54th Fighter Group | |
|---|---|
 F-16 Fighting Falcon as flown by the 54th Fighter Group | |
| Active | 1941–1944, 1955–1958, 2014-present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Fighter Training |
| Size | 800 people[1] |
| Part of | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Holloman Air Force Base |
| Engagements | American Theater of World War II Pacific Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation |
| Insignia | |
| 54th Fighter Group emblem[note 1][2] |  |
| 54th Fighter Group emblem as originally approved[3] |  |
The54th Fighter Group is an active unit of theUnited States Air Force stationed atHolloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and assigned to the49th Wing ofAir Education and Training Command. The group was reactivated in March 2014.
Thegroup was first activated as the54th Pursuit Group during the buildup of theAir Corps just prior toWorld War II. It served in Alaska during theAleutian Islands Campaign, earning aDistinguished Unit Citation. It then returned to the United States and served as a training unit.
The group was again activated in 1955 as part ofAir Defense Command's Project Arrow, replacing the500th Air Defense Group. It served in theair defense role until 1958 when it was inactivated.
The group was activated once again as a training unit for theGeneral Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon in 2014. The group was part of the56th Fighter Wing atLuke Air Force Base, Arizona until October 2018 when it was transferred to the49th Wing, the host unit of Holloman.
The group trains an average of 180 students per year. It has an extensive flying program, averaging more than 10,800 sorties and 14,600 hours per fiscal year. The group consists of approximately 800 personnel, maintains $2.2 billion in F-16 assets and executes a $144 million operations and maintenance budget to carry out F-16 training.[1]
The group was activated as the54th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) at the beginning of 1941 atHamilton Field, California. with the42d,56th, and57th Pursuit Squadrons assigned.[3][4][5][6] It trained withCurtiss P-36 Hawks andCurtiss P-40 Warhawks, then moved toEverett Army Air Field, where it served as a part of theair defense force for the northwest Pacific coast during the first few months ofWorld War II.[4] Thegroup and itssquadrons were redesignated asfighter units in May 1942.[3][4][5][6]
The air echelon, equipped withBell P-39 Airacobras, served in Alaska against the Japanese forces that invaded the Aleutian Islands during the summer of 1942, and for these operations the group received aDistinguished Unit Citation.[4]
The air echelon returned to the US in December 1942 and rejoined the group, which had been assigned toThird Air Force in Louisiana, and became aReplacement Training Unit (RTU) forNorth American P-51 Mustang pilots.[4] RTUs were oversized units training individualpilots oraircrews.[7] In early May 1943, the group began a split operation, withheadquarters and the 56th and 57th Fighter Squadrons relocating toBartow Army Air Field,[3][4][6] Florida, while the 42d was atHillsborough Army Air Field.[5] However, the AAF was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[8] As a result, in 1944 the group was disbanded as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system.[4] The units at Bartow were replaced by the 340th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter),[9] while those at Hillsborough transferred their mission, equipment, and personnel to the 343d AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter).[10]
In 1955, the group was redesignated as the54th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated atGreater Pittsburgh Airport[4] to replace the500th Air Defense Group[11] as part of ADC'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] The group assumed host responsibilities for the USAF portion of the airport and was assigned a USAF Dispensary,[13] Air Base Squadron and Materiel Squadron[14] to fulfill this responsibility. Because Project Arrow was also intended to reunite fighter squadrons with their former groups, the42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was stationed atO'Hare Airport moved to Pittsburgh and assumed the personnel and equipment of the 500th group's71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, including itsradar equipped androcket armedNorth American F-86 Sabres. Thesquadron transitioned intodata link equipped F-86Ls in the spring of 1957 for interception control through theSemi-Automatic Ground Environment system and flew them until the group and squadron were inactivated in early 1958.[15]
The group was reactivated in March 2014 atHolloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It is anF-16 Fighting Falcon training unit under the 49th Wing.[16]
Operational Squadrons
Support Units
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Distinguished Unit Citation | (June 1942)-4 November 1942 | [2] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 March-30 June 2014 | [2] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2014-30 June 2015 | [2] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2015-30 June 2016 | [2] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2016-30 June 2017 | [2] |
54th Fighter Group
| Aerial Victories | Number | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Group Hq | 0 | |
| 42d Fighter Squadron | 7 | [24] |
| 56th Fighter Squadron | 0 | |
| 57th Fighter Squadron | 3 | [25] |
| Group Total | 10 |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 7 December 1941 – 1 May 1944 | 54th Fighter Group[4] |
 | Aleutian Islands | 3 June 1942 – 30 November 1942 | 54th Fighter Group[2] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Further reading
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