The530th Air Defense Group is a disbandedUnited States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the9th Air Division atGeiger Field, Washington, where it was inactivated on 18 August 1955. Thegroup was originally activated as the530th Air Service Group, a support unit for the301st Bombardment Group at the end ofWorld War II in Italy and then redeployed to the United States where it continued to support the 301st until it was inactivated in 1945.
The group was activated as the530th Air Defense Group once again in 1953, whenAir Defense Command (ADC) established it as theheadquarters for a dispersedfighter-interceptor squadron and the medical,aircraft maintenance, and administrativesquadrons supporting it. It was replaced in 1955 when ADC transferred its mission, equipment, and personnel to the84th Fighter Group in a project that replaced air defense groups commanding fighter squadrons with fighter groups with distinguished records during World War II.
Thegroup was first activated as the530th Air Service Group toward the end ofWorld War II to provide support for a flying unit in Italy in 1945 as part of a reorganization ofArmy Air Forces (AAF) support groups in which the AAF replaced service groups that included personnel from other branches of the Army and supported two combat groups with air service groups including only Air Corps units, it was designed to support a single combat group.[1] Its 956th Air Engineering Squadron[2] provided maintenance that was beyond the capability of the combat group, its 780th Air Materiel Squadron[2] handled all supply matters, and its Headquarters & Base Services Squadron provided other support.[1] The 530th supported the301st Bombardment Group atFoggia, Italy.[2] The group returned to the United States and briefly supported the 301st Bombardment Group again atPyote Army Air Field before all units at Pyote were inactivated in late 1945.[3] The 530th was disbanded in 1948.[4]
During theCold War the group was reconstituted, redesignated as the530th Air Defense Group, and activated atGeiger Field on 18 February 1953[5] with responsibility for air defense of the Northwestern United States.[citation needed] The group replaced the 87th Air Base Squadron as the USAF host organization at Geiger Field. It was assigned threesquadrons to perform its support responsibilities.[6] The organizations it supported included its headquarters, the4702d Defense Wing, and later the9th Air Division.[7] Its first operational squadron, the440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), was activated at Geiger two days after the group.[8] flying airborne interceptradar equipped andMighty Mouse rocket armedNorth American F-86D Sabre aircraft.[9] In March 1953, a second F-86D squadron, the445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was activated at Geiger and assigned to the group.[10]
In July 1954, the 440th FIS moved overseas and was reassigned away from the group.[8] In December 1954, the 530th once again had two flying squadrons, when the520th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, another F-86D unit,[11] was activated.[12] The 530th was inactivated[5] and replaced by the84th Fighter Group (Air Defense)[13] in 1955 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.[14] The group was disbanded again in 1984.[15]
^Taken atGeiger Field in February 1955. Aircraft is North American F-86D-40-NA Sabre, serial 52-3840. This aircraft served until August 1960. It is on display atLookout Mountain, Tennessee.Baugher, Joe (7 April 2023)."1953 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved11 April 2023.
^Foggia was a center forFifteenth Air Force heavy bombardment units. A complex of airfields was located nearby, and station information for the period is inconsistent. Lucera Airfield was also Foggia Airfield No. 12. Units stationed there are sometimes shown as located at Foggia, rather than Lucera.
Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, (1956)
Coleman, John M (1950).The Development of Tactical Services in the Army Air Forces. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.svg)
