322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Emblem of the 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Active	1942–1968
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force

322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron McDonnell F-101B-85-MC Voodoo 57-295 Kingsley Field, Oregon, August 1968

The 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command stationed at Kingsley Field, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 July 1968.

History

Activated in the summer of 1942 as part of I Fighter Command. Flew early-model Republic P-47B Thunderbolts as part of the air defense of New York in the early part of World War II. Became a P-47D Thunderbolt Operational training unit (OTU), being stationed in New England, then reassigned to III Fighter Command and moved to North Carolina in 1943 as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Inactivated on 1 May 1944 as part of a reorganization of training units. Reactivated in 1955 at Larson AFB, Washington where the squadron was equipped with F-86D Sabre Interceptors. Was upgraded to 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.

Moved to Kingsley Field, Oregon in 1959 and was re-equipped with new McDonnell F-101B Voodoo supersonic interceptor, and 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. Operated the Voodoos until July 1968, the aircraft being passed along to the Air National Guard and the squadron inactivated as part of the general drawdown of the ADC active-duty interceptor force.

Lineage

• Constituted 322d Fighter Squadron on 24 June 1942

Activated on 19 August 1942

Disbanded on 10 April 1944

• Reconstituted, and redesignated 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 20 June 1955

Activated on 18 August 1955, receiving assets from inactivated 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron IAW ADC "Project Arrow".

Inactivated 1 July 1968

Note: "Project Arrow" was an Air Defense imitative in 1955 to reactivate and re-designate notable World War II units.

Assignments

• I Interceptor Command

326th Fighter Group, 19 August 1942 – 10 April 1944

• Air Defense Command

9th Air Division, 18 August 1955

4721st Air Defense Group, 1 December 1956

408th Fighter Group, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968

Stations

• Mitchel Field, New York, 19 August 1942
• Bradley Field, Connecticut, 1 September 1942
• Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 November 1942
• Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 13 October 1943 – 10 April 1944
• Larson AFB, Washington, 18 August 1955
• Kingsley Field, Oregon, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968

Aircraft

• P-47 Thunderbolt, 1942–1944
• F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1955–1957
• 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.
• USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).