13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
	Emblem of the 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Active	1942–1968
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter-Interceptor

See 13th Fighter Squadron for the present-day Pacific Air Forces squadron

The 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Minot Air Defense Sector, stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana. It was inactivated on 30 June 1968.

History[]

World War II[]

Activated in early 1941 as the 13th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) and assigned to the Southeast Air District, was equipped with a series of pursuit aircraft with a mission of air defense of Florida. After the Pearl Harbor Attack, The squadron was one of several hastily deployed to the Panama Canal Zone for the defense of the canal with the United States entry into World War II.

Deployed on 2 January 1942, stationed initially at Howard Field operating Bell P-39D Aircobras. By 16 February, the Squadron had 12 P-39D's (of which nine were airworthy) and not fewer than 26 pilots, but of these, only four had more than 12 months experience. Official records of its relatively brief tour in Panama are apparently all but nonexistent, although it is known that the unit was redesignated as the 13th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 in keeping with the USAAF scheme at the time.

Following the perceived end of the emergency need for the unit, it returned to the United States in early 1943 where it became a P-47 Thunderbolt, later P-51 Mustang replacement training unit (RTU) for III Fighter Command. Inactivated on 1 May 1944 as part of a reorganization of training units.

Air Defense Command[]

Reactivated in 1953 as part of Air Defense Command as an air defense squadron, equipped with F-86D Sabre Interceptors and initially being assigned to Selfridge AFB, Michigan with a mission for the air defense of Detroit and Great Lakes region. Moved to Iowa in 1955 for air defense of the Great Plains, and in 1957 began re-equipping with the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE computer-controlled direction system for intercepts. The service of the F-86L destined to be quite brief, since by the time the last F-86L conversion was delivered, the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors.

Was reassigned to Glasgow AFB, Montana in July 1959 and was upgraded to the new McDonnell F-101B Voodoo and assigned alongside the F-101B interceptor was the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable interceptors. Inactivated in June 1968 as part of the drawdown of ADC interceptor bases, the aircraft being passed along to the Air National Guard.

Lineage[]

Constituted 13th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940

Activated on 15 January 1941

Redesignated 13th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942

Disbanded on 1 May 1944

Reconstituted, and redesignated 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 11 February 1953

Activated on 27 April 1953

Inactivated on 30 June 1968

Assignments[]

53d Pursuit (later Fighter) Group, 15 January 1941 – 1 May 1944
575th Air Defense Group, 27 April 1953
53d Fighter Group, 18 August 1955
476th Fighter Group, 1 July 1957
29th Air Division, 1 April 1960
Great Falls Air Defense Sector, 1 January 1961 – 30 June 1968

Stations[]

MacDill Field, Florida, 15 January 1941
Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 8 May – 18 December 1941
Howard Field, Canal Zone, 2 January—l0 November 1942
Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 26 November 1942
Drew Field, Florida, 6 January 1943
Page Field, Florida, 6 February 1943
Venice Army Airfield, Florida, 1 June 1943 – 1 May 1944
Selfridge AFB, Michigan, 27 April 1953 – 18 August 1955
Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa, 18 August 1955
Glasgow AFB, Montana, 2 July 1959 – 30 June 1968

Aircraft[]

Seversky P-35, 1941
P-40 Warhawk, 1941
P-39 Airacobra, 1941–1943
P-51 Mustang, 1943
P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944
F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1953–1957
F-86L Sabre Interceptor (SAGE), 1957-1959
F-101B Voodoo, 1959–1968

References[]

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force: World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1982.
Hagdedorn, Dan (1995), Alae Supra Canalem: Wings Over the Canal, Turner Publishing, ISBN 1563111535

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