339th Flight Test Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 339th Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force
unit based at Robins AFB, Georgia. It is part of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
, with a mission to certify aircraft as worthy to return to service. The squadron is responsible for conducting flight tests on the C-130 Hercules
, the C-5 Galaxy
and F-15 Eagle
after program depot maintenance is completed.
Along with their flight test responsibilities, the squadron also picks up and delivers aircraft including battle damaged aircraft to locations where they are needed or can be repaired.
The squadron is also considered the subject matter experts for the plane's systems and many times their phone rings when Airmen around the world are having mechanical malfunctions and need to know how to fly or land safely.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit based at Robins AFB, Georgia. It is part of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center performs sustainment and depot maintenance on a number of US Air Force weapon systems. Specifically it supports AC-130, C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, E-8 Joint STARS, EC-130, F-15 Eagle, HC-130, HH-60 Pave Hawk, MC-130, MH-53 Pave Low,...
, with a mission to certify aircraft as worthy to return to service. The squadron is responsible for conducting flight tests on the C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
, the C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
and F-15 Eagle
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...
after program depot maintenance is completed.
Along with their flight test responsibilities, the squadron also picks up and delivers aircraft including battle damaged aircraft to locations where they are needed or can be repaired.
The squadron is also considered the subject matter experts for the plane's systems and many times their phone rings when Airmen around the world are having mechanical malfunctions and need to know how to fly or land safely.
Lineage
- Constituted 339th Fighter Squadron on 29 September 1942
- Activated on 3 October 1942
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter Squadron (Twin Engine)on 23 February 1943
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter Squadron, Two Engine, on 20 August 1943
- Inactivated on 1 January 1946
- Redesignated 339th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, on 13 July 1946
- Activated on 25 August 1946
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) on 20 February 1947
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter Squadron, All Weather, on 10 August 1948
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter-All Weather Squadron on 20 January 1950
- Redesignated: 339th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 25 April 1951
- Inactivated on 15 January 1958
- Redesignated: 339th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 19 December 1975
- Activated on 30 December 1975
- Inactivated on 1 July 1983
- Consolidated (1 October 1992) with the 2875th Test Squadron, which was designated, and activated, on 15 January 1988.
- Redesignated: 339th Test Squadron on 1 October 1992
- Redesignated: 339th Flight Test Squadron on 15 March 1994
Assignments
- Thirteenth Air ForceThirteenth Air ForceThe Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
- 347th Fighter Group347th Rescue GroupThe United States Air Force's 347th Rescue Group is an active combat search and rescue unit assigned to the 23d Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia.-Mission:...
, 3 October 1942-1 January 1946- Thirteenth Air ForceThirteenth Air ForceThe Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
, 25 August 1946
- Thirteenth Air Force
- 347th Fighter (later, 347th Fighter-All Weather) Group347th Rescue GroupThe United States Air Force's 347th Rescue Group is an active combat search and rescue unit assigned to the 23d Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia.-Mission:...
, 20 February 1947- Received personnel and aircraft from inactivated 6th Night Fighter Squadron6th Night Fighter SquadronThe 6th Night Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Seventh Air Force, being inactivated at Wheeler Field, Hawaii on February 20, 1947....
, 20 February 1947 - Attached to 35th Fighter [later, 35th Fighter-Interceptor] Wing35th Fighter WingThe 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The 35 FW is part of Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.-Mission:...
, 1 July 1949-1 December 1950- Fifth Air ForceFifth Air ForceThe Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
, 24 June 1950
- Fifth Air Force
- Received personnel and aircraft from inactivated 6th Night Fighter Squadron
- 314th Air Division314th Air DivisionThe 314th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Osan AB, South Korea. It was inactivated in September 1986....
, 1 December 1950- Attached to the 6162d Air Base Wing, 1 December 1950-24 May 1951
- Attached to the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing35th Fighter WingThe 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The 35 FW is part of Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.-Mission:...
, 25 May 1951-20 July 1954
- Japan Air Defense Force, 1 March 1952
- Attached to 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing49th Fighter WingThe 49th Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 49 WG is part of the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force....
, 20 July-18 November 1954- Fifth Air ForceFifth Air ForceThe Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
, 1 September 1954
- Fifth Air Force
- Attached to the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing4th Fighter WingThe 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit....
, 18 November 1954-15 September 1957 - 39th Air Division, 1 March 1955-15 January 1958
- 347th Tactical Fighter Wing347th Rescue GroupThe United States Air Force's 347th Rescue Group is an active combat search and rescue unit assigned to the 23d Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia.-Mission:...
, 30 December 1975-1 July 1983 - Warner Robins Air Logistics CenterWarner Robins Air Logistics CenterThe Warner Robins Air Logistics Center performs sustainment and depot maintenance on a number of US Air Force weapon systems. Specifically it supports AC-130, C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, E-8 Joint STARS, EC-130, F-15 Eagle, HC-130, HH-60 Pave Hawk, MC-130, MH-53 Pave Low,...
, 15 January 1988–present
- 347th Tactical Fighter Wing
Stations
- New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, 3 October 1942
- Detachment operated from GuadalcanalGuadalcanalGuadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
, Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, 3 October 1942-1 December 1943- GuadalcanalGuadalcanalGuadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
, Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, 29 December 1943 - Stirling IslandStirling IslandStirling Island is the smaller island of the Treasury Islands, Solomon Islands, at . It is separated from the largest Mono Island by Blanche Harbor. Stirling Island is composed of coral which was once part of the barrier reef surrounding Mono Island....
, Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, 15 January 1944 - Sanspor, New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, 15 August 1944 - Middleburg Island, 19 September 1944
- Guadalcanal
- Operated from MorotaiMorotaiMorotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
, Maluku IslandsMaluku IslandsThe Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
13 February-25 March 1945- San Jose, MindoroMindoroMindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
, 22 February 1945
- San Jose, Mindoro
- Puerto Princesa, PalawanPalawanPalawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
, 6 March-11 December 1945 - Camp StonemanCamp StonemanCamp Stoneman was a United States Army military facility located in Pittsburg, California. It served as a major staging area for the Army in World War II and the Korean War....
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 30 December 1945-1 January 1946 - Fort William McKinleyFort William McKinleyFort William McKinley, was established in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War in 1901 when the whole land south of Pasig River down to Alabang was declared a U.S. Military Reservation. During the World War II era, it was where USAFFE had its headquarters for the Philippine Department...
, LuzonLuzonLuzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, 25 August 1946 - Johnson AB, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, 15 December 1946 - Yokota AB, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, 1 April 1950 - Johnson AB, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, 4 August 1950 - Chitose AB, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, 20 July 1954-15 January 1958 - Moody AFB, Georgia, 30 December 1975-1 July 1983
- Robins AFB Georgia, 15 January 1988–present
Aircraft Operated
- P-400 Airacobra, 1942
- P-39 Airacobra, 1942–1943
- P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, 1942–1945 - P(later F)-61 Black Widow, 1947–1950
- F-82 Twin MustangF-82 Twin MustangThe North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II; however, the war ended well before the first...
, 1949–1951
- F-94 StarfireF-94 StarfireThe Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the twin-seat T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.-Design and development:...
, 1951–1955 - F-80 Shooting Star, 1953–1954
- F-86 SabreF-86 SabreThe North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
, 1955–1957 - F-4 Phantom IIF-4 Phantom IIThe McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
, 1976-1983.