| 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1942–1944; 1955–1961; 2005–2008 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Aeronautical Systems Development |
| Part of | Air Force Materiel Command |
| Mottos | Fortiter et Sincere (Latin for 'Boldly and Sincerely') |
| Insignia | |
| Patch with 326th Fighter Group emblem[a] |  |
The326th Aeronautical Systems Wing is an inactivewing of theUnited States Air Force. It was last assigned to theAeronautical Systems Center atWright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2008.
The wing was first activated as the326th Fighter Group in August 1942 duringWorld War II and participated in theair defense of the Northeast until 1943, flying fromBradley Field, Connecticut. It moved to the Southeastern US where it was an operational and replacement training unit until it was disbanded in 1944 in a major reorganization ofArmy Air Forces units not programmed for overseas deployment.
Thegroup was reconstituted in 1955 as part of anAir Defense Command program to revive fighterunits that had participated in World War II. The group provided air defense of the Northwestern United States until 1961 when it was replaced by the57th Fighter Group, which assumed its personnel, equipment and mission. It was redesignated as the326th Tactical Fighter Group in 1985 but remained inactive.
In 2006, the group was consolidated with theLong Range Strike Systems Wing, which had been activated a year earlier atWright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio and the consolidated unit became the326th Aeronautical Systems Wing. The wing conducted systems testing of advanced strike weapons for another two years before inactivating in 2008 whenAir Force Materiel Command returned to its traditional directorate system of organization.
The326th Fighter Group was activated atMitchel Field, New York in August 1942 and moved the next month toBradley Field, Connecticut.[1] It was initially assigned the 320th,[2]321st,[3] and322d Fighter Squadrons[4] and equipped withRepublic P-47 Thunderbolts. The 326th performed theair defense mission forFirst Air Force in the northeast during 1942 and 1943 while also conducting operational training.[1] As an operational training unit, it was an oversized parent unit which providedcadres to "satellite groups."[5]
It later became a replacement training unit, remaining an oversized unit,[5] but preparing individualpilots forcombat duty in the Thunderbolt.[1] In the replacement role it added the442d Fighter Squadron in February 1943. In the fall of 1943, the 320th Squadron returned to Mitchel, while the 442d Squadron moved toBedford Army Air Field, Massachusetts.[2][6]
In October 1943, thegroup provided thecadre to form the402d Fighter Group.[7] The 326th then moved toSeymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, along with the two squadrons stationed with group headquarters atWestover Field, Massachusetts.[1][3][4] Its twosquadrons at other stations, the 320th and the 442d, remained behind and were reassigned to the 402d Group.[2][6] These two squadrons were replaced in North Carolina by the538th[8] and539th Fighter Squadrons.[9]
After arriving in North Carolina, the group resumed a split operation when the 538th and 529th Squadrons moved toBluethenthal Field, North Carolina after they were organized .[8][9] TheArmy Air Forces was finding 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 of its bases was organized into a separate numbered unit.[10] As a result, in 1944 the group was disbanded as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system.[1] The 123d AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) replaced the group headquarters and squadrons at Seymour Johnson,[11] and the 130th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) replaced the squadrons at Bluethenthal Field.[12]
The group was reconstituted, redesignated as the326th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated in 1955 as anAir Defense Command (ADC) operational air defense unit atPaine Field, Washington.[1] It absorbed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating529th Air Defense Group[13] 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.[14] The 326th was equipped withNorthrop F-89D Scorpions,[15] armed withMighty Mouse rockets, and became the USAF host unit at Paine. It was assigned a number of support organizations to fulfill its host responsibilities.[16][17][18][19][20] Its 321st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron assumed the personnel and equipment of the83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was transferred toHamilton Air Force Base, California without personnel or equipment.[3][21]
The group received later model Scorpions and by 1956 was entirely equipped with the F-89H, which could carryAIM-4 Falcons in addition to the unguided Mighty Mouse rockets. It finally equipped with nuclear-capable F-89Js, armed with theAIR-2 Genie and equipped withdata link for interception control through theSemi-Automatic Ground Environment system in the spring of 1958.[15] For a brief period in 1960, the group was without an operational element, as the 321st Squadron was discontinued on 1 March[3] and the64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which replaced it, did not move to Paine Field with itsConvair F-102 Delta Daggers until 15 March.[22] The group was inactivated in April 1961 and its personnel and equipment were reassigned to the57th Fighter Group (Air Defense), which also assumed its mission.[23]
The wing was formed in 2005 as theLong Range Strike Systems Wing[24] as part of theAir Force Materiel Command Transformation initiative that replaced traditional staff offices in the command's centers with wings, groups, and squadrons. It was redesignated the following year when it was consolidated with the326th Tactical Fighter Group. The 326th was a 297-person unit directing more than 44 programs with a budget exceeding $5 billion, and was responsible for the program execution to develop, acquire, field and modernize existing and advanced aircraft strike capabilities.[25] The wing consisted of the B-1 Systems Group (later the 326th Aeronautical Systems Group) forRockwell B-1 Lancer systems, the B-2 Systems Group (later the 726th Aeronautical Systems Group) forNorthrop Grumman B-2 Spirit systems, the Airborne Electronic Attack Systems Squadron (later the 651st Aeronautical Systems Squadron,[d] and the F-117 Systems Squadron (later the 650th Aeronautical Systems Squadron) forLockheed F-117 Nighthawk systems. It also provided operations management support to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System Program Office. In 2008, the wing and its component groups were inactivated, while its two squadrons were reassigned to the312th Aeronautical Systems Wing.[26]
326th Fighter Group
Long Range Strike Systems Wing
Consolidated Wing
Groups
Operational Squadrons
| Support Units
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| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 19 August 1942 – 10 April 1944 | 326th Fighter Group[1] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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