76th Fighter Squadron

76th Fighter Squadron

Battle damage to a 23d Tac Fighter Wing A-10 from an SA-16 missile during Desert Storm
Active 17 December 1941–present
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Type Fighter
Engagements World War II
Iraqi War
Insignia
76th Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 1 August 2000)[1]

The 76th Fighter Squadron (76 FS) is a United States Air Force Reserve unit. It is assigned to the 476th Fighter Group and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.

During World War II, the 76th Fighter Squadron was one of the three original squadrons (74th, 75th, 76th) of the 23d Fighter Group.

History

World War II

76th FIS emblem (approved 24 July 1944)[2]

The history of the 76th dates to the earliest days of World War II. During the summer of 1941, Claire Lee Chennault formed a small group of American pilots into three fighter squadrons, the American Volunteer Group, of the Chinese Air Force.[3] The unit immediately garnered international attention for their combat successes while defending China and Burma, and they became known as the "Flying Tigers."[3] Some members of the AVG joined or rejoined the United States Air Force after the AVG was disbanded.[4][5][6]

The 76th squadron remained in combat in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater from 18 July 1942 to 11 August 1945, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for missions in China in June 1944.[1]

Cold War

76th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A 56-1345 at Westover AFB in October 1962

After World War II, the squadron performed air defense intercept operations in Guam, 1946–1949, in Panama, 1949, and at various bases in the eastern United States, 1955-1963.[1]

By 1960 the squadron was stationed at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida. In 1960, "in order to position its diminishing interceptor force as nearly astride enemy approaches as possible", Air Defense Command received approval to move the squadron from McCoy to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. It disposed of its Northrop F-89 Scorpions by the end of 1960. Between February and April 1961, the squadron had re-equipped with Convair F-102 Delta Daggers.[7] Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Air Force decided to station a full squadron of interceptors at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. This squadron was to be equipped with F-104A Starfighters, but the Air Force had transferred all its F-104 interceptors to the Air National Guard. F-104s were withdrawn from the 159th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the South Carolina Air National Guard and sent to Homestead. In turn, the F-102s at Westover were used to re-equip the 159th and the 76th was inactivated.[8]

76th Tac Fighter Squadron A-7 Corsair II dropping Mark 82 bombs

The squadron trained in and conducted close air support operations, 1972-1992.[1] A portion of the squadron deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 and took part in operations against Iraq in early 1991.[1]

Space Operations era

Lessons from Desert Storm on space power convinced Air Force leaders to reactivate 76th Fighter Squadron as the 76th Space Operations Squadron in December 1995. The 76th Space Operations Squadron (76 SOPS) was activated at the National Test Facility at Falcon AFB, Colorado as a component of the 14th Air Force on 1 December 1995.[9]

The mission of the 76th SOPS was to assist air component commanders in understanding and applying space systems in support of air operations. The unit's aim was to ensure that command and control, communications, weather, navigation, and other space assets were used to most effectively multiply US and allied combat forces capabilities against an adversary.[1]

The 76th deployed Air Force Space Support Teams to bring "space expertise" to expeditionary air forces and air operations centers around the world. Over their tenure, the 76th Space Operations Squadron deployed to make significant contributions during JOINT ENDEAVOR, DENY FLIGHT, DESERT FOX, DESERT THUNDER, and ALLIED FORCE.[1] It was inactivated in 2008[1] and its place taken by a newly constituted unit with the same designation[10] in preparation for

Reborn Fighter Squadron

In 2009, the squadron was redesignated 76th Fighter Squadron and moved to Moody AFB, Georgia, while

Lineage

Redesignated 76th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
Activated on 4 July 1942
Redesignated 76th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 28 February 1944
Inactivated on 5 January 1946
Redesignated 76th Fighter Squadron, Jet on 3 May 1949
Inactivated on 24 September 1949
Activated on 18 August 1955
Discontinued and inactivated, on 1 July 1963
Activated on 1 October 1972
Redesignated 76th Fighter Squadron on 1 November 1991
Inactivated on 29 May 1992
Activated on 1 December 1995
Inactivated on 21 January 2001
Inactivated on 22 January 2008
Activated on 1 February 2009.

Assignments

Stations

  • Wujiaba Airport, Kunming, China, 4 July 1941
  • Kweilin, China, 25 July 1942
  • Kunming, China, 18 August 1942
  • Lingling, China, 13 May 1943
  • Hengyang, China, 11 August 1943
Detachment operated from Suichwan, China, 3 October – 7 December 1943
  • Kweilin, China, 21 November 1943
  • Suichwan, China, 26 December 1943
  • Lingling, China, 1 June 1944
  • Liuchow, China, July 1944
  • Luliang, China, c. 12 September 1944
  • Liuchow, China, 24 August 1945
  • Hangchow, China, 15 October – 4 December 1945
Deployed aircraft and personnel to King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia, August 1990-April 1991

Aircraft

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robertson, Patsy (2009-10-23). "Factsheet 76 Fighter Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 274–275. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
  3. 1 2 Rossi, J.R. (1998). "History: The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force". AVG.
  4. ↑ Rossi, J.R. "Older biography". The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force.
  5. ↑ Rossi, J.R. "Adair biography". The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force.
  6. ↑ Rossi, J.R. "Bailey biography". The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force.
  7. ↑ McMullen, Richard F. (1964) The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964, ADC Historical Study No. 27 pp. 2-3 (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000)
  8. ↑ McMullen, pp. 17, 42
  9. ↑ Space Tactics Bulletin, Vol 3, Issue 1, Winter 1995
  10. ↑ Haulman, Daniel L., AFHRA Factsheet, 76th Space Control Squadron 7/10/2009 (retrieved April 17, 2013)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

See Also

External links

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