440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
SquadronF-86D Sabre[note 1]
Active	1943–1944; 1953–1960
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Fighter-Interceptor
Nickname	Mad Dogs
Insignia
Patch with 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem[note 2][1]

The440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing atErding Air Station, Germany, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1960. The squadron served as aNATOair defense unit from February 1953. The squadron was originally established as aReplacement Training Unit duringWorld War II in February 1943, but was disbanded when theArmy Air Forces reorganized its training units in 1944.

Thesquadron was first activated as the440th Fighter Squadron atSarasota Army Air Field, Florida in 1943 when the337th Fighter Group expanded from three to four squadrons.^[1][2] It served as aIII Fighter CommandNorth American P-51 MustangReplacement Training Unit. The squadron was disbanded in May 1944^[1] and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 341st AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter).

Reactivated in 1953 as aNorth American F-86D Sabre interceptor squadron. Moved to West Germany, attached to the86th Fighter-Bomber Wing atLandstuhl Air Base. The squadron moved toErding Air Base in Bavaria, operating as a forward-deployed squadron near the Czech border until inactivated in January 1960^[1] with the withdrawal of the F-86D from West Germany.

• Constituted as the440th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine 12 February 1943

Activated on 24 February 1943

Disbanded on 1 May 1944

• Reconstituted, and redesignated440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 3 February 1953

Activated on 18 February 1953

Inactivated on 1 January 1960^[1]

• 337th Fighter Group, 24 February 1943 – 1 May 1944
• 530th Air Defense Group, 18 February 1953
• Twelfth Air Force (attached to 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing), 1 July 1954
• 7486th Air Defense Group (later 7486th Air Base Group), 2 December 1954
• 86th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 3 January 1956
• 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 8 March 1958 – 1 January 1960^[1]

• Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, 24 February 1943
• Pinellas Army Air Field, Florida, 15 April 1943 – 1 May 1944
• Geiger Field, Washington, 18 February 1953
• Landstuhl Air Base, Germany, 4 July 1954
• Erding Air Base, Germany, 17 February 1956 – 31 December 1959^[1]

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1943–1944
• North American P-51 Mustang, 1944
• North American F-86D Sabre, 1953–1960^[1]

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980).A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980(PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved23 March 2012.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-02-1.LCCN 61060979. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969].Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-405-12194-6.LCCN 70605402.OCLC 72556. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 August 2023. Retrieved17 December 2016.
• "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons".The Interceptor.21 (1). Aerospace Defense Command:5–11,26–31,40–45,54–59. January 1979.

• Fighter squadrons of the United States Air Force
• Military units and formations established in 1953
• Aerospace Defense Command units

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