539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Patch of the 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Active	1943–1967
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter-Interceptor

Convair F-106B-50-CO Delta Dart 57-2530 with a full load of AIM-4 Falcon Air-to-Air missiles. Taken at McGuire AFB about 1966 as the tail fin wears the last form of marking by the 539th before its inactivation. Either dark (or light) blue thunderbolts were on the fins. This A/C was sent to AMARC as FN0160 August 25, 1987. To QF-106 (AD257). Shot down by AIM-120 April 24, 1997.

Convair F-106A-80-CO Delta Dart 57-2467, with the light blue thunderbolt on the tail fin. Aircraft was sent to AMARC as FN0167 Dec 29, 1987. To QF-106 (AD209). Expended 9 Aug 1996.

Convair F-106A-64-CO Delta Dart, photo probably taken about 1960, with the first squadron tail marking of a triangle pierced by a chevron. Sent to AMARC as FN0168 Jan 7, 1988. To QF-106 (AD214). Shot down by AIM-7M 7 Jun 1993.

North American F-86D-45-NA Sabre 52-3936, Stewart AFB, New York, 1954

The 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the New York Air Defense Sector, stationed at McGuire AFB, New Jersey. It was inactivated on 31 August 1967.

History

The 539th Fighter Squadron was activated in October 1943 at Westover Field, Chicopee, Mass in October 1943. Shortly after activation, the squadron moved to Seymour Johnson Field, Goldsboro, North Carolina to become part of the 402nd Fighter Group where it operated under the Replacement Training Unit Program of the advanced phase of pilot training. In December 1943, the squadron again moved, this time to Blumenthal Field, Wilmington, North Carolina, and was assigned to the 326th Fighter Group where it remained until disbanded in April 1944. Reactivated as part of the United States Air Force Air Defense Command in January 1955 it received F-86D's and in August 1955 the unit designation was transferred to McGuire AFB as the 539th Fighter Interceptor Squadron where it received F-86L's. In May 1959 the squadron transitioned to F-106A becoming the first squadron in the United States Air Force to be equipped with the F-106's. The 539th was inactivated 31 Aug 1967 as part of the phasedown of the ADC interceptor force.

Lineage

• Constituted 539th Fighter Squadron on 24 September 1943

Activated on 1 October 1943

Disbanded on 10 April 1944

• Reconstituted, and redesignated 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 23 March 1953

Activated on 18 April 1954.

Inactivated on 23 August 1967.

Assignments

• 402d Fighter Group, October 1943
• 326th Fighter Group, 25 November 1943 – 10 April 1944
• 4709th Defense (later Air Defense) Wing, 18 April 1954
• 4700th Air Defense Group, 20 September 1954
• 4709th Air Defense Wing, 18 August 1955
• 4621st Air Defense Wing (later New York Air Defense Sector), 1 October 1956
• 4730th Air Defense Group, 8 February 1957
• New York Air Defense Sector, 1 August 1959 – 23 August 1967

Stations

• Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 October 1943
• Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 13 October 1943
• Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina, 8 December 1943 – 10 April 1944
• Stewart AFB, New York, 18 April 1954
• McGuire AFB, New Jersey, 18 August 1955 – 23 August 1967

Aircraft

• P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944
• F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1954–1959
• F-106 Delta Dart, 1959–1967

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).