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451st Flying Training Squadron

(Redirected from 451st Fighter-Day Squadron)

The 451st Flying Training Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 479th Flying Training Group, stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The squadron was first activated as the 451st Bombardment Squadron in July 1942. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in December 1942. It engaged in combat operations from 1943 to 1945, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for demonstrating the effectiveness of medium bombers in the ETO. Following V-E Day, it participated in the disarmament of the Luftwaffe until September 1945, when it returned to the United States for inactivation.

451st Flying Training Squadron
USAF T-1A Jayhawk at NAS Pensacola
Active1942–1945; 1947–1949; 1973–1993, 2009–
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleFlying training
Part ofAir Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQNaval Air Station Pensacola
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations[1]
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[1]
Insignia
451 Flying Training Sq emblem[2]
451 Flying Training Squadron emblem[a][1]
451st Fighter-Day Squadron emblem[b][3]
451st Bombardment Squadron emblem[4]
World War II Fuselage Code[4]SS

The squadron served in the reserves from August 1947 to June 1949, when it was inactivated as the military budget was reduced, although it does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped with operational aircraft at this time.

The squadron was activated in July 1954 as the 451st Fighter-Day Squadron and equipped with North American F-86 Sabre fighters. Although it soon upgraded to the supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabre it was inactivated in November 1957, when Tactical Air Command reduced the number of fighter groups at Foster Air Force Base from two to one.

In 1973, Air Training Command was converting its flying training units from MAJCON status. As part of this reorganization, the squadron was redesignated the 451st Flying Training Squadron and replaced the 3538th Navigator Training Squadron at Mather Air Force Base, California. It conducted flight training for members of the United States military and foreign allies until inactivating in January 1992 as Mather prepared for closure. It was reactivated in October 2009 as the home for USAF officers training as weapons systems officers with the Navy.

History

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World War II

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Initial organization and training

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The squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida on 17 July 1942 as the 451st Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 322nd Bombardment Group.[5][6] However, it did not receive its initial cadre until 7 August.[1] It was equipped with Martin B-26 Marauders and trained with them at MacDill and at Drane Field, Florida. The ground echelon of the squadron departed for the Port of Embarkation in November and sailed for the United Kingdom aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 24 November, arriving in the United Kingdom six days later. The air echelon continued training in Florida[7] until it began to ferry its Marauders from Morrison Field to Europe via the South Atlantic ferry route as new aircraft became available. The 451st was the third squadron of the group to leave the United States, departing not leaving for England until March 1943, with its last B-26 arriving in the combat theater by May 1943.[8]

Combat in the European Theater

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322nd Group B-26s line up for takeoff, led by a squadron aircraft[c]

The ground echelon was established at RAF Rattlesden, its first combat station on 1 December 1942. The 322d Group flew its first mission, and the first B-26 Marauder mission in the European Theater of Operations, on 14 May against an electrical power plant near IJmuiden in the Netherlands using low level attack tactics.[9] Three days later, it dispatched eleven planes for a repeat low level attack on the IJmuiden power plant and another at Haarlem in the Netherlands. One plane returned early due to a mechanical malfunction. The remaining ten aircraft and their crews were lost to enemy action. For these actions and for demonstrating the effectiveness of medium bombers, the 322nd Group, including the squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.[1][5][d]

In June 1943, the squadron, along with all other B-26 units in England moved to Essex, an area where it was planned to build up a tactical air force for the forthcoming invasion of Europe, with the 451st arriving at RAF Great Saling on 12 June.[1][10] Once the squadron entered combat, enemy airfields were its principal targets through February 1944, but it also attacked power stations, shipyards, construction works, marshalling yards and other targets. In March 1944, its emphasis shifted to railway and highway bridges, and oil storage facilities in preparation for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. It also participated in Operation Crossbow, the attacks on V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites.[5]

On D-Day, the squadron attacked coastal defenses and artillery batteries. It supported the Allies in the Battle for Caen and in Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo in July. Through August and September, it provided air support for the drive of United States Third Army across Northern France.[5]

In late September, the squadron moved from England to Beauvais/Tille Airfield, France.[1] It bombed bridges, road junctions, defended villages, and ordnance depots in the assault on the Siegfried Line from October through December of 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, it flew attacks on railroad bridges to cut German lines of communications. From then until it flew its last mission on 24 April 1945, it concentrated on communications, bridges, marshalling yards and fuel dumps.[5]

Following V-E Day, most aircrews and the unit's aircraft were transferred to other units. The remaining personnel of the 451st moved to Arolsen as part of the military occupation force. It engaged in inventorying and disassembling Luftwaffe equipment until September 1945. In December it returned to the United States and was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 11 December 1945.[1][5]

Reserve operations

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The squadron was reactivated in the reserves on 9 August 1947 at Reading Army Air Field, Pennsylvania, where its training was superviced by the 438th AAF Base Unit (later the 2237 Air Force Reserve Training Center). It does not appear to have been fully manned and was equipped only with trainer aircraft.[1] In July 1948 Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[11] In June 1949, ConAC reorganized its flying units under the Wing/Base organization and the 451st was inactivated[1] and its personnel were transferred to the 319th Bombardment Wing.[12]

Day fighter operations

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Assigned to Tactical Air Command and reactivated in 1954 flying North American F-86 Sabres; later North American F-100 Super Sabres as a fighter-day squadron. Inactivated in 1957 due to funding restrictions.

