on 30 July 1974
  • Redesignated 460th Fighter-Interceptor Training Squadron on 1 October 1980
Activated on 15 November 1980
Inactivated on 15 October 1982
  • Redesignated 460th Test and Evaluation Squadron on 2023
Activated on 11 August 2023

Assignments

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Stations

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Aircraft

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ a b c Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 567–568
  2. ^ a b c Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft through 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 567–568

Bibliography

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  • Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor. 21 (1). Aerospace Defense Command: 5–11, 26–31, 40–45, 54–59. January 1979.
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