466th Fighter Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 466th Fighter Squadron (466 FS) is the 419th Fighter Wing
's designated flying squadron. They are located at Hill Air Force Base
, Utah
.
C/D model aircraft, which are light, air to air daytime fighters. The 466th Fighter Squadron first saw action in 1998, participating for the first time in the exercise Cape Tiger. This is a drill which puts reserve pilots shoulder to shoulder with members of the Thailand and Singapore Air Forces. Later that year, the 466th was deployed to Kuwait
in time for Operation Southern Watch
. The 466th was part of a unit attempting to hold off Iraqi movements toward Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabia.
as one of the last P-47 Thunderbolt
Fighter Squadrons, programmed for deployment to Western Pacific theater with long-range P-47N for B-29 Superfortress
escort missions. Arrived in Hawaii
in early 1945, assigned to Seventh Air Force
. Lack of a serious fighter defense over Japan
at high altitudes and reprogramming of B-29 raids over Japan to night low-level fast attacks led to reassignment as a replacement training unit based in Hawaii; also performed air defense of the islands until inactivation in November 1945.
Reactivated as Strategic Air Command
fighter-escort squadron for B-50 Superfortress
and B-36 Peacemaker bombers. Performed fighter-escort training throughout the 1950s, inactivated in 1956 with the phaseout of the escort mission and retirement of the B-36.
Transferred to Tactical Air Command
but not activated until 1972 as an F-105 Thunderchief
squadron, being equipped with aircraft returned from inactivated Vietnam War
squadrons to train other tactical fighter squadrons in Wild Weasel
SAM suppression tactics. Since 1984 has trained to fly interdiction, close air support, and counter-air missions. Deployed periodically for contingency operations, or for training exercises with other units.
419th Fighter Wing
The 419th Group trained in the Reserve for troop carrier operations from 1949 to 1951. Since 1982, the 419th, now as a wing, trained for worldwide combat fighter operations. It was the last wing to fly F-105 aircraft, and in early 1984 was the first Air Force Reserve wing to fly F-16s. Personnel of...
's designated flying squadron. They are located at Hill Air Force Base
Hill Air Force Base
Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force Base located in northern Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and near the towns of Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, Sunset, and Layton. It is about north of Salt Lake City. The base was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill of the U.S. Army Air...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Overview
The 419th uses 15 F-16F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...
C/D model aircraft, which are light, air to air daytime fighters. The 466th Fighter Squadron first saw action in 1998, participating for the first time in the exercise Cape Tiger. This is a drill which puts reserve pilots shoulder to shoulder with members of the Thailand and Singapore Air Forces. Later that year, the 466th was deployed to Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
in time for Operation Southern Watch
Operation Southern Watch
Operation Southern Watch was an operation conducted by Joint Task Force Southwest Asia with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of the 32nd Parallel in Iraq, following the 1991 Gulf War until the 2003 invasion of Iraq.-Summary:Operation Southern Watch began on 27 August 1992...
. The 466th was part of a unit attempting to hold off Iraqi movements toward Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabia.
History
Formed in late 1944 under Second Air ForceSecond Air Force
The Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
as one of the last P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
Fighter Squadrons, programmed for deployment to Western Pacific theater with long-range P-47N for B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
escort missions. Arrived in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in early 1945, assigned to Seventh Air Force
Seventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
. Lack of a serious fighter defense over Japan
Japan
Japan 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...
at high altitudes and reprogramming of B-29 raids over Japan to night low-level fast attacks led to reassignment as a replacement training unit based in Hawaii; also performed air defense of the islands until inactivation in November 1945.
Reactivated as Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
fighter-escort squadron for B-50 Superfortress
B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
and B-36 Peacemaker bombers. Performed fighter-escort training throughout the 1950s, inactivated in 1956 with the phaseout of the escort mission and retirement of the B-36.
Transferred to Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
but not activated until 1972 as an F-105 Thunderchief
F-105 Thunderchief
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it has the dubious distinction of being the only US aircraft to have been...
squadron, being equipped with aircraft returned from inactivated Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
squadrons to train other tactical fighter squadrons in Wild Weasel
Wild Weasel
A Wild Weasel is an aircraft specially equipped with radar seeking missiles, and tasked with destroying the radars and SAM installations of enemy air defence systems....
SAM suppression tactics. Since 1984 has trained to fly interdiction, close air support, and counter-air missions. Deployed periodically for contingency operations, or for training exercises with other units.
Lineage
- Constituted 466th Fighter Squadron on 5 October 1944
- Activated on 12 October 1944.
- Inactivated on 25 November 1945
- Redesignated 466th Fighter-Escort Squadron on 19 June 1952.
- Activated on 1 July 1952
- Redesignated 466th Strategic Fighter Squadron on 20 January 1953
- Inactivated on 11 May 1956
- Redesignated 466 Tactical Fighter Squadron on 23 June 1972
- Activated in the Reserve on 1 January 1973
- Redesignated 466 Fighter Squadron on 1 February 1992.
Assignments
- 508th Fighter Group, 12 October 1944-25 November 1945
- 508th Fighter-Escort (later Strategic Fighter) Wing, 1 July 1952-11 May 1956 (not operational, 1 July-September 1952)
- 508th Tactical Fighter Group, 1 January 1973
- 301st Tactical Fighter Wing, 25 March 1973
- 508th Tactical Fighter Group, 17 October 1975
- 419 Tactical Fighter (later, 419 Fighter) Wing419th Fighter WingThe 419th Group trained in the Reserve for troop carrier operations from 1949 to 1951. Since 1982, the 419th, now as a wing, trained for worldwide combat fighter operations. It was the last wing to fly F-105 aircraft, and in early 1984 was the first Air Force Reserve wing to fly F-16s. Personnel of...
, 1 October 1982 - 419th Operations Group, 1 August 1992–present
Stations
- Peterson FieldPeterson FieldPeterson Field is a public-use airport located three nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Plains, a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. It is privately owned by G. Thomas Peterson.- Facilities and aircraft :...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, 12 October 1944 - Pocatello Army Airfield, IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, 25 October 1944 - Bruning Army AirfieldBruning Army AirfieldBruning Army Airfield was a flight training installation of the United States Army Air Forces used during World War II and located in northeast Thayer County, Nebraska, at coordinates 40°20'25" North, 97°25'42" West, approximately six miles east of Bruning....
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 15 November-18 December 1944 - Kahuku Army AirfieldKahuku Army AirfieldKahuku Army Airfield is a former wartime airfield in Hawaii. It was located in the northern part of the Island of Oahu.-World War II:Possibly developed as an emergency field dating to the 1930s, but it was not until the United States entered World War II that the airfield was developed...
, Hawaii Territory, 6 January 1945 - Mokuleia Army Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 25 February 1945
- Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 16 September-25 November 1945
- Turner AFB, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, 1 July 1952-11 May 1956
- Deployed at Misawa 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...
, 8 February-5 May 1953 and 16 February-16 May 1954)- Hill AFB, UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, 1 January 1973–present
- Hill AFB, Utah
Aircraft
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
, 1944–1945 - F-84 ThunderjetF-84 ThunderjetThe Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 flew in 1946...
, 1952–1956 - F-105 ThunderchiefF-105 ThunderchiefThe Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it has the dubious distinction of being the only US aircraft to have been...
, 1973–1984 - T-33 Shooting StarT-33 Shooting StarThe Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American-built jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948, piloted by Tony LeVier. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the...
, 1973–1980 - F-16 Falcon, 1984-Presnt
External links
- 466th fighter squadron info at global security.org