337th Aeronautical Systems Group | |
|---|---|
 Iraqi Air ForceCessna 172 Skyhawks atKirkuk Air Base | |
| Active | 1942-1944, 1955-1966, 2005-2008 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Systems Development |
| Part of | Air Force Materiel Command |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 337th Fighter Group emblem[a][1] |  |
The337th Aeronautical Systems Group is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with theAeronautical Systems Center ofAir Force Materiel Command atWright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2008.
Thegroup was first activated in 1942 atMorris Field, North Carolina as the337th Fighter Group. DuringWorld War II it acted as aReplacement Training Unit forfighter pilots. The group was disbanded in 1944 in a major reorganization ofArmy Air Forces training units.
The 337th was activated again in 1955, when it replaced the503d Air Defense Group atPortland International Airport as part ofAir Defense Command (ADC)'s Project Arrow, which was designed to revive fighter units that had served during World War II and replace ADC's post-war units. It providedair defense for the Pacific northwest until it was inactivated in 1966, earning twoAir Force Outstanding Unit Awards. The commander at Portland had been Lt. Col. George W. White, who had previously been with the 503d Air Defense Group, and who died during his command at 43 years of age, in August 1957.[2]
In January 2005 theTraining Aircraft Systems Group was activated as part of theAir Force Materiel Command Transformation, which replaced traditional procurement offices withwings, groups andsquadrons. In May 2006 the two groups were consolidated and the consolidated unit named the337th Aeronautical Systems Group. In 2008, the unit was inactivated and its squadrons reassigned to the 877th Aeronautical Systems Group.
The337th Fighter Group was activated in July 1942 atMorris Field, North Carolina with the98th,[3]303d,[4][b] and304th Fighter Squadrons[5] assigned.[1] It received its initialcadre from the20th Fighter Group.[6] However, two of its squadrons departed Morris Field the day they were activated, with the 303d moving toSpartanburg Army Air Field and the 304th to theMyrtle Beach Bombing Range, both in South Carolina, to be organized.[4][5] The group's initial equipment was a mix of obsolescentfighter aircraft. Although these were mostlyCurtiss P-40 Warhawks, the 304th Squadron also flewBell P-39 Airacobras andRepublic P-43 Lancers.[1][5]
Two weeks later, the group and the 98th Squadron moved toDrew Field, near Tampa, Florida.[1][3] The 303d Squadron joined them later that month, while the 304th moved to theTampa Bay Area, but toPinellas Army Air Field, on the other side of the bay.[4][5] Thegroup operated as aReplacement Training Unit (RTU), with the Warhawk.[1] RTUs were oversized units which trained individualpilots oraircrews.[7]
In January 1943 the group and the squadrons at Drew Field moved toSarasota Army Air Field, where the following month the group added a fourth squadron, the440th Fighter Squadron. In August, the 440th joined the 304th at Pinellas and the group maintained a split operation at Sarasota and Pinellas until it was disbanded.[1][3][4][5][8] The group transitioned toNorth American P-51 Mustangs in early 1944.[1]
However, theArmy Air Forces (AAF) was finding that standard military units, which were based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving to be well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[9] The group and its squadrons were disbanded in May 1944.[1] The 336th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) assumed the mission of the group at Sarasota,[10] while the 341st AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) took over the group's equipment at Pinellas.[11]
The group was reconstituted, redesignated as the337th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated atPortland International Airport in August 1955[1] as part ofAir Defense Command's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[12] At Portland, the group assumed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating503d Air Defense Group,[13] while its460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which moved to Portland fromMcGhee-Tyson Airport,[14] took over theradar equipped andMighty Mouse rocket armedNorthrop F-89D Scorpion aircraft and personnel of the 503d's497th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which moved toGeiger Field, Washington.[15]
The group operated interceptors to provide activeair defense in the25th NORAD Region area of responsibility.[16] It also served as the host organization for regularUnited States Air Force units at Portland International Airport and was assigned a number of support organizations to perform this mission.[17][18][19] In May 1958, the group converted from F-89Ds to supersonicConvair F-102 Delta Dagger aircraft equipped withdata link for interception control through theSemi-Automatic Ground Environment system and capable of launching theAIM-4 Falcon.[20]
During theCuban Missile Crisis,Continental Air Defense Command directed the group to place all itsinterceptors on five-minute alert. Unlike most ADC groups, however, the group did not disperse part of its strength to other bases. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned units to their normal alert status, except for those under the control of its32d Region, which controlled air defense in the Southeastern United States.[21][22]
Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, attrition (and the fact that production lines closed in 1961) caused a gradual drop in the number of planes assigned to a squadron, from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. The force reduction continued, finally resulting in a reduction in the number of interceptor units, and the group was inactivated in the spring of 1966.[1][23] In 1985 the group was redesignated the337th Tactical Fighter Group, although it remained inactive.[24]
In 2005,Air Force Materiel Command AFMC formed theTraining Aircraft Systems Group as part of the AFMC Transformation initiative, which replaced traditional project offices with wings, groups, and squadrons. In 2006 this new organization was consolidated with the 327th and became the337th Aeronautical Systems Group.[25] In 2007, the group'sForeign Military Sales (FMS) team oversaw the effort to provide theIraqi Air Force withCessna 172 training aircraft in order to resume flying operations[26] and also sought vendors forCounterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft for Iraq.[27] The group was inactivated in 2008 and its subordinate units were transferred to the77th Aeronautical Systems Wing's 877th Aeronautical Systems Group.[28]
327th Fighter Group
Training Aircraft Systems Group
Operational Squadrons
| Support Units
|
Systems Units
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 8 June 1960-30 April 1962 | 337th Fighter Group[36] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 May 1962-31 July 1963 | 337th Fighter Group[36] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 23 July 1942 – 1 May 1944 | 337th Fighter Group[1] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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