46th Fighter Training Squadron

46th Fighter Training Squadron
	Emblem of the 46th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Active	1940–1993
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Training
Engagements	Central Pacific; Air Offensive, Japan; Eastern Mandates; Air Combat, Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation

The 46th Fighter Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 917th Operations Group stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was inactivated on 1 October 1993.

History[]

The 46th, who was initially assigned to the 15th Fighter/Pursuit Group, its history goes back to World War II, when the 15th Pursuit Group was largely destroyed during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at Hickam Field.^[1]

World War II[]

After the Pearl Harbor Attack, the squadron was assigned to the VII Fighter Command. Re-equipped initially with P-39 Aircobras and P-40 Warhawks, ts primary mission was the air defense of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1943, the squadron deployed to the Central Pacific Area, engaging in combat from Makin Island in December 1943. Returned to Hawaii and was again re-equipped with very long-range P-38 Lightnings and P-51D Mustangs. In early March 1945 deployed to Iwo Jima, being attached to the Twentieth Air Force. From Iwo Jima, the squadron performed escort missions with B-29 Superfortress bombers bombing the Japanese Home Islands. After the Japanese Surrender in September 1945, the squadron moved to Guam, where it operated until demobilizing and inactivating in October 1946.

United States Air Force[]

Reactivated in 1952 at Dover AFB, Delaware and assigned to Air Defense Command. Equipped with F-94 Starfire interceptors, the squadron's mission was the air defense of southeastern Pennsylvania, south New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, inactivated in 1958 due to budget reductions.

Was reactivated in 1962 at MacDill AFB, Florida, equipped with swept-wing F-84F Thunderflash tactical fighters. Received new F-4C Phantom II in 1964, one of the first squadrons in the Air Force to fly the new fighter. Conducted tactical fighter combat crew training for the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing. The squadron participated in a variety of exercises, operations and readiness tests of Tactical Air Command, becoming a replacement training unit for F-4 aircrews prior to their deployment to Southeast Asia beginning in 1965. During the 1968 Pueblo Crisis, the squadron deployed fighters to Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, backfilling fighters deployed to South Korea by the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Transferred to the incoming 1st Tactical Fighter Wing in 1970 when the wing was moved from ADC to TAC. Inactivated in 1971, personnel and aircraft being transferred to the 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron when the former 15th TFW units were inactivated.

Reactivated in the Air Force Reserve in 1975 at Grissom AFB, Indiana, receiving A-37B Dragonfly counter-insurgency aircraft returned from the Vietnam War. Provided combat crew training in close air support tactics for USAF and friendly foreign nations until inactivated in 1978, transferring the A-37s to the 706th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

Equipped with A-10A Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft in 1983 at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, mission was to be an A-10 Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Air Force Reserve pilots. Operated the A-10 at Barksdale until inactivated in 1993 as part of the post-Cold War drawdown, aircraft transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona where A-10 training was consolidating with the active-duty 355th Wing.

Lineage[]

Constituted 46th Pursuit Squadron (Fighter) on 22 November 1940

Activated on 1 December 1940

Re-designated: 46th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 12 February 1942

Re-designated: 46th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942

Inactivated on 10 October 1946

Re-designated: 46th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 11 September 1952

Activated on 1 November 1952

Inactivated on 1 July 1958

Re-designated: 46th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and activated, on 17 April 1962

Organized on 1 July 1962

Inactivated on 1 July 1971

Re-activated in the Air Force Reserve, 1 July 1975

Inactivated on 1 July 1978

Re-designated: 46th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, and activated, on 30 September 1983

Re-designated: 46th Fighter Training Squadron on 1 February 1992

Inactivated on: 1 October 1993

Assignments[]

15th Pursuit (later Fighter) Group, 1 December 1940
21st Fighter Group, 15 June 1944 – 10 October 1946
4710th Defense (later Air Defense) Wing, 1 November 1952
4709th Air Defense Wing, 1 March 1956
4621st Air Defense Wing (later New York Air Defense Sector), 1 October 1956
4728th Air Defense Group, 8 February 1957 – 1 July 1958
Tactical Air Command, 17 April 1962
15th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 July 1962
1st Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 October 1970 – 1 July 1971
434th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 July 1975 – 1 July 1978
917th Tactical Fighter Wing, 30 September 1983
917th Operations Group, 1 August 1992 – 1 October 1993

Stations[]

Wheeler Army Airfield, Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii Territory, 1 December 1940^[2]
Hickam Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 6 February 1942
Mokuleia Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 22 May 1942
Hilo Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 16 December 1942 – 19 March 1943
Canton Airfield, Phoenix Islands, 27 March 1943
Makin Island, 18 December 1943
Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 17 February 1944
Mokuleia Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 13 October 1944
Central Field, Iwo Jima, 26 March 1945
South Field, Iwo Jima, 15 July 1945
Isely Airfield, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 5 December 1945
Northwest Field, Guam, Mariana Islands, 17 April – 10 October 1946
Dover AFB, Delaware, November 1952 – 1 July 1958
MacDill AFB, Florida, 1 July 1962 – 1 July 1971
Deployed to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 11 May – 22 August 1965; 1–10 November 1965
Grissom AFB, Indiana, 1 July 1975 – 1 July 1978
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 30 September 1983 – 1 October 1993

Aircraft[]

Grumman OA-9, 1940
A-12 Shrike, 1940
P-36 Hawk, 1940–1941
P-39 Airacobra, 1941–1944
Curtiss P-40, 1941–1943
P-38 Lightning, 1944–1945
P-51 Mustang, 1944–1946

P-47 Thunderbolt, 1946
F-94B Starfire, 1952–1953
F-94C Starfire, 1953–1958
F-84 Thunderflash, 1962–1964
F-4C Phantom II, 1964–1971
A-37B Dragonfly, 1975-1978
A-10A Thunderbolt II, 1983-1993

Awards[]

Citations: Distinguished Unit Citation was issued in Japan on 7 April 1945.
Service Streamers: None
Emblem: Blue disc a black sabre-tooth tiger passant in front of a horizontal bank of white clouds. (Approved 11 March 1942.)

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.
15th Fighter Group Wiki, 15th Fighter Group
21st Fighter Group Lineage
Military General Order (GO) Army Regulation 600-8-105
United States Department of War (WD)
Eastern Mandates Wiki, Eastern Mandates (Military History)
The Air Force Story, http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-061205-065.pdf Page 48, Chapter III, Assignment Paradise: Fighter Command
Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.

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The original article can be found at 46th Fighter Training Squadron and the edit history here.

[1] Pearl Harbor History: Why Did Japan Attack?

[2] Wheeler Field, Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Locations Of The United States Army Air Force 7 December 1941

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