473d Fighter Group | |
|---|---|
 62d Fighter-Interceptor SquadronF-101B Voodoo 57-0386 atK.I. Sawyer AFB | |
| Active | 1942–1944; 1956–1959 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Fighter |
| Role | Air Defense |
| Part of | Air Defense Command |
The473d Fighter Group is an inactiveUnited States Air Force (USAF) unit. Its last assignment was with the30th Air Division atK. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1959.
DuringWorld War II, the unit was programmed as a replacement training unit forP-38 Lightning pilots but never became operational. It was disbanded in a general reorganization of theArmy Air Forces into base units to make more efficient use of manpower.
The group was reactivated as the473d Fighter Group (Air Defense) in the spring of 1956 during theCold War underAir Defense Command. The group opened K.I. Sawyer for use by the USAF, and after 1959 was responsible forair defense in the upper midwestern United States. Its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the56th Fighter Group (Air Defense) in 1959 and the group was inactivated.
The473d Fighter Group was activated atGrand Central Air Terminal, California in late 1943.[1] It was originally assigned the482d,[2] 483d[3] and484th Fighter Squadrons.[4] A month later the 451st Fighter Squadron was activated and assigned to the group.[5] The group was a Replacement Training Unit equipped primarily withLockheed P-38 Lightnings,[1] but its squadrons flew a variety of aircraft.[2][3][4][5] Replacement training units were oversized units which trainedaircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters.[6]
However, at the time the 473d was being organized, theArmy Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[7] In the final days of March 1944, the group and three of its squadrons moved toEphrata Army Air Base, Washington, while the 482d squadron moved toMoses Lake Army Air Field, Washington. The group and squadrons acting as RTUs were then disbanded.[8] The units at Ephrata were combined into the 430th AAF Base Unit (Fighter Replacement Training Unit-Single Engine).[9] The 482d formed the basis for the 431st AAF Base Unit.[10]
The group was reactivated in April 1956[1] during theCold War byAir Defense Command to openK. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan. The 473d was initially assigned to the4710th Air Defense Wing.[11] The group was the host for all USAF organizations at K.I. Sawyer and was assigned several support organizations to fulfill this responsibility.[12][13][14][15][16] In July, the 4710th wing was discontinued and the group was assigned directly to the37th Air Division. The operational squadron assigned to the group was the 484th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was authorizedNorthrop F-89 Scorpion aircraft. However, these aircraft were not delivered before the squadron was inactivated in February 1959 and the squadron did not become operational.[4] In fact, it was 1959 before the K.I. Sawyer runway was completed and ready to accept modern aircraft.[12]
In August 1958, the group became host to aStrategic Air Command wing, the4042d Strategic Wing. Although the 4042d was initially activated as a headquarters only, it would be the framework for a forward basedBoeing B-52 Stratofortress equipped bombardment wing.[12] The following August, the62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved to K.I. Sawyer, was attached to the wing, and equipped withMcDonnell F-101 Voodoos.[17] The squadron had moved fromO'Hare International Airport, where there was local resistance to maintaining a regular USAF presence at one of the world's busiest civilian airports. Security for the Voodoo's nuclear armedMB-1 Genie at a civilian location was also a concern. Two months after the arrival of the 62d, its parent group, the56th Fighter Group and its support units moved on paper from O'Hare to K.I. Sawyer and assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 473d, which was inactivated.[18]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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