54th Fighter Squadron

54th Fighter Squadron
54th Tactical Fighter Squadron - McDonnell Douglas F-15C-30-MC Eagle - 81-0020
Active	15 January 1941 – 21 March 1946 1 December 1952 – 25 December 1960 8 May 1947 -
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter
Nickname(s)	Alaska's First Guardians
Decorations	AFOUA
Insignia
Emblem of the 54th Fighter Squadron

The 54th Fighter Squadron (54 FS) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the 3d Operations Group, being stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. It was inactivated on 28 April 2000.

History

Northrop F-89J-50-NO Scorpion 53-2453 stationed at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Loading inert Genie nuclear missile at Tyndall AFB, Florida, 1957

54th FIS (Air Defense Command)

Activated on 15 Jan 1941 at Hamilton Field, California as a P-40 Warhawk pursuit group as part of the defense buildup of the United States prior to World War II.

Deployed to Alaska in mid-1942 and engaged the Japanese during the Aleutian Campaign during World War II. Engaged in combat in the Aleutians, 1942-1943 with long-range P-38 Lightnings. Remained in Alaska after the removal of Japanese forces, flying long range escorts for B-24 Liberator bombing attacks of northern Japanese Kurile Islands, inactivated in 1946.

Reactivated by redesignation of North Dakota Air National Guard 175th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in 1952 which was reverted to state control. Assigned to Air Defense Command. Mission was to provide air defense for upper Midwest. Assumed ANG F-51D Mustangs, upgraded to F-84D Thunderjet jet aircraft being returned from combat in Korea in July 1953. Upgraded to F-84Gs in December 1953; upgraded to F-86D Sabre in April 1954; upgraded to F-89J Scorpion interceptors in 1957 interceptors in 1957 at Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota. Inactivated on 25 Dec 1960.

Reactivated as an F-15 Eagle air superiority squadron in Alaska in 1987, it provided air defense until being inactivated in 2000.

Lineage

Constituted 54th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 Nov 1940

Activated on 15 Jan 1941

Redesignated: 54th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) (Twin Engine) on 31 Jan 1942

Redesignated: 54th Fighter Squadron (Twin Engine) on 15 May 1942

Redesignated: 54th Fighter Squadron, Two Engine, on 20 Aug 1943

Inactivated on 21 Mar 1946

Redesignated 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 10 Oct 1952

Activated on 1 Dec 1952 as redesignation of 175th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (ND ANG)

Discontinued, and inactivated, on 25 Dec 1960

Redesignated 54th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 13 Jan 1987

Activated on 8 May 1987

Redesignated 54th Fighter Squadron on 26 Sep 1991

Inactivated on 28 Apr 2000

Assignments

55th Pursuit (later, 55th Fighter) Group, 15 Jan 1941

Attached to XI Fighter Command, 31 May – 11 Sep 1941

343d Fighter Group, 11 Sep 1942 – 21 Mar 1946
31st Air Division, 1 Dec 1952
29th Air Division, 16 Feb 1953 – 25 Dec 1960
21st Tactical Fighter Wing, 8 May 1987
21st Operations Group, 26 Sep 1991
3d Operations Group, 19 Dec 1991 – 28 Apr 2000

Stations

Hamilton Field, California, 15 Jan 1941
Portland Army Air Base, Oregon, 22 May 1941
Paine Field, Washington, 22 Jan – 25 May 1942
Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, 31 May-c. 24 Aug 1942

Detachment at Fort Randall Army Airfield, Alaska Territory, c. 6 Jun-c. 31 Jul 1942

Detachment at Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Alaska Territory, c. 6 Jun-c. 19 Sep 1942

Adak Army Airfield, Alaska Territory,c. 31 Aug 1942
Amchitka Army Airfield, Alaska Territory,12 Mar 1943
Shemya Army Airfield, Alaska Territory,c. 18 Oct 1943
Alexai Point Army Airfield, Attu, Alaska Territory, c. 20 Nov 1943 – 8 Mar 1946
Fort Lawton, Washington, 20-21 Mar 1946
Rapid City (later, Ellsworth) AFB, South Dakota, 1 Dec 1952 – 25 Dec 1960
Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, 8 May 1987 – 28 Apr 2000

Aircraft

Seversky P-35, 1941–1942
P-40 Warhawk, 1941–1942
P-43 Lancer, 1941–1942
F-5 Mustang, 1943
P-38 Lightning, 1942–1946

F-51D Mustang, 1952–1953
F-84G Thunderjet, 1953–1954
F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1954–1957
F-89J Scorpion, 1957–1960
F-15C/D Eagle, 1987–2000

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

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).
USAFHRA 54th Fighter Squadron Factsheet

External links

Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases

CONUS	Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Heath Fort Lee Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenburg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown

Overseas	Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Bay Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule

Stations

CONUS	Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata

Overseas	Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville

Air
Defense
units

Forces	Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth

Air Divisions	8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th

Sectors	Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington

Wings	Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th

Groups	Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th

Squadrons	Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems

Electronic	TB-29 EB-57 EC-121

Fighters	Propellor: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106

Missiles	AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10

Ships	Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil

Texas Towers	Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous

Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
General Surveillance Radar Stations

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 14, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.