Flying training

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Reactivated in 1972 as an Air Training Command navigator training squadron; flew Convair T-29; later Boeing T-43 Bobcat navigation classroom aircraft.

As of 2 October 2009, the 451st FTS trains Combat Systems Officers utilizing 21 modified T-1A Jayhawk aircraft.

Lineage

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  • Constituted as the 451st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 19 June 1942
Activated on 17 July 1942
Redesignated 451st Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 20 August 1943[13]
Inactivated on 11 December 1945
  • Redesignated 451st Bombardment Squadron, Light on 3 July 1947
Activated in the reserve on 9 August 1947
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
  • Redesignated 451st Fighter-Day Squadron on 24 March 1954
Activated on 1 July 1954
Inactivated on 18 November 1957.
  • Redesignated 451st Flying Training Squadron on 28 July 1972
Activated on 1 April 1973
Inactivated on 31 May 1993
Activated on 2 October 2009[1]

Assignments

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  • 322d Bombardment Group, 17 July 1942 – 11 December 1945
  • 322d Bombardment Group, 9 August 1947 – 27 June 1949
  • 322d Fighter-Day Group, 1 July 1954 – 18 November 1957
  • 323d Flying Training Wing, 1 April 1973
  • 323d Operations Group, 15 December 1991 – 31 May 1993
  • 479th Flying Training Group, 2 October 2009 – present[1]

Stations

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  • MacDill Field, Florida, 17 July 1942
  • Drane Field, Florida, 22 September 1942
  • Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 15–23 November 1942
  • RAF Rattlesden (AAF-126),[14] England, 1 December 1942
  • RAF Bury St Edmunds (Rougham) (AAF-468),[15] England, 22 May 1943
  • RAF Great Saling (later Andrews Field) (AAF-485),[16] England, 12 June 1943
  • Beauvais/Tille Airfield (A-61) (also B-42),[17] France, c. 23 September 1944
  • Le Culot Airfield (A-89) (also B-68),[18] Belgium, 6 April 1945
  • Arolsen, Germany, 26 June 1945
  • Clastres Airfield, France, c. 1 October-2 December 1945
  • Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 9–11 December 1945
  • Reading Army Air Field (later Reading Municipal Airport), Pennsylvania, 9 August 1947 – 27 June 1949
  • Foster Air Force Base, Texas, 1 July 1954 – 18 November 1957 (deployed to Wendover Air Force Base, Utah, 3 January – 4 February 1957
  • Mather Air Force Base, California, 1 April 1973 – 31 May 1993
  • Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, 2 October 2009 – present[1]

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Aircraft

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  • Martin B-26 Marauder (1942–1945)
  • North American AT-6 Texan (1947–1949)
  • Beechcraft AT-7 Navigator (1947–1949)
  • Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan (1947–1949)
  • North American F-86 Sabre (1954–1955)
  • North American F-100 Super Sabre (1955–1957)
  • Convair T-29 Flying Classroom (1973–1975)
  • Boeing T-43 Bobcat (1973–1993)
  • Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk (2009–present)[1]

References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 30 May 1973.
  2. ^ Approved 2 May 1955. Description: On an American Indian war shield Air Force blue, a stylized sun with rays Air Force yellow, surmounted in base by a cloud black, with lightning yellow, superimposed over the center of the shield a peace pipe, stem white, bowl and detail red, feathered white and red, with white smoke rising from the bowl; the shield over two tomahawks in saltire, the head yellow, the handle black with leather thongs red, feathered white and red.
  3. ^ Aircraft is Martin B-26C-15-MO Marauder, serial 41-34969, Clark's Little Pill. Picture is identified as taken at Andrews Field in October 1943, but Baugher identifies the plane as lost on 9 September 1943. Baugher, Joe (10 August 2023). "1941 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  4. ^ It does not appear that any squadron aircraft participated in the two raids of May 1943. See Freeman, p. 57 (noting that the squadron had just arrived in theater and did not participate). Following the raids, the 322nd was withdrawn from combat for training ln medium altitude bombing and equipping its planes for that tactic, returning to combat on 17 July.[5] Although the squadron was cited for the period beginning in May, the Air Force Historical Research Agency edited the start date of the award to the squadron to 17 July.[1]
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Robertson, Patsy (3 February 2010). "Factsheet 451 Flying Training Squadron (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  2. ^ "The Institute of Heraldry, USAF units 400–499". Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 557
  4. ^ a b Watkins, p. 99
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 202-03
  6. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 554-58
  7. ^ Freeman, p. 55
  8. ^ Freeman, pp. 248-49
  9. ^ Freeman, p. 56
  10. ^ Freeman, p. 58
  11. ^ "Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  12. ^ Ravenstein, p. 169
  13. ^ See Kane, Robert B. (20 May 2011). "Factsheet 322 Air Expeditionary Group (USAFE)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 21 July 2017. (showing redesignation of parent group)
  14. ^ Station number in Anderson.
  15. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 31.
  16. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 33.
  17. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 19.
  18. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 60.

Bibliography

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

